Facts: - known for: panama canal - caption: philippe-jean panama canal bunau-varilla was influential in the construction of the - death date: 1940 - birth date: july 26 , 1859 - name: philippe-jean bunau-varilla - image size: 150px - nationality: french - image: bunau-varilla . jpg - birth place: paris Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of philippe-jean bunau-varilla .
philippe-jean bunau-varilla -lrb- -rrb- -lrb- 1859 -- 1940 -rrb- , commonly referred to as simply philippe bunau-varilla and monsignor brun varilla , was a french engineer and soldier .with the assistance of american lobbyist and lawyer william nelson cromwell , bunau-varilla greatly influenced the united states ' decision concerning the construction site for the famed panama canal .he also worked closely with united states president theodore roosevelt in the latter 's orchestration of the panamanian revolution .