Solomon Northup (July 1808-1863?) was an American abolitionist and the primary author of the memoir Twelve Years a Slave. In 1841 he was kidnapped by slave traders, having been enticed to Washington, D.C. (where slavery was legal) with a job offer as a violinist with traveling entertainers. Shortly after he and his employers arrived in DC, they sold him as a slave. After twelve years of slavery, Northup regained his freedom on January 3, 1853 and returned to his family in New York