From 1966 to 1976, he hostedThe Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, a documentary television series. A second documentary series,The Cousteau Odyssey, ran from 1977 to 1982 on public television stations.
Cousteau was born on 11 June 1910, inSaint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, France, to Daniel Cousteau and Élisabeth Duranthon. He had one brother,Pierre-Antoine. Cousteau completed his preparatory studies at theCollège Stanislas in Paris. In 1930, he entered theÉcole navale and graduated as a gunnery officer. However, an automobile accident, which broke both his arms, cut short his career in naval aviation. The accident forced Cousteau to change his plans to become a naval pilot, so he then indulged his passion for the ocean.[2]
InToulon, where he was serving on theCondorcet, Cousteau carried out his first underwater experiments, thanks to his friendPhilippe Tailliez who in 1936 lent him someFernez underwatergoggles, predecessors of modernswimming goggles.[1] Cousteau also belonged to the information service of theFrench Navy, and was sent on missions to Shanghai and Japan (1935–1938) and in theUSSR (1939).[3]
On 12 July 1937, he marriedSimone Melchior, his business partner,[4] with whom he had two sons,Jean-Michel (born 1938) andPhilippe (1940–1979). His sons took part in the adventures of theCalypso. In 1991, six months after his wife Simone's death from cancer, he marriedFrancine Triplet. They already had a daughter Diane Cousteau (born 1980) and a son, Pierre-Yves Cousteau (born 1982, during Cousteau's marriage to his first wife).
Early 1940s: innovation of modern underwater diving
The years ofWorld War II were decisive for the history of diving. After thearmistice of 1940, the family of Simone and Jacques-Yves Cousteau took refuge inMegève, where he became a friend of the Ichac family who also lived there. Jacques-Yves Cousteau andMarcel Ichac shared the same desire to reveal to the general public unknown and inaccessible places—for Cousteau the underwater world and for Ichac the high mountains. The two neighbors took the firstex-aequo prize of the Congress of Documentary Film in 1943, for the first French underwater film:Par dix-huit mètres de fond (18 meters deep), made without breathing apparatus the previous year in theEmbiez islands inVar, withPhilippe Tailliez andFrédéric Dumas, using a depth-pressure-proof camera case developed by mechanical engineer Léon Vèche, an engineer of Arts and Measures at the Naval College.
In 1943, they made the filmÉpaves (Shipwrecks), in which they used two of the very firstAqua-Lung prototypes. These prototypes were made inBoulogne-Billancourt by theAir Liquide company, following instructions from Cousteau andÉmile Gagnan.[5]
Having kept bonds with the English speakers (he spent part of his childhood in the United States and usually spoke English) and with French soldiers in North Africa (under AdmiralLemonnier), Jacques-Yves Cousteau (whose villa "Baobab" atSanary (Var) was oppositeAdmiral Darlan's villa "Reine"), helped the French Navy to join again with the Allies; he assembled a commando operation against the Italian espionage services in France, and received several military decorations for his deeds. At that time, he kept his distance from his brotherPierre-Antoine Cousteau, a "pen anti-semite" who edited the collaborationist newspaperJe suis partout (I am everywhere) and who received the death sentence in 1946. However, this was later commuted to a life sentence, and Pierre-Antoine was released in 1954.
During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the Aqua-Lung design which gave birth to theopen-circuit scuba technology used today. According to his first book,The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure (1953), Cousteau started diving withFernez goggles in 1936, and in 1939 used the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus invented in 1926 byCommander Yves le Prieur.[6] Cousteau was not satisfied with the length of time he could spend underwater with the Le Prieur apparatus so he improved it to extend underwater duration by adding ademand regulator, invented in 1942 byÉmile Gagnan.[6] In 1943 Cousteau tried out the first prototypeAqua-Lung which finally made extended underwater exploration possible.
In 1946, Cousteau and Tailliez showed the filmÉpaves ("Shipwrecks") to Admiral Lemonnier, who gave them the responsibility of setting up the GRS (Groupement de Recherches Sous-marines, Underwater Research Group) of theFrench Navy inToulon. A little later it became the GERS (Groupe d'Études et de Recherches Sous-Marines, Underwater Studies and Research Group), then the COMISMER (Commandement des Interventions Sous la Mer, Undersea Interventions Command), and finally the CEPHISMER (Centre Expert Plongée Humaine et Intervention Sous la Mer, Expert Centre for Human Diving and Undersea Intervention). In 1947,Chief Petty OfficerMaurice Fargues became the first diver to die using anAqua-Lung, while attempting a new depth record to 120 m with the GERS near Toulon.[7]
Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1948
In 1948, between missions of mine clearance, underwater exploration and technological and physiological tests, Cousteau undertook a first campaign in the Mediterranean on board thesloopÉlie Monnier,[8][9] with Philippe Tailliez, Frédéric Dumas, Jean Alinat and the scenario writer Marcel Ichac. The small team also undertook the exploration of the Roman wreck ofMahdia (Tunisia). It was the first underwater archaeology operation using autonomous diving, opening the way for scientific underwater archaeology. Cousteau and Marcel Ichac brought back from there the Carnets diving film (presented and preceded with theCannes Film Festival 1951).
Cousteau and theÉlie Monnier then took part in the rescue of ProfessorJacques Piccard'sbathyscaphe, theFNRS-2, during the 1949 expedition to Dakar. Thanks to this rescue, the French Navy was able to reuse the sphere of the bathyscaphe to construct theFNRS-3.
The adventures of this period are told in the two booksThe Silent World (1953, by Cousteau and Dumas) andPlongées sans câble (1954, byPhilippe Tailliez).
In 1950, he founded the French Oceanographic Campaigns (FOC), and leased a ship calledCalypso fromThomas Loel Guinness for a symbolic one franc a year. Cousteau refitted theCalypso as a mobile laboratory for field research and as his principal vessel for diving and filming. He also carried out underwater archaeological excavations in the Mediterranean, in particular atGrand-Congloué (1952).
With the publication of his first book in 1953,The Silent World, Cousteau correctly predicted the existence of theecholocation abilities ofporpoises. He reported that his research vessel, theÉlie Monier, was heading to theStraits of Gibraltar and noticed a group of porpoises following them. Cousteau changed course a few degrees off the optimal course to the center of the strait, and the porpoises followed for a few minutes, then diverged toward mid-channel again. It was evident that they knew where the optimal course lay, even if the humans did not. Cousteau concluded that the cetaceans had something likesonar, which was a relatively new feature onsubmarines.
In 1954, Cousteau conducted a survey ofAbu Dhabi waters on behalf of British Petroleum. Among those accompanying him wasLouis Malle who made a black-and-white film of the expedition for the company.[10] Cousteau won thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival in 1956 forThe Silent World co-produced with Malle. In 1957, Cousteau took over as leader of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco.[2] Afterward, with the assistance of Jean Mollard, he made a"diving saucer" SP-350, an experimental underwater vehicle which could reach a depth of 350 meters. The successful experiment was quickly repeated in 1965 with two vehicles which reached 500 meters.
Cousteau also took part in inventing the "SP-350 Denise Diving Saucer" in 1959 which was an invention best for exploring the ocean floor, as it allowed one to explore on solid ground.[2]
In October 1960, a large amount ofradioactive waste was going to be discarded in the Mediterranean Sea by theCommissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA). The CEA argued that the dumps were experimental in nature, and that French oceanographers such asVsevolod Romanovsky had recommended it. Romanovsky and other French scientists, includingLouis Fage and Jacques Cousteau, repudiated the claim, saying that Romanovsky had in mind a much smaller amount. The CEA claimed that there was little circulation (and hence little need for concern) at the dump site between Nice and Corsica, but French public opinion sided with the oceanographers rather than with the CEA atomic energy scientists. The CEA chief,Francis Perrin, decided to postpone the dump.[12] Cousteau organized a publicity campaign which in less than two weeks gained wide popular support. The train carrying the waste was stopped by women and children sitting on the railway tracks, and it was sent back to its origin.
Cousteau on theCalypso
In the 1960s, Cousteau was involved with a set of three projects to buildunderwater "villages"; the projects were named Precontinent I, Precontinent II and Precontinent III. Each ensuing project was aimed at increasing the depth at which people continuously lived under water, and were an attempt at creating an environment in which men could live and work on the seafloor. The projects are best known as Conshelf I (1962),Conshelf II (1963), and Conshelf III (1965). The names "Precontinent", and "Continental Shelf Station" (Conshelf) were used interchangeably by Cousteau.
A meeting with American television companies (ABC,Metromedia,NBC) created the seriesThe Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, with the character of the commander in the red bonnet inherited fromstandard diving dress intended to give the films a "personalized adventure" style. This documentary television series ran for 10 years from 1966 to 1976. A second documentary series,The Cousteau Odyssey, ran from 1977 to 1982 on public television stations.
In 1970, he wrote the bookThe Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea with his son Philippe. In this book, Cousteau described theoceanic whitetip shark as "the most dangerous of all sharks".
In December 1972, two years after the volcano's last eruption, The Cousteau Society was filmingVoyage au bout du monde onDeception Island, Antarctica, when Michel Laval,Calypso's second in command, was struck and killed by a rotor of the helicopter that was ferrying betweenCalypso and the island.[13][14]
In 1973, along with his two sons and Frederick Hyman, he created the Cousteau Society for the Protection of Ocean Life, Frederick Hyman being its first President.[15]
In 1975,John Denver released the tribute song "Calypso" on his albumWindsong, and on the B-side of his hit song "I'm Sorry". "Calypso" became a hit on its own and was later considered the new A-side, reaching No. 2 on the charts.[citation needed]
In 1977, together withPeter Scott, he received the UN International Pahlavi Environment prize.[16]
On 28 June 1979, while theCalypso was on an expedition toPortugal, his second son Philippe, his preferred and designated successor and with whom he had co-produced all his films since 1969, died in aPBY Catalina flying boat crash in the Tagus River near Lisbon. Cousteau was deeply affected. He called his eldest son, the architect Jean-Michel, to his side. This collaboration lasted 14 years.[citation needed]
From 1986 to 1992, Cousteau releasedRediscovery of the World, also with TBS.
On 24 November 1988, he was elected to theAcadémie française, chair 17, succeedingJean Delay. His official reception under the cupola took place on 22 June 1989, the response to his speech of reception being given by Bertrand Poirot-Delpech. After his death, he was replaced byÉrik Orsenna on 28 May 1998.
In June 1990, the composerJean Michel Jarre paid homage to the commander by entitling his new albumWaiting for Cousteau. He also composed the music for Cousteau's documentary "Palawan, the last refuge".
On 2 December 1990, his wife, Simone Cousteau died of cancer. Six months later, in June 1991, in Paris, Jacques-Yves Cousteau remarried to Francine Triplet, with whom he had a relationship since the early 1980s and two children, Diane (born in 1980) and Pierre-Yves (born in 1982). Francine Cousteau currently continues her husband's work as the head of the Cousteau Foundation and Cousteau Society. From that point, the relations between Jacques-Yves and his elder son, who is 8 years older than Francine, worsened.
In November 1991, Cousteau gave an interview to theUNESCO Courier, in which he stated that he was in favour ofhuman population control and population decrease. Widely quoted on the Internet are these two paragraphs from the interview: "What should we do to eliminate suffering and disease? It's a wonderful idea but perhaps not altogether a beneficial one in the long run. If we try to implement it we may jeopardize the future of our species...It's terrible to have to say this. World population must be stabilized and to do that we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. This is so horrible to contemplate that we shouldn't even say it. But the general situation in which we are involved is lamentable".[20]
In 1995, Cousteau became involved in a legal battle with his sonJean-Michel, who was advertising the "Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort" in the South Pacific, to prevent him from using the Cousteau name for business purposes in the United States.[21] This resulted in Jean-Michel Cousteau being ordered by the court to not encourage confusion between his for-profit business and his father's non-profit endeavours.
On 11 January 1996,Calypso was rammed and sunk in the port of Singapore by abarge. TheCalypso was refloated and towed home to France.[22]
ArchbishopJean-Marie Lustiger celebrated his funeral Mass at Notre-Dame in Paris. In his homily he stated, "Without betraying any confidences, Father Carré told me of his respect for Jacques-Yves Cousteau. He discovered in him a man of prayer whom he accompanied in his last months of his life, giving him, through the sacraments of the Church, the strength of his passage towards eternity."[23]
In a chapter entitled "The Holy Scriptures and the Environment" in the posthumous workThe Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus, he is quoted as stating that "The glory of nature provides evidence that God exists".[24]
Cousteau said that just because fish are cold-blooded does not mean they do not feel pain, and that recreational fishermen only say so to reassure their conscience.[25]
Jacques-Yves Cousteau died of a heart attack on 25 June 1997 in Paris, two weeks after his 87th birthday. He was buried in the family vault atSaint-André-de-Cubzac, his birthplace.[26] An homage was paid to him by the town by naming the street which runs out to the house of his birth "rue du Commandant Cousteau", where a commemorative plaque was placed.
Cousteau's submarine near Oceanographic Museum in Monaco
Cousteau's legacy includes more than 120 television documentaries, more than 50 books, and an environmental protection foundation with 300,000 members.[1]
Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician". He was, in reality, a sophisticated showman, teacher, and lover of nature.[citation needed] His work permitted many people to explore the resources of the oceans.
His work also created a new kind of scientific communication, criticized at the time by some academics. The so-called "divulgationism", a simple way of sharing scientific concepts, was soon employed in other disciplines and became one of the most important characteristics of modern television broadcasting.
The Cousteau Society and its French counterpart,l'Équipe Cousteau, both of which Jacques-Yves Cousteau founded, are still active today. The Society is currently attempting to turn the originalCalypso into a museum and it is raising funds to build a successor vessel, theCalypso II.
In 2007, theInternational Watch Company introduced the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph "Cousteau Divers" Special Edition. The timepiece incorporated a sliver of wood from the interior of Cousteau's Calypso research vessel. Having developed the diver's watch, IWC offered support to The Cousteau Society. The proceeds from the timepieces' sales were partially donated to the non-profit organization involved in conservation of marine life and preservation of tropical coral reefs.[29]
Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of Jacques Cousteau, is in the process of constructing a community of ocean flooring analysis stations, called Proteus, offCuraçao at a depth of about 20 m in a marine-protected area. Aquanauts could reside and work in these underwater habitats. Front-end engineering has started in 2022 with the habitat planned for the sea bottom in 2025.[30]
In October 1997, an underwater plaque honoring Jacques Cousteau was placed in the underwater dive park off Casino Point inAvalon, California. Because of deterioration, In November 2020 the plaque was replaced.[31][32]
Jacques Cousteau is depicted in the music video for thePlastic Bertrand song titled "Jacques Cousteau." In the video Jacques Cousteau is depicted as wearing nautical attire and living in a fish bowl.
Jacques Cousteau was briefly featured in the animated television series,SpongeBob SquarePants, in the episodeSpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout. He was portrayed as the French Narrator who frequently speaks and/or makes appearances in the show.
^Sevellec, E.J. (1 December 2006)."Naissance du GERS et des premiers plongeurs démineurs" (in French). Philippe.tailliez.net.Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. Retrieved18 February 2010. According to Sevellec, theÉlie Monnier was an old German tugboat originally calledAlbatros and handed over to France as a war reparation, and then re-baptised in honor of the maritime engineer Élie Monnier who had disappeared while diving atMers-el-Kébir on the wreck of the battleshipBretagne
^Ohayon, Albert (2009)."When Cousteau Came to Canada".NFB.ca. National Film Board of Canada.Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved25 October 2009.
.jpg)
