{{Short description|French aviator}} '''Jacques Benjamin de Lesseps''' was a French aviator born in Paris on 5 July 1883, killed in an air accident presumably on 18 October 1927 along with his flight engineer Theodor Chichenko. He was the son of French diplomat and entrepreneur Ferdinand de Lesseps. In 1910, he married Grace Mackenzie, daughter of Sir Willam Mackenzie.
==Early aviation career==
thumb|right|250px|Jacques de Lesseps's pilot's license In 1910, Jacques de Lesseps became the second person to fly an aeroplane over the English Channel. His aircraft was a Blériot Type XI like the one Louis Blériot himself used for the first Channel crossing the year before.<ref>E. Charles Vivian https://www.456fis.org/A_HISTORY_OF_AERONAUTICS__PART_I__XV.htm{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Military career== De Lesseps served with distinction in the French Air Force during World War I, commanding a squadron. He joined the Compagnie Aerienne Franco-Canadienne in air survey work after the war.
==Death== He and his flight engineer, Theodor Chichenko, disappeared during air photography operations off the coast of Matane on 18 October 1927.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Jacques De Lesseps |url=https://archives.museedelagaspesie.ca/p109_licence_de_pilote/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202195923/https://archives.museedelagaspesie.ca/p109_licence_de_pilote/ |archive-date=2 December 2024 |access-date=25 January 2026 |website=Musée de la Gaspésie |language=fr}}</ref>
The body of de Lesseps was found a couple of days later after it washed ashore in Newfoundland. He was buried in Gaspé.<ref name=":0" />
A cairn erected to his memory exists near Gaspé. It records that de Lesseps was the second man to fly the English Channel by airplane. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, held the Croix de Guerre and the United States Distinguished Service Cross.<ref>Frank H. Ellis ''Canada's Flying Heritage'', University of Toronto Press, 1961, {{ISBN|0-8020-4018-7}}, page 240, 382</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://aviatechno.free.fr/brevets/images_brevets.php?image=27 Biography (in French) and portrait ] * [http://www.aerosteles.net/fiche.php?code=gaspe-lesseps&lang=en Pictures of monument at Gaspé]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesseps, Jacques De}} Category:Aviators from Paris Category:1883 births Category:1927 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in Quebec Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1927 Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Canada Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Jacques
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