Cornelis Lely

Cornelis Lely (Dutch pronunciation: [kɔrˈneːlɪs ˈleːli]; 23 September 1854 – 22 January 1929) was a Dutch politician of the Liberal Union and civil engineer who was Minister of Water Management and Governor of Suriname. The designer of Afsluitdijk, the largest dam and causeway at its time of construction, in 1932, he oversaw the Zuiderzee Works as Minister, turning the Zuiderzee into a lake and making possible the conversion of a vast area of former seabed into dry land. His plan deeply transposed and influenced the current geography of the Netherlands. Lelystad, the capital of the province of Flevoland, is named after him.