Imaginary portrait of the young Senegalese princess of the Wolof people, born Anta Madjiguene Ndiaye on June 18, 1793.

 

Her story is a singular one. Captured and held captive at the age of 13, she was sent to Cuba, where she was purchased in 1806 by Zephaniah Kingsley, a slave trader and plantation owner. She became his mistress, then his wife, becoming Mrs. Anna Kingsley. This union produced four children.

 

In 1811 she obtained legal emancipation for herself and her children, and became free. At the age of 18, her husband entrusted her with the management of his farm in East Florida, then under Spanish rule. After many twists and turns linked to the racial laws of the time, including a move to Haiti, her husband died during a trip to the United States in 1843.

 

She continued to fight for her inheritance against the American state and her in-laws, who wanted to take over Zephaniah Kingsley's estate. She won her case and eventually settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where she died in 1870 at the age of 77.