Cornélius Herz: the Panama Canal, a financial pyramid and a feigned disability
The story of an adventurer at the centre of France’s biggest corruption scandal of the late nineteenth century. I examine how the Panama Canal venture came to resemble a financial pyramid, drawing a comparison with the much later MMM scheme.
Investigative journalists exposed an extensive corruption network in which Cornélius Herz allegedly played a central role. Much of the affair was hushed up, and historians still lack a complete picture.
0:00 Introduction
2:20 Early years
5:20 Privilege and evading service
9:14 A doctor without a diploma
16:39 Official and businessman
20:05 Working with Thomas Edison
21:01 The lobbyist
27:40 The Panama Canal
41:12 Emigration and disability
Background music: Scott Buckley — “I Walk With Ghosts”.
Sources
Jean-Yves Mollier, Cornélius Herz (1845-1898). Portrait d'un lobbyiste franco-américain à la Belle Époque.
La Libre Parole, 1892-1899.
La Croix, 1885-1899.
Investigative journalists exposed an extensive corruption network in which Cornélius Herz allegedly played a central role. Much of the affair was hushed up, and historians still lack a complete picture.
0:00 Introduction
2:20 Early years
5:20 Privilege and evading service
9:14 A doctor without a diploma
16:39 Official and businessman
20:05 Working with Thomas Edison
21:01 The lobbyist
27:40 The Panama Canal
41:12 Emigration and disability
Background music: Scott Buckley — “I Walk With Ghosts”.
Sources
Jean-Yves Mollier, Cornélius Herz (1845-1898). Portrait d'un lobbyiste franco-américain à la Belle Époque.
La Libre Parole, 1892-1899.
La Croix, 1885-1899.