Croatians and the Suez Canal

By John Badovinac

Croatians played an important role in the building of this waterway which connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, and which is often referred to as the "world's lifeline" by many writers and reporters.

At one time or another, there were over 30,000 workers employed in the building of the Suez Canal. This was during the 1860's, and of these there were about 2,700 Croatians who took part in various phases of the construction. Most of these Croatian workers were from the Boka Kotorska district, Dubrovnik, Korcula, and other areas along the Adriatic littoral.

The huge project was started in 1859, and the canal was completed and opened to traffic in 1869. It was financed by the French, through sale of stock, but control was later taken over by the British, who operated the canal until it was seized and eventually nationalized by the late Egyptian Prime Minister Nasser in 1956.

Although the Suez Canal is a little over one hundred years old, the idea of building such a canal was first broached more than 3,000 years ago. In fact, there was an attempt made to build a canal as early as 1400 B.C., when the Egyptian King Rameses II actually built a canal from the Nile to Lake Timsaha, but this waterway did not last long and it fell into disuse because of a lack of traffic. It was soon gutted by sand from sandstorms in the area, and eventually abandoned.

And from a story appearing in a recent issue of the Zagreb daily Vjesnik, we learned that the ancient Republic of Dubrovnik once had plans to dig the canal, being aware of the advantages to be gained for its shipping vessels which had to make the long trek around the Cape of Good Hope in carrying on commerce between Europe and the Far East. But lack of finances forced the Republic to abandon the idea. Another strong advocate of the building of a canal across the Isthmus of Suez was Pope Sixtus V, regarded as the only Croatian Pope to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Pope Sixtus' ancestors were supposed to have come from the Boka Kotorska district.

Later, Napoleon considered the proposition of building a canal, but nothing actually came of these proposals until the middle of the 19th century when the French established a company and raised funds through the sale of stock to provide the financial backing necessary for such a project. The canal was dug under the direction of De Lesseps, a French engineer.

Construction was begun with only a few hundred Egyptian workers, but later skilled workmen from all over the world joined the work force, and among them were the thousands of Croatians. The Croatian language was eventually heard the length and breadth of the canal, and there is today a community near the port of Suez which is known as Croati, because of the number, of Croatians who settled there during the building of the canal.

One of the Croatian workers from Peljesac brought back a shovel which was used in the digging of the canal, and this shovel is on display to this day in the Orebic Maritime Museum. It is one of two such shovels which have been preserved to this date. The other is in the London Museum.

One of our Croatian workmen from Crikvenica was chosen to break the dam in the Bitter Lakes, thus joining the waters of the Mediterranean Sea with the waters of the Red Sea. He received an award of 60 ducats for his effort.

The canal was officialy opened on November 17, 1869 in the presence of many of the crowned heads of Europe. Sixty-eight ships from as many nations of the world took part in the grand opening ceremonies, and riding the Royal French Yacht was none other than the Empress Eugenie of France, wife of Napoleon III. It is further interesting to note that the canal was blessed by a Croatian Archbishop, Lujo Curcija, from Dubrovnik. He was the Archbishop of Alexandria. and the apostolic vicar to Egypt. Bishop Curcija served in Africa for many years, and died on his way back to his native land in the year 1881, and was buried at sea.

Most of the workers on the canal returned to their homes after the project was completed, but there were about a thousand Croatians who remained in Egypt and continued to work on the canal as tug-boat operators and sailors. Some even opened businesses along the canal's length. There was one Croatian from Boka who was selected as the guardian of the Canal's treasury, and held that post for 40 years.

Croatians took part also in the recent clean-up operations on the canal during which many sunken boats, dating back not only to the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, but as far back as World War I, were raised. It is said that the Suez Canal was never as clean of obstructions as it is now. It has been widened and deepened, and will eventually be deepened some more, so that it can handle some of th6 super-tankers which were built since the canal was closed. The canal was closed for a period of eight years, and it was through the joint efforts of Egypt, the United States, Britain and France that it was cleared of all obstacles and opened to normal shipping again.

Some of our people are employed today on various canal projects, and their services are especially valued in guiding ships through the canal. The canal is 103 miles long, with a width of 196 feet, and it is now up to 50 feet deep in places.