Question #1 Who's idea was it to build the canal

It was Count Ferdinand de Lesseps idea to build the Suez Canal. At the time he decided to revisit the idea of building the Suez Canal it was 1852 he was about fifty years old and about to retire.He had conceived of the idea for the Suez Canal about twenty years, but would often turn over the idea of actually making it come true. Although he was constantly turning down the idea of building the Suez Canal, he would often visualize what he thought his Canal would be like. In 1852 he drew up a programme of his idea which he then translated into Arabic, and then sent a letter to an old friend, the Dutch Consul-General to see what his chances were of getting the idea through to the Abba Pasha, the viceroy of Egypt. The Consul-General did not think that it would be possible, so de Lesseps asked the Sultan who declined on the idea, so de Lesseps did nothing about the project for two years. Two years later another friend of de Lesseps, Mohammed Said became the new viceroy of Egypt. de Lesseps asked him about the idea and he agreed to help finance the construction of the Suez Canal.