Which pirate captain was nicknamed La Buse, meaning “The Buzzard”?

Olivier Levasseur was the pirate captain nicknamed La Buse, meaning “The Buzzard.”

Levasseur was a French pirate active in the Indian Ocean during the early eighteenth century. The nickname reflected his reputation for striking quickly and aggressively, although the details of his early life and career are partly obscured by later legend.

He is especially associated with the capture of the Portuguese galleon Nossa Senhora do Cabo in 1721. The prize reportedly carried an enormous cargo of jewels, gold, and church treasures. Levasseur later became linked to a famous treasure legend involving a cryptic message said to identify hidden riches.

French authorities captured and executed Levasseur at Réunion in 1730. Accounts say that he threw a cryptogram into the crowd before his death, but no securely verified treasure has ever been recovered from the supposed clue.