EPILOGUE

Philippe Bunau-Varilla died on the 18th of May, 1940, at an American hospital in Paris, shortly after his interview with Eric Sevareid and just as the Germans began invading France during the Second World War. The funeral was attended by a small group of government officials and his family, with the exception of his daughter Giselle, who was in Kenya with her husband, and Etienne, who was serving in the French Air Force.

Etienne, who had received a Voisin plane as a graduation gift from his father, had become one of the first French pilots. During the First World War, a bomber he piloted was shot down in Speyer, but Etienne survived only to be captured and held hostage until his release during a prisoner exchange.

Maurice Bunau-Varilla, who sided with the Germans because of their anti-Marxist views, allowed the invading forces to use his newspaper, Le Matin, as an official publication during the occupation. Maurice died before the war ended and his son Jean-Guy, who worked at Le Matin, was accused of collaborating with the enemy. As a consequence, the family fortune was confiscated and Maurice was sentenced to life in prison. Although he was released in 1953, he is said to have committed suicide soon after.

Without the involvement of Philippe Bunau-Varilla, the Panama Canal, and perhaps the Republic of Panama, probably would not exist as we know them today.

*****

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References

In addition to the people mentioned in the Acknowledgments section of the book, the writer used the following works as reference during the research process:

Bunau-Varilla, Philippe. The Great Adventure of Panama. Dodo Press, 2010

Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, Panama, the creation, destruction, and resurrection. McBride, Nast & Company, 1914

Bunau-Varilla, Philippe, From Panama to Verdun. Philadelphia Dorrance and Company, 1940

Anguizola, Gustave, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, The Man Behind the Panama Canal. Nelson Hall, 1980

McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas, Simon & Schuster, 1977

Morris, Edmund. Theodore Rex, Random House, 2001

Loizillon, Gabriel. The Bunau-Varilla Brothers and the Panama Canal. Lulu, 2008