Who led the first attempt to create a canal through central america to connect the atlantic and pacific oceans and what country was he from?

The man in question was Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was from France. He had been a developer of the Suez Canal in Egypt. The attempts he led to build a canal through Panama were beset by disease epidemics (like malaria) and financial problems. Eventually the Panama Canal project was taken over by the United States. The first ship sailed through the Panama Canal in 1914.