The New International Encyclopædia/Lesseps, Ferdinand, Vicomte de
LES′SEPS, Fr. pron. lā̇′sĕps′, Ferdinand, Vicomte de (1805-94). A French diplomat, celebrated for the promotion and construction of the Suez Canal. He was born in Versailles; was early employed in the consular service, and served as consul at Cairo, Rotterdam, Malaga, and Barcelona. In 1848-49 he was Minister to Spain. In 1854 M. de Lesseps went to Egypt and, securing the concurrence 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 Percement de l'Isthme de Suez. But the Turkish Government, at the instigation of England, refused its authorization. In spite of many obstructions, M. de Lesseps won the Government to his support, and secured $40,000,000 in subscription to the capital stock required for the construction of the canal. Work was actually begun in 1859. On November 20, 1869, the completion was celebrated with imposing ceremonies. See Suez Canal.
The success of the enterprise determined M. de Lesseps to undertake the cutting of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama. A company was organized in Paris in 1876, which procured from the Government of the United States of Colombia a concession to construct a canal on its territory. M. 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 capitalists a matured and detailed plan, etc. He became the president of the company for the construction 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 administration and construction (described under Panama Canal). In December, 1888, De Lesseps and his colleagues resigned, and judicial liquidators were appointed by the Government. In 1893, after a judicial investigation, M. de Lesseps and his son Charles were convicted of misappropriation of the funds of the company, and sentenced 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: Lettres, journal et documents relatifs à l'histoire du canal de Suez (1875-81); Souvenirs de quarante ans (1887); Origines du Canal de Suez (1890). For biographies of De Lesseps consult: Bertrand and Ferrier, Ferdinand de Lesseps (Paris, 1887), and Smith, Life and Enterprises of Ferdinand de Lesseps (London, 2d ed., 1895). See Suez Canal; Panama Canal.