Sunday 26 April 2009

Ferdinand de Lesseps or wisteria week - Part four

To close wisteria week, here's a little bit of history. Ferdinand, Viscount de Lesseps, the developer of the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, whose ancestry can be retraced as far back as the 14th century, was born in Versailles on the 19th of November 1805. He is also known for his work on the Panama Canal. This statue, standing opposite the boulevard de Lesseps, is a smaller copy of the monumental one that was erected by Emmanuel Frémiet at the entrance of the Suez Canal. Anyone interested in Lesseps can read more about him by clicking here.
---------------------------------
Pour terminer la semaine des glycines, voici un peu d'histoire. Ferdinand, vicompte de Lesseps, le constructeur du Canal de Suez reliant la Méditerranée et la Mer Rouge et concepteur du Canal de Panama. Il est né à Versailles le 19 novembre 1805. Cette statue, qui se trouve en face du boulevard de Lesseps, est une copie miniature de la statue monumentale érigée par Emmanuel Frémiet à l'entrée du Canal de Suez. Si vous voulez en savoir plus sur Lesseps, c'est par ici en français, bien que la version anglaise soit plus complète.

15 comments:

Sally said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I just commented to Jilly on her Menton blog how much I love wisteria, and here you are havign a whole week of celebration. Lovely!

Lowell said...

The Lesseps name was very familiar to me...but I had misplaced why...thanks for the opportunity to recharge my aging brain.

Another grand photo!

Frankie / Nick said...

Such a regal stance he portrays even today.

Clueless in Boston said...

Wonderful looking statue of a great man.

Catherine said...

Ferdinand, nous montre le chemin.

Cezar and Léia said...

Reminds that rock band "Franz Ferdinand"!
Just kidding :-)
Beautiful spot!
He was a great man!
Léia

Anonymous said...

I had no idea there was a "Wisteria Week." Now I know.

Unknown said...

I've just checked his statue in Port Said and it's really big! I wonder why they have removed it from the (also big) pedestal... It looked much better there!

Small City Scenes said...

Wow!! A week of wisteria. It is gorgeous!
Thanks for the info on the statue. MB

Stefan Jansson said...

Thanks for another history lesson, always interesting.

Anonymous said...

Your wisteria week is so creative!!! The de Lesseps statue appears to be pointing to wisteria!!!! Learned something about the Suez Canal. Merci!!!

One of our local colleges (Greensboro) just announced they were closing their French Department because of the budget crisis. Some of the world's most brilliant writers and scholars majored in French literature. This was sad news to those of us who love language learning.

Juergen Kuehn said...

Thank you very much for your history records. You pushed my general knowledge.

Marie-Noyale said...

Je parlais de l'odeur des magnolias dans Larchmont mais a Versailles l'odeur des Glycines doit etre ennivrante!!!
Une superbe collection que tu nous offres la!

stromsjo said...

Imagine the effort involved in making those canals come true. No computers to aid in the design, no modern machines to do the digging.

EG CameraGirl said...

I have friends who've just returned from Panama. I can hardly wait to see their photos. ;-)

It was a great week about wisteria!