François Perrinon

François-Auguste Perrinon (August 28, 1812 – January 1, 1861) was an Afro-Caribbean French military officer, politician and abolitionist.

[1] Perrinon was born at Saint-Pierre, Martinique from a free black mother and a white father, who married in 1826.

He was of anti-slavery sympathy, and in 1847, in a pamphlet he authored entitled "Résultats d'expérience sur le travail des esclaves" ("The Slave-Labor Experience") describing events on the isle of Saint Martin, he argued that the work being performed by slaves at the time could just as well be performed by free people and at equal cost.

Perrinon then returned to the Caribbean to live on Saint Martin, where he was involved in operations in salt marshes.

His refusal, in a letter of 18 April 1853, to take an oath of allegiance to Napoléon III resulted in his expulsion from the military.