Transport Atlas

How The World Moves
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme

Switch Atlas

Figure

Ferdinand de Lesseps

French surname: [lesɛps]
Also Known As de Lesseps · Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps
Maritime and Shipping Figures

French diplomat and developer who formed the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez in 1858 and led construction of the Suez Canal, completed in 1869. He later organized a French effort to build a sea-level canal across Panama in the 1880s, which failed due to disease and engineering miscalculation, a costly defeat that overshadowed his earlier success. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Year
1805 1
Death Year
1894 1
Nationality
French 1
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Filter Results2 entries

Panama Canal

Ferdinand de Lesseps

Suez Canal

Ferdinand de Lesseps
Connections

Invented

Suez Canal, Infrastructure
Source Wikipedia: Suez Canal

Pioneered

Panama Canal, Infrastructure

Led the failed French attempt to build the canal, 1881-1889, before the separate, later, US-completed canal of 1904-1914.

Additional Source Wikipedia: Panama CanalHistory
Suez Canal, Infrastructure
Source Wikipedia: Suez Canal

Preceded By

Thomas Telford, Figures
In the Other Atlases

Nationality

France

Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Ferdinand de LessepsLead sentence 1tier 2
Quote, Lead sentence 1
Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps (French: [lesɛps]; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist 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 East Asia.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ferdinand de Lesseps
Wikipedia
  • Overview
  • Lead section (IPA)
    [lesɛps]
  • Suez Canal section
    Finally, on 17 November 1869, the canal was officially opened by the Khedive, Ismail Pasha.
  • Panama Canal attempt
    The Panama Canal Company declared itself bankrupt in December 1888 and entered liquidation in February 1889.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Suez Canal
Wikipedia
  • Invented: Suez Canal
  • Pioneered: Suez Canal, Article lead
    In 1858, French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Compagnie de Suez for the express purpose of building the canal
View the Source
Wikipedia: Panama Canal
WikipediaPioneered: Panama Canal, History
Quote, Pioneered: Panama Canal, History
The French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps and engineer Philippe Bunau-Varilla were the driving forces behind the French attempts to construct the Panama Canal (1881-1889).
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.