List of slaves
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- Abram Petrovich Gannibal (died 1781), adopted by Peter the Great, became a governor-general
- Absalom Jones, (1746 - February 13, 1818), abolitionist and clergyman.
- Aesop, Greek poet, c. 6th century BC
- Amanda America Dickson, daughter of her owner, the fight over her inheritance on his death went all the way to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
- Ammar bin Yasir, one of the most famous Sahaba and was among the slaves freed by Abu Bakr.
- Ann Plato (about 1820), schoolmistress and first Black American female published author (1841)
- Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, also known as Job ben Solomon (1701–1773)
- Baibars, a Kipchack Turk who became to a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria
- Benedict the Moor (1526 – April 4, 1589)
- Booker T. Washington (1856–1915)
- Cesar Picton ca.1765 - 1831 - Enslaved in Senegal, servant in England, then later a wealthy coal-merchant
- Dave the Potter (c. 1800–1864)
- Denmark Vesey (c. 1767–1822)
- Dred Scott (c. 1799–1858)
- Enrique of Malacca, slave and interpreter of Ferdinand Magellan
- Epictetus (55–c. 135)
- Estevanico, or "Esteban the Moor," one of only four survivors of the ill-fated Narváez expedition and later a guide in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Gold (ca. 1503-1539)
- François Mackandal, Haitian maroon leader
- Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–1895)
- George Africanus (1763-1834)
- Hagar, Biblical figure, belonging to Sarah
- Harriet Tubman (1820–1913) A slave legend who freed many slaves using the underground railroad.
- Zayd ibn Haritha was given as a present to Muhammad's wife Khadijah. Was freed and adopted and became known as Zayd ibn Muhammad.
- Bilal ibn Ribah, slave during the 6th century who was freed and converted to a Muslim in early days of Islam. The Islamic prophet Muhammad chose Bilal as his muezzin.
- Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758–1806), leader of the Haitian Revolution and first leader of independent Haiti
- Joseph Antonio Emidy violinist and composer born in Africa died in Cornwall
- Cinque, leader of the slaves in the infamous Amistad v. United States case in 1839
- John Brown (fugitive slave) (c. 1810–1876)
- John Casor, the first slave in what would later be the United States (Virginia, 1654).
- Joseph Biblical figure (about 1600 BC)
- Josephine Bakhita, (1869 — February 8 1947) Sudanese, a nun and a Roman Catholic saint.
- Jordan Lockett, a runaway slave whose plight led to Wisconsin becoming the only state to declare the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 unconstitutional.
- Juan Francisco Manzano (c.1797–1854) Cuban slave and poet.
- Kunta Kinte
- Marcus Tullius Tiro, Roman author (c. 103–4 BC)
- Malinche, famous translator during the Spanish conquest of Mexico
- Mammy Lou, one time actress
- Margaret Garner (1835 – 1858)
- Mende Nazer, a woman who was an alleged slave in Sudan and transferred to London to serve a diplomat's family there
- Miguel de Cervantes (September 29, 1547 - April 23, 1616), author of Don Quixote de la Mancha, which is considered the first modern novel
- Nanny of the Maroons, famous female leader of Jamaican Maroons
- Nat Turner (1800–1831)
- Nero Hawley (1742-1817) Free Slave buried Trumbull, Connecticut, served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
- Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797), also sometimes called Gustavus Vassa, prominent American author
- Onesimus, a slave of Philemon of Colossae who ran away and, having met St. Paul, was converted by him. Paul set him back to the Christian Philemon with a letter, which is the Epistle to Philemon. Ignatius of Antioch mentions an Onesimus as Bishop of Ephesus in the early second century, but it is not certain that these are the same man.
- Owen Fitzpen, English merchant taken captive by Turkish pirates in 1620, subsequently escaped.
- Phillis Wheatley, Colonial American poet
- Pope Callixtus I (died 222)
- Qiana Johnson-Kente (died 1841), first African-American slave to beat up her white owner, Jena Nardeli
- Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkish ex-slave who became a soldier and eventaully the first Sultans of Delhi in India and founder of the "Slave dynasty".
- Roustam Raza, Napoleon Bonaparte's famous Armenian bodyguard.
- Roxelana, (circa 1500 - April 18, 1558), a concubine and later wife to the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and mother of Selim II.
- Jaih Jinglehimer, leader of the poor slaves in Ababycia.
- Jean Saint Malo, leader of runaway slaves in colonial Louisiana.
- Saint Patrick, British; after escaping slavery in Ireland, became a priest and returned there as a missionary (c. 387–461)
- St. Felicitas martyr (died March 7, 203)
- Saint Vincent de Paul. (1576–1660) Taken captive by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery. Freed in 1607.
- Salman Al Farisi of Persian descent. he was owned by a Jew of the Beni Quraiza in Arabia, and later became one of Muhammad's companions. He was the first to translate the Quran.
- Scipio Africanus (c. 1702-1720)
- Sojourner Truth (c. 1797–1883)
- Solomon Bayley, wrote a book in 1825 about his life as a slave.
- Spartacus, gladiator and rebel leader (died 71 BC)
- Sumayyah binte Khabbab an abbyssinian slave, the mother of Ammar bin Yasir, was killed by her master when she refused to return from Islam, thus becoming the first martyr in Islam.
- Terence (full name Publius Terentius Afer), Roman playwright, died 159 BC
- Tiro was a slave of the Roman aristocrat Cicero, wrote and invented a system of shorthand.
- Toussaint L'Ouverture, led the independence of Haiti slave revolt after being freed.
- Qutbuddin Aibak, sultan of Hindustan.
- William Ellison (1790-1861) A half black and half white slave, gained his freedom and became a slaveholder himself producing cotton
- William and Ellen Craft, slaves who wrote a tale (running a thousand miles for freedom) of their flight from slavery (1800s).
- Zheng pang wang Chinese explorer.
- Abul-Hasan Alí Ibn Nafí, aka "Ziryab", musician, introduced asparagus to Europe (c. 789 - 857).
- Zumbi, in colonial Brazil, escaped and joined the Quilombo dos Palmares later becoming its last and most famous leader.
- Yarrow Mamout, a slave later freed after serving many years of labor to his master in America