Ferdinand de Lesseps, diplomat, creator of Suez, the pioneer behind

Ferdinand de Lesseps was born in Versailles, on November 19th 1805. His father,, Mathieu de Lesseps, who was a diplomat, was on leave at the time.

On his father's side, Ferdinand's roots firmly lay in the Basque Country, where for many generations, his family had been highly respected, with distinguished soldiers and lawyers in the town of Bayonne. In the 18th century, however, somewhat more adventurous tastes appeared in the Lesseps family. Barthélemy de Lesseps, Ferdinand's uncle, still young himself, got to know the French explorer La Pérouse and set sail aboard the Astrobale. After a two-year voyage, La Pérouse appointed de Lesseps to return to France to tell the king Louis XV all about the expedition. Barthélémy then started a 14-month odyssey across the icy wastes of Siberia before giving to the king the lastest news received from La Pérouse expedition before its disappearance.

Mathieu, Ferdinand's father and Barthélemy's younger brother, started rather young a diplomatic career which lead him around the Mediterranean sea, in Morocco, Libya and Spain. In 1803 or 1804, Napoleon appointed him "Commissaire Général" in Egypt. With an outstanding perspicacity, Mathieu, at once realised the important role the brilliant adventurer Mehemet-Ali could play in Egypt's government. Indeed, Mehemet-Ali would become the real founder of the modern Egyptian State. Lesseps supported Mehemet-Ali all along his rise to power. When Mehemet-Ali became viceroy, Lesseps guaranteed him the support of France. The friendship forged then was to be extremely useful to Ferdinand, some 50 years later.

His mother was born Catherine de Grivegnée and came from a family settled in Spain, but with Flemish origin. Ferdinand often travelled to Madrid to visit his cousin, the Countess of Montijo. He met there the young Eugénie, who would become the Empress of France.. Ferdinand formed a close friendship with Eugénie and on several occasions Ferdinand turned to his niece to win the Emperor's favour. Eugenie for her part followed the advice which her uncle lavished on her.

Empress Eugénie		Napoléon III

 

The diplomat

When he was 20, at the request of his uncle Barthélemy, Ferdinand started a diplomatic career. By his uncle's side, he became a diplomatic attaché in the French embassy in Lisbon for two years. He then spent a few years with his father who was chargé d'affaires in Tunis.

In 1832, Ferdinand was appointed as vice-consul in Alexandria in Egypt. By then, Mehemet Ali had already thoroughly transformed his Country. His ambitious policy had given the country modern institutions and Egypt was involved in major projects with the help of European engineers and administrators, a very large number of whom were French.
		Ferdinand de Lesseps French Vice-Consul in Alexandria

In 1835, he is appointed consul général in Alexandria where he stayed for a further two years. Mehemet Ali then asked him to educate one of his youngest sons, Mohammed Saïd, with whom he got on particularly well.

In 1837, Ferdinand married Agathe Delamalle who was to die in 1853 and whom he had five children.

He continued his consular career in The Netherlands and Spain. In 1849 he was appointed to lead negotiations during the French campaign in Rome. He became the scapegoat for the failure of the Rome mission and his diplomatic career was over.

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The creator of Suez

For several years, Lesseps became a farmer. through his mother-in-law, Mme Delamalle, had purchased a large property in the Indre district. The manor, La Chesnaye, an old residence of Agnès Sorel, needed renovated and the land improved. Lesseps became seriously involved in this activity. In his spare time, he continued working on the files he has initiated during his first stay in Egypt, between 1832 and 1837. Among them was work which had been undertaken in the Suez isthmus, in particular a survey made by Le Père during the Napoleonic campaign as well as complementary investigations by a French engineer, Linant de Bellefonds. Lesseps was still enthusiastic with a project which, at the time, was called "Canal des Deux Mers" (Two Seas Canal). In 1852, he had even written an report on the project which he had made translated into Arabic and submitted to the viceroy Abbas Pacha. But this initial attempt unfortunately came to nothing.

Two years later, Lesseps learned than Abbas Pacha had just died and that one of Mehemet Ali's youngest sons had succeeded him - Mohammed Saïd, whom he had got to know well during his first stay in Egypt. He wrote to him at once, offering his congratulations. By return post, Lesseps received from Said an invitation to visit Egypt. On 7 November 1854, he disembarked in Alexandria. he took with the viceroy the project which so gripped him.

On 30th November 1854, Mohamed Saïd granted "his friend Ferdinand de Lesseps exclusive powers to form and lead an international company to cut through the Suez isthmus and to operate a canal between the two seas".

Mohammed Said and his friend, Ferdinand de Lesseps

After three years of constant work and steps, on 15 December 1858, Lesseps finally
set up the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez. The first ground was broken on 25th April 1859. Despite a multitude of technical and diplomatic difficulties, the
canal was finally completed and inaugurated between 17th and 20th November 1869.

Just after the inauguration, in Ismaïlia, Ferdinand married his second wife Louise-Hélène Autard de Bragard, with whom he would have 12 children.

Ferdinand de Lesseps and his children, 1881

Lesseps is elected at the Academy of Sciences in 1873.

Background to the Suez Canal  | Top

The pioneer of Panama

It was in 1879 during a geographical conference that Lesseps, then aged 74, became chairman of the French committee in charge of realising an inter-oceanic canal in Central America. But this project would not know the same success as the Suez Canal for it came to a temporarily failure, with political and financial scandals.

The foundations laid by Lesseps in Panama however were solid enough to enable the United States to take over the project and complete it in the early 20th century. Still today, the name Lesseps commands much respect in Panama.

Background to the Suez Canal | Top

Lesseps has been elected as member of Académie Française on February 21
1884 and was welcome in this prestigious institution on April 231885, by Ernest
Renan. he had also been decorated Grand Croix de la Légion d'Honneur.

He died on 7 December 1894 in La Chesnaye. He was given national funeral and was buried in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.