Lesseps Ferdinand Marie de

Related to Lesseps Ferdinand Marie de: Ferdinand de Saussure

Les·seps

 (lĕs′əps, lĕ-sĕps′), Vicomte Ferdinand Marie de 1805-1894.
French diplomat and engineer who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal (1859-1869). He directed the company that began the Panama Canal (1882) but abandoned the project because of bankruptcy (1888).
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.