User:Geo Swan/Olivier Letardif

Olivier Letardif was an early French settler in Quebec. He was the first European to purchase an African slave, in Quebec, buying a seven year old boy later baptized Olivier Le Jeune, in 1627, from David Kirke, who had captured and occupied Quebec, during the Anglo-French War of (1627–1629).

Letardif was recruited by Samuel Champlain, probably in Honfleur, Normandy, probably prior to 1621. He worked as a clerk, and as a fur trader, where he was noted for quickly learning several of the languages of First Nations peoples. Most North Americans named Tardif, or some variation thereof, are said to be his descendants.