Ferdinand de Lesseps.

Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps, GCSI (November 19, 1805–December 7, 1894) was the French developer of the Suez Canal, which joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas for the first time in 1869, and substantially reduced sailing distances and times between the West and the East. A viscount ( VAI-count is a member of the European Nobility whose comital title ranks usually as in the British peerage, above a The article is about the order of chivalry known as "Star of India" Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1805 ( MDCCCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Suez Canal is a Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1869 it allows Water transportation between Europe and Asia without circumnavigation

He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a lockless version of the Panama Canal during the 1880s, but the project was finally completed by the United States in 1914, once developments in medicine had been made which combatted the serious problems of malaria and yellow fever in the area. The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the

Background

The origins of de Lesseps' family are traceable back as far as the end of the 14th century. His ancestors, it is believed, came from Scotland, and settled at Bayonne during the region's occupation by the English. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Bayonne ( French: Bayonne bajɔn Gascon Occitan and Basque: Baiona) is a city and commune of southwest One of his great-grandfathers was town clerk and at the same time secretary to Queen Anne of Neuberg, widow of Charles II of Spain, exiled to Bayonne after the accession of Philip V. Charles II ( November 6 1661, Madrid – November 1 1700, Madrid was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the From the middle of the 18th century the ancestors of de Lesseps followed diplomatic careers, and he himself occupied several diplomatic posts from 1825 to 1849. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system His uncle was ennobled by King Louis XVI, and his father was made a count by Napoleon I. Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. His father, Mathieu de Lesseps (1774-1832), was in the consular service; his mother, Catherine de Grévigné, was Spanish, and aunt of the countess of Montijo, mother of the empress Eugénie. Eugenie redirects here For other people called Eugenie see Eugenie (disambiguation Empress The last Empress of the French was born

Ferdinand de Lesseps was born at Versailles in 1805. Versailles (vɛʀsaj in French) formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important Year 1805 ( MDCCCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or

His first years were spent in Italy, where his father was occupied with his consular duties. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest She was educated at the College of Henry IV in Paris. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city From the age of 18 years to 20 he was employed in the commissary department of the army. From 1825 to 1827 he acted as assistant viceconsul at Lisbon, where his uncle, Barthélemy de Lesseps, was the French chargé d'affaires. Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. In diplomacy chargé d’affaires ( French for “charged with (in charge of matters” is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic This uncle was an old companion of La Pérouse and a survivor of the expedition in which that navigator perished. Jean François de Galaup comte de La Pérouse (23 August 1741&ndash1788? was a French Navy officer and Explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.

Career

Diplomatic

In 1828 Ferdinand was sent as an assistant vice-consul to Tunis, where his father was consul-general. The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Tunis ( Arabic: تونس Tūnis) is the Capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis He aided the escape of Youssouff, pursued by the soldiers of the Bey, of whom he was one of the officers, for violation of the seraglio law. Bey is a Turkish title for "chieftain" traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups A seraglio (also serraglio) is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and Concubines in a Turkish household from an Italian variant of Youssouff acknowledged this protection given by a Frenchman by distinguishing himself in the ranks of the French army at the time of the conquest of Algeria. Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's Ferdinand de Lesseps was also entrusted by his father with missions to Marshal Count Clausel, general-in-chief of the army of occupation in Algeria. The marshal wrote to Mathieu de Lesseps on December 18, 1830: "I have had the pleasure of meeting your son, who gives promise of sustaining with great credit the name he bears. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the For the game see 1830 (board game. Year 1830 ( MDCCCXXX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display "

In 1832 Ferdinand de Lesseps was appointed vice-consul at Alexandria. Year 1832 ( MDCCCXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια While the vessel Lesseps sailed to Egypt in was in quarantine at the Alexandrian lazaretto, M. A lazaretto or lazaret is a Quarantine station for maritime travellers Mimaut, consul-general of France at Alexandria, sent him several books, among which was the memoir written upon the Suez Canal, according to Bonaparte's instructions, by the civil engineer Lapré, one of the scientific members of the French expedition. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe.

This work struck Lesseps's imagination, and gave him the idea of constructing a canal across the African isthmus. Fortunately for Lesseps, Mehemet Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, owed his position in part to the recommendations made on his behalf to the French government by Mathieu de Lesseps, who was consul-general in Egypt when Ali was a colonel. This article is about the leader of Egypt For other people named Muhammad Ali or Mehmet Ali see Muhammad Ali (disambiguation and Mehemet Ali (disambiguation This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Because of this, Lesseps received a warm welcome from the viceroy and became good friends with his son, Said Pasha. This article is about an Ottoman grand vizier An Ottoman viceroy to Egypt Sa'id of Egypt, is also commonly called Said Pasha Küçük Mehmet Sait

In 1833 de Lesseps was sent as consul to Cairo, and soon afterwards given the management of the consulate general at Alexandria, a post that he held until 1837. Year 1833 ( MDCCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Year 1837 ( MDCCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common While he was there an epidemic of plague broke out and lasted for two years, resulting in the deaths of more than a third of the inhabitants of Cairo and Alexandria. During this time Lesseps went from one city to the other and constantly displayed an admirable zeal and an imperturbable energy. Towards the close of the year 1837 he returned to France, and on December 21 married Mlle Agathe Delamalle, daughter of the government prosecuting attorney at the court of Angers. Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian Angers is a city in the Maine-et-Loire department in northwestern France about 300 km south-west of Paris. By this marriage Lesseps became the father of five sons.

In 1839 he was appointed consul at Rotterdam, and in the following year transferred to Málaga, the ancestral home of his mother's family. Year 1839 ( MDCCCXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of In 1842 he was sent to Barcelona, and soon afterwards promoted to the grade of consul general. Year 1842 ( MDCCCXLII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia In the course of a bloody insurrection in Catalonia, which ended in the bombardment of Barcelona, de Lesseps offered protection to a number of men threatened by the fighting regardless of their factional symapthies or nationalities. Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia From 1848 to 1849 he was minister of France at Madrid. Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain.

In 1849 the government of the French Republic sent him to Rome to negotiate the return of Pope Pius IX to the Vatican. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Blessed Pope Pius IX (May 13 1792 &ndash February 7 1878 born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was Pope from June 16 1846 until 1878 Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territory He tried to negotiate an agreement whereby Pope Pius could return peacefully to the Vatican but also ensuring the continued independence of Rome. But during negotiations, the elections in France caused a change in the foreign policy of the government. His course was disapproved; he was recalled and brought before the council of state.

de Lesseps then retired from the diplomatic service, and never afterwards occupied any public office. In 1853 he lost his wife and daughter at a few days' interval. In 1854, the accession to the viceroyalty of Egypt of Said Pasha gave de Lesseps a new impulse to act upon the creation of a Suez Canal. Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year

Suez Canal

Caricature of de Lesseps by André Gill, 1867. André Gill ( October 17, 1840 — May 1, 1885) was a French caricaturist.

De Lesseps statue now stands in Port Fouad shipyard

Said Pasha invited Lesseps to pay him a visit, and on November 7, 1854 he landed at Alexandria; on the 30th of the same month Said Pasha signed the concession authorizing him to build the Suez Canal. This article is about an Ottoman grand vizier An Ottoman viceroy to Egypt Sa'id of Egypt, is also commonly called Said Pasha Küçük Mehmet Sait Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat This article is about an Ottoman grand vizier An Ottoman viceroy to Egypt Sa'id of Egypt, is also commonly called Said Pasha Küçük Mehmet Sait

A first scheme, indicated by him, was immediately drawn out by two French engineers who were in the Egyptian service, MM. Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds called "Linant Bey" and Mougel Bey. Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds better known as Linant Pasha (Lorient France November 23, 1799 — Cairo July 9, 1883 This project, differing from others that were previously presented or that were in opposition to it, provided for a direct communication between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. After being slightly modified, the plan was adopted in 1856 by an international commission of civil engineers to which it was submitted. Encouraged by this approval, de Lesseps no longer allowed anything to stop him. He listened to no adverse criticism and receded before no obstacle. Neither the opposition of Lord Palmerston, who considered the projected disturbance as too radical not to endanger the commercial position of Great Britain, nor the opinions entertained, in France as well as in England, that the sea in front of Port Said was full of mud which would obstruct the entrance to the canal, that the sands from the desert would fill the trenches--no adverse argument, in a word, could dishearten Lesseps. "Lord Palmerston" and "Henry Temple" redirect here Port Said ( Arabic بورسعيد transliterated Būr Saʻīd) is a northeastern Egyptian city near the Suez

He had the support of the emperor Napoleon III and the empress Eugénie, and he succeeded in rousing the patriotism of the French and obtaining by their subscriptions more than half of the capital of two hundred millions of francs which he needed in order to form a company. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President The Egyptian government subscribed for eighty millions worth of shares.

The Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez was organized at the end of 1858. The Universal Suez Ship Canal Company ( French: Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez, or simply Compagnie de Suez for short was the French Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common On April 25, 1859 the first blow of the pickaxe was given by Lesseps at Port Said, and on November 27, 1869 the canal was officially opened by the Khedive, Ismail Pacha. Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year For the HMS Khedive, see ''USS'' Cordova. Khedive (from Persian for "lord" was a title first

While in the interests of his canal Lesseps had resisted the opposition of British diplomacy to an enterprise which threatened to give to France control of the shortest route to India, he acted loyally towards Great Britain after Lord Beaconsfield had acquired the Suez shares belonging to the Khedive, by frankly admitting to the board of directors of the company three representatives of the British government. Benjamin Disraeli 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS (born Benjamin D'Israeli; 21 December 1804 &ndash 19 April 1881 was The consolidation of interests which resulted, and which has been developed by the addition in 1884 of seven other British directors, chosen from among shipping merchants and business men, has augmented, for the benefit of all concerned, the commercial character of the enterprise.

Ferdinand de Lesseps steadily endeavoured to keep out of politics. If in 1869 he appeared to deviate from this principle by being a candidate at Marseille for the Corps Législatif, it was because he yielded to the entreaties of the Imperial government in order to strengthen its goodwill for the Suez Canal. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Once this goodwill had been shown, he bore no malice towards those who rendered him his liberty by preferring Léon Gambetta. Léon Gambetta (2 April 1838 Cahors, Lot - 31 December 1882 Paris) was a French statesman prominent after the Franco-Prussian War He afterwards declined the other candidatures that were offered him: for the Senate in 1876, and for the Chamber in 1877. In 1873 he became interested in a project for uniting Europe and Asia by a railway to Bombay, with a branch to Peking. Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial The same year, he became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. The French Academy of Sciences ( French: Académie des sciences) is a Learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the He subsequently encouraged Major Roudaire, who wished to transform the Sahara desert into an inland sea. The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest

The King of the Belgians having formed an International African Society, Lesseps accepted the presidency of the French committee, facilitated Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's explorations, and acquired stations that he subsequently abandoned to the French government. Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, best known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza ( January 26, 1852 - September 14, These stations were the starting-point of French Congo. French Congo was the original French Colony established in the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African

A statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps stands at the entrance of the Suez Canal.

Panama Canal attempt

In May 1879 a congress of 135 delegates (including de Lesseps) assembled in the rooms of the Geographical Society in Paris, under the presidency of Admiral de la Roncire le Noury, and voted in favour of the creation of a Panama Canal, which was to be without locks, like the Suez Canal. History Founding members of the Society include Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin and Francis Beaufort. The Panama Canal is a man-made Canal in Panama which joins the De Lesseps was appointed President of the Panama Canal Company, despite the fact that he had reached the age of 74. It was on this occasion that Gambetta bestowed upon him the title of "Le Grand Français". However, the decision to dig a Panama Canal at sea level to avoid the use of locks, and the inability of contemporary medical science to deal with epidemics of malaria and yellow fever doomed the project.

De Lesseps went with his youngest child to Panama to see the planned pathway. He estimated in 1880 that the project would take 658 million francs and eight years to complete. After two years of surveys, work on the canal began in 1882. However, the technical difficulties of operating in the wet tropics dogged the project. Particularly disastrous were recurrent landslides into the excavations from the bordering water-saturated hills, and the death toll from tropical diseases. In the end, insufficient capital and financial corruption ended the project. The Panama Canal Company declared itself bankrupt in December 1888 and entered liquidation in February 1889.

The failure of the project is sometimes referred to as the Panama Canal Scandal, after rumours circulated that French politicians and journalists had received bribes. By 1892 it emerged that 150 French deputies had been bribed into voting for the allocation of financial aid to the Panama Canal Company, and in February 1893 de Lesseps, his son Charles (b. 1849), and a number of others faced trial and were found guilty. De Lesseps was ordered to pay a fine and serve a prison sentence, but the latter was overturned by the Cour de Cassation on the grounds that it had been more than three years since the crime was committed. The Court of Cassation ( Cour de cassation in French) is the main Court of last resort in France. Ultimately, in 1904 the United States bought out the assets of the Company and resumed work under a revised plan. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Family

In 1869, he married his second wife, Mlle Autard de Bragard (daughter of a former magistrate of Mauritius) and eleven out of his twelve children of this marriage survived him. Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République

Statue of Liberty

On June 11, 1884, Levi P. Morton, the Minister of the United States to France, gave a banquet in honor of the Franco-American Union and in celebration of the completion of the Statue of Liberty. Liberty Enlightening the World (La liberté éclairant le monde commonly known as the Statue of Liberty (Statue de la Liberté was presented Ferdinand de Lesseps, as head of the Franco-American Union, formally presented the statue to the United States, saying:

This is the result of the devoted enthusiasm, the intelligence and the noblest sentiments which can inspire man. It is great in its conception, great in its execution, great in its proportions; let us hope that it will add, by its moral value, to the memories and sympathies that it is intended to perpetuate. We now transfer to you, Mr. Minister, this great statue and trust that it may forever stand the pledge of friendship between France and the Great Republic of the United States.

In October 1886, de Lesseps traveled to the United States to speak at the dedication ceremony of the Statue of Liberty, attended by President Grover Cleveland. Liberty Enlightening the World (La liberté éclairant le monde commonly known as the Statue of Liberty (Statue de la Liberté was presented Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18 1837 June 24 1908 was both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States.

Death

Lesseps died at La Chenaie on the December 7, 1894. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He was buried in the Le Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Père Lachaise Cemetery (Cimetière du Père-Lachaise officially cimetière de l'Est, "East Cemetery" is the largest Cemetery in the city of Paris Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

Trivia

His name was used in a speech by Egyptian President Gamal Nasser as the codeword to order the raiding of the Suez Canal Company's offices on July 26, 1956, the first step to its nationalisation. Gamal Abdel Nasser (جمال عبد الناصر Gamāl ‘Abd an-Nāṣir; - January 15 1918 September 28 1970) was the second President Events 657 - Battle of Siffin. 811 - Battle of Pliska; Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

His name is used as a name for a great engineer in the Civilization 4 game.

References

• Smith, G Barnett The Life and Enterprises of Ferdinand de Lesseps (London, 1893)
• de Lesseps, Ferdinand, Souvenirs de quarante ans (trans. by CB Pitman).
• McCullough, David, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914 Simon and Schuster, 1977.

See also

• Lesseps metro station in the Barcelona Metro. Lesseps is a station in the Barcelona Metro network named after the place it's located in Plaça de Lesseps, in the Gràcia district of Barcelona The Barcelona Metro ( Catalan and Spanish: Metro de Barcelona) part of the Mass transit Public transport system of

External links

• Ferdinand de Lesseps (1887). Recollections of forty years. Volume 1. Volume 2. From Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and
• André Gill (1867). André Gill ( October 17, 1840 — May 1, 1885) was a French caricaturist. "Ferdinand de Lesseps", caricature painting of Ferdinand de Lesseps.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

Other

• In the fictional anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, a class of ZAFT "land battleship" is named after him. (anime in Japanese, shortened to Gundam SEED, is an Anime television series and a Manga series by Sunrise. This is a list of fictional warships from the Cosmic Era (CE timeline of the Gundam Anime Metaseries. This is a list of fictional nations and factions from the Cosmic Era (CE timeline of the Gundam Anime Metaseries. A land battleship is a very large Tank of comparable size and complexity to naval Warships.
• Tyrone Power played Lesseps in the very popular movie Suez 1938. Tyrone Edmund Power Jr (May 5 1914 – November 15 1958 usually credited simply as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as " Ty Power " was an Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.