Lesseps, Ferdinand de

Lesseps, Ferdinand de (1805–94), French diplomat, best remembered in the maritime field as the creator of the Suez Canal. A career diplomat, his interest in the possibility of building the canal was first raised in Alexandria in 1832 when he studied the proposals for the project by one of Napoleon's engineers. However, it was not until his diplomatic career had, through no fault of his own, been terminated that he turned once more to the possibility of constructing the canal, and in 1854 the new Khedive of Egypt, Sa'id Pasha, held discussions with him about it. At the end of that year an initial act of concession was signed and in 1856 de Lesseps formed a company with directors from fourteen countries to undertake the canal's construction. Such was his enthusiasm for the project that he persuaded the French people to subscribe most of the capital needed to form the company. Work was started in 25 April 1859, and it was formally opened on 17 November 1869, de Lesseps remaining the chief engineer throughout the project. When, in 1875, the British government decided to purchase the canal shares held by Sa'id Pasha, de Lesseps cooperated by helping in their transfer even though the British, suspicious of French intentions, had initially tried to prevent the canal's construction.

Following the success of the Suez Canal, in 1879 the International Congress of Geographical Sciences decided that a Panama Canal should be built, and de Lesseps agreed to take on the project. However, he greatly underestimated the difficulties and in 1889 his company, Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interocéanique, was forced into liquidation. This caused not only a financial scandal but a political one too as it was found that government ministers had taken bribes. In 1892 the French government prosecuted the company's directors and both de Lesseps and his son were sentenced to a year in prison, though this sentence was later reversed. Despite this, de Lesseps's reputation remains high today and among his many awards he received the freedom of the City of London and was decorated with the Star of India.