LESSEPS, FERDINAND DE (1805-1894), French diplo matist and maker of the Suez canal, was born at Versailles on Nov. 19, 18°5. Descended from a family who had long distin guished themselves in the service of the State, he followed the tradition by entering the consular service in 1825, when he be came assistant vice consul at Lisbon. Two years later he occupied a similar post in Tunis, and in 1832 he was sent to Alexandria. Here the reading of Lapere's memoir on the Suez canal, written in accordance with Bonaparte's instructions, fired his imagination, and his friendship with Mehemet Ali, and with his son, Said Pasha, led him to hope that he might one day finish what Lapere had begun. For the time, however, nothing was accomplished. From 1833 to 1837, Lesseps was consul at Cairo, where he gained distinction by his courage and energy in combating an outbreak of plague. Two years later he was transferred to Rotterdam. Subse quently he served at Malaga and Barcelona, where he was pro moted to the grade of consul-general, and from 1848 to 1849 he was minister of France at Madrid. In the latter year he was sent by the Government of the French republic to negotiate with the existing Government in Rome, but the French elections, which occurred shortly after his departure, led to a change in foreign policy, and Lesseps was recalled in disgrace. He was given no opportunity to justify his actions, and therefore retired from the service. An invitation from Said Pasha, now viceroy of Egypt, revived in him his early ambitions. On Nov. 3o, 1854 Said Pasha signed the concession authorizing M. de Lesseps to pierce the isthmus of the Suez.
A first scheme, indicated by him, was immediately drawn out by M. Linant Bey and Mougel Bey, providing for direct com munication between the Mediterranean and the Red sea; and, after being slightly modified, it was adopted by an international commission of engineers in 1856. Encouraged by this approval, Lesseps allowed no obstacles to retard the work, and he suc ceeded in rousing the French people to subscribe more than half the capital needed to form the company, which was organized in 1858. The first blow of the pickaxe was given by Lesseps at Port Said on April 25, 1859, and on Nov. 17, 1869, the canal was offi cially opened by the khedive, Ismail Pasha. (See SUEZ CANAL.) On the acquisition of the Suez shares by Lord Beaconsfield, Lesseps co-operated loyally with the British, and facilitated the consolidation of interests thus formed.
Although desirous of keeping out of politics, Lesseps became a candidate at Marseille in 1869, but was defeated by Gambetta, and he afterwards declined the candidatures for the senate (1876) and the Chamber (1877). He maintained his interest in current affairs, however, and in 1879, when the Geographical Society at Paris, under the presidency of Admiral de la Ronciere de Noury, voted in favour of the construction of the Panama canal, public opinion designated Ferdinand de Lesseps as the head of the enter prise. (See PANAMA CANAL and FRANCE: History.) Although 74 years of age, he undertook to carry out the project, but his despotic temper and absoluteness of thought made him fail to realize the difficulties of the task. Determined to construct the canal without locks, he refused to be dissuaded when confronted with the Culebra and the Chagres, the mountain and stream which barred the route. For eight years he struggled against them, but in 1888, when the Panama company was wound up, he was obliged to acknowledge defeat. Seeking to discredit the Govern ment, the enemies of the French republic attacked the directors of the company, and the Government were obliged to take pro ceedings against them, but Charles de Lesseps (b. 1849) the son of Ferdinand, succeeded in diverting the storm to his own head, to prevent it reaching his father, who died at La Chenaie on Dec.
7, Lesseps was a member of the French Academy, of the Academy of Sciences and of numerous scientific societies. He was also decorated with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Star of India, and received the freedom of the City of London. His great gifts, coupled with his supreme unselfishness and social charm, made him everywhere respected, and the "scandal" which clouded the last years of his life, has done nothing to tarnish his reputation. He remains for all time one of the most powerful embodiments of the creative genius of the 19th century.
See G. Barnett Smith, The Life and Enterprises of Ferdinand de Lesseps (London, 1893) ; Souvenirs de quarante ans, by Ferdinand de Lesseps (trans. by C. B. Pitman Bridier, Les de Lesseps) (1900) ; Birk, Der Suezkanal (1925).