On December 7, 1894, the diplomat and engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps died in Guilly (Loire Valley, France), who would go down in history as the promoter of the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), which would link the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Considered one of the most relevant engineering works in history, its opening would put into operation a new navigation route between Europe and the Far East, without the need to circumnavigate the African continent, which would save thousands of kilometers.
Protagonist of a dizzying life, Lesseps had been consul general of the French Republic in the Principality of Catalonia, based in Barcelona (1842-1848).
