[les-uh
ps; Fr. le-seps] 
| Fer⋅di⋅nand Ma⋅rie, Vi⋅comte de [fer-dee-nahn ma-ree, vee-kawnt duh] , 1805–94, French engineer and diplomat: promoter of the Suez Canal. |
| Les·seps (lěs'əps, lě-sěps') French diplomat and engineer who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal (1859-1869). He directed the company that began the Panama Canal (1878) but abandoned the project because of bankruptcy (1888). |