French diplomat, engineer, project author and construction manager of the Suez Canal. Lesseps is a lawyer. In 1825-1849 he held various diplomatic posts in a number of countries in Europe and Africa, including in Egypt in 1831-1837. Using personal ties with representatives of the Egyptian court, in 1854 he received from the ruler of Egypt Said Pasha a concession for the construction of the Suez Canal. In 1859-1869 he supervised the construction of this canal. The successful completion of the construction and the opening of the Suez Canal brought him well-deserved fame: Lesseps became a member of the French Academy, the Academy of Sciences, many scientific societies, and was awarded the Legion of Honor. Even the scandal with the Panama joint-stock company headed by him for the construction of the Panama Canal could not undermine his reputation. The collapse of this company in 1888 led to the ruin of tens of thousands of small shareholders. To conceal embezzlement, abuse and a difficult financial situation, the company's board bribed French ministers, senators, deputies and newspaper editors. Figuratively, the word "Panama" began to mean a major political and financial scam. After an official investigation, Lesseps and his son Charles were sentenced in February 1893 to five years in prison. Only his son had to serve his sentence for a short time, since soon the court reversed this decision.
