Fascinating historical figures: Ferdinand de Lesseps

Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps (1805 – 1894) was a French diplomat and later developer of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distances and times between Europe and Asia.

He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a Panama Canal at sea level during the 1880s, but the project was devastated by epidemics of malaria and yellow fever in the area, as well as beset by financial problems, and the planned de Lesseps Panama Canal was never completed. Eventually, the project was bought out by the United States, which solved the medical problems and changed the design to a non-sea level canal with locks. It was completed in 1914.

Ferdinand de Lesseps was born into a family of French career-diplomats. He went into the same profession, and during his early career was posted to Tunisia and Egypt. In Egypt, he became friends with Said Pasha, son of the viceroy. De Lesseps became fascinated with the cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East and the growth of western European trade. After postings to Spain and Italy, in 1849 he retired after a disagreement with the French government. In 1854, his friend Said Pasha became the new viceroy of Egypt. De Lesseps immediately returned to Egypt, where he was given a warm welcome and, soon afterwards, permission to begin work on the Suez Canal. De Lesseps had been inspired by reading about Napoleon's abandoned plans for a canal that would allow large ships wishing to sail to the east to go directly from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, thereby cutting out the long sea journey around Africa.

De Lesseps' scheme was backed by an international commission of engineers, but failed to win the support of the British government, despite de Lesseps making a number of trips to London. He persevered and eventually attracted financial backing from the French emperor Napoleon III and others. De Lesseps was no engineer - his achievement lay in organizing the necessary political and financial backing, and providing the technical support necessary for such a huge project. Construction began in April 1859, and the Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. British attitudes changed when the canal was seen to be a success and de Lesseps was treated as a great celebrity on his subsequent visit to Britain. In 1875, the Egyptian government sold its shares in the canal and the British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, bought effective control of the Canal Company.

On 11 June 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. 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.

In his 74th year, de Lesseps began to plan a new canal in Panama. In 1879, an international congress was held in Paris, which chose the route for the Panama Canal and appointed de Lesseps as leader of the undertaking. Work began in 1881, but the canal proved much more complicated to build than the Suez Canal. After eight years, little progress appeared to have been made (it was eventually finished in 1914). A French court found de Lesseps and his son Charles guilty of mismanagement. Both were heavily fined and sentenced to imprisonment. In the event, de Lesseps did not go to jail, but his son paid for his elderly father's mis-judgements with a year in prison.

In 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser used his name in a radio speech, as the code-word to his army to raid the Suez Canal Company's offices on 26 July 1956. This was the first step to the Suez Canal's nationalization. In the course of the raid and seizure of the canal by Egypt, the statue of de Lesseps at the entrance of the Suez Canal was removed from its pedestal, to symbolize the end of European ownership of the waterway. The statue now stands in a small garden of the Port Fuad shipyard.

Source: Wikipedia, BBC