Jean-François Hodoul (11 April 1765 – 10 January 1835) was a sea captain, corsair, and later merchant and plantation owner in Isle de France (Mauritius).
He left for France's colonies in the Indian Ocean at the age of 24, and arrived at Mauritius in 1789, on board Scipion.
In 1793 the French Revolutionary Wars broke out, and with them a battle in the Indian Ocean between Britain and France.
On 17 February 1797 Hodoul arrived at Port Louis with the British vessel Castor, of 150 tons (bm), which Perroud and Général Pichegru had captured in January at Visakhapatnam.
Six days later he rescued seven slaves aboard a British vessel whose crew had abandoned it after a storm.
[3] A few days later, on 17 May, near Masulipatnam, he captured Aydresev, a ship of about 500 tons, sailing under the Maharatta flag.
The captain of the prize crew, Harel, reported that on 3 May Hodoul had captured a British vessel bound for Tranquebar, then a Danish colony.
On 30 October, while sailing back to Mauritius, Hodoul captured Laurel, Fuggo, master.
[3] On 9 November he captured two vessels of the British East India Company's Bengal Pilot Service: Trayalle (Trial), and Harrington.
On 28 November the privateer Général Malartic, Jean-Marie Dutertre, master, captured the British vessel Surprise near Madras.
Anne he captured the British privateer Henriette (or Harriot, from Cape Town), of eight guns under the command of Captain White.
Captain Edward O. Osborne, of Arrogant, reported that Uni had left Mauritius with 250 men, and that she had 216 on board when captured, the rest being away on prizes.
He did not fully leave the sea as he built and owned several small ships that traded between the Seychelles and Mauritius.
In July 1837 Hodoul's widow received a compensation of at least £7,171 for the liberation of at least 216 slaves who formed part of his estate.
Today in the harbor of Victoria, there is a small islet named Hodoul Island in his honor.