LES'SEPS, Pr. pron. ili'sOpe, FERDINANn, Vi comte de (1505-94). A French diplomat, cele brated for the promotion and construction of the Suez Canal. Ile was horn in Versailles; was early employed in the consular service, and served as consul at Cairo, Rotterdam, 'Malaga, and Barcelona. In 184S-49 he was Minister to Spain. Tn 1854 M. de Lesseps went to Egypt and. securing the enn•urrence of the Viceroy, Said-Pasha, projected the construction of the great interoceanic canal of Suez. In 1856 he published his plans and projects, under the title of Perecment de Plsthmr de But the Turkish Government, at the instigation of Eng land. refused its authorization. In spite of many obstructions, M. de Lesseps won the Government to his support, and secured $40.000,000 in sub scription to the capital stock required for the construction of the canal. Work was actually begun in 1859. On November 20, 1869, the com pletion was celebrated with imposing ceremonies. See SUEZ CANAL.
The success of the enterprise determined M. de Lesseps to undertake the cutting of an inter oceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama. A company was organized in Paris in 1876, which procured front the Government of the United States of Colombia a concession to construct a canal on its territory. N. de Lesseps secured to himself the privileges and assumed the conditions of that grant. In 1880 he came from Aspinwall
to New York and submitted to American capital ists a matured and detailed plan, etc. Ile be came the president of the company for the con struction of the ship-canal, the capital stock of which was 600,000.000 francs. The work was begun in 1881 after a series of difficulties in ad ministration and construction (described tinder PANAMA CANAL). In December, I S88, De Lesseps and his colleagues resigned, and judicial liqui dators were appointed by the Government. In 1893. after a judicial investigation, Al. de Lesseps and his son Charles were convicted of misappro priation of the funds of the company, and sen tenced to fine and imprisonment; the sentence, however, was never executed.
A record of De Lesseps's many activities will be found in the following published works: Let 'res. journal et documents •elatifs (I Phistoire du canal (le Suez (1875-81 ) ; Sou 1'01 irs de qua mate (1SS7) ; Origines du Canal de 8ucz (1890). For biographies of De Lesseps consult: Bertrand and Ferrier, Ferdinand de Lesseps (Paris, ISS7), and Smith, Life and Enterprises of Ferdinand de Lcsseps (London, 2d ed., 1895).
See SUEZ CANAL; PANAMA CANAL.