Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (11 June 1910 – 25 June 1997) was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, scientist, photographer and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the aqua-lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie française.

He is generally known in France as le commandant Cousteau ("Commander Cousteau"). Worldwide, he was commonly known as Jacques Cousteau or Captain Cousteau.

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Life

Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, to Daniel (a lawyer) and Élisabeth Cousteau. In 1930 he entered the French Navy as the head of the underwater research group. He later worked his way up the ranks as he became more famous and more useful to the navy. In 1937 he married Simone Melchior, by whom he had two sons, Jean-Michel (1938) and Philippe (1940). In 1991, one year after his wife Simone's death of cancer, he married Francine Triplet. They already had a daughter Diane Cousteau (1980) and a son Pierre-Yves Cousteau (1982), born before their marriage.

Cousteau died at the age of 87 of a heart attack while recovering from a respiratory illness. He is buried in the Cousteau family plot at Saint-André-de-Cubzac Cemetery, Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France.

Marine exploration

According to his first book, The Silent World, Cousteau started skindiving—with a mask, snorkel, and fins with Frédéric Dumas and Philippe Tailliez in 1938. In 1943, he tried out the first prototype aqua-lung — designed by Cousteau and Émile Gagnan — which made lengthy underwater exploration possible for the first time. Although Cousteau and Taillez were naval officers, somehow the Navy paid little attention to their underwater activities.

Biology

Before the echolocation abilities of porpoises were discovered, Cousteau suggested that they might exist. In his first book, The Silent World (1953, pp. 206-207), he reported that his research vessel, the Élie Monier, was heading to the Straits 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 like sonar, which was a relatively new feature on submarines. He was right.

Marine conservation

In October 1960, a large amount of radioactive waste was going to be discarded in the sea by the European Atomic Energy Community. Cousteau organised a publicity campaign which gained wide popular support. The train carrying the waste was stopped by women and children sitting on the railway, and it was sent back to its origin. The risk was avoided. During this, a French government man had said falsely to a newspaper that Cousteau had approved the dump; Cousteau managed to get the newspaper to issue a correction. In November 1960 in Monaco, an official visit by the French president Charles de Gaulle turned into a debate on the events of October 1960 and on nuclear experiments in general. The French ambassador already had suggested that Prince Rainier avoid the subject, but the president allegedly asked Cousteau in a friendly manner to be kind toward nuclear researchers, to which Cousteau allegedly replied: "No sir, it is your researchers that ought to be kind toward us."

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; it now has more than 300,000 members.

In 1977, together with Peter Scott, he received the UN International Environment prize.

In 1985, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan.

In 1992, he was invited to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations' International Conference on Environment and Development, and then he became a regular consultant for the UN and the World Bank.

Legacy

Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician." He was, in reality, a sophisticated showman, teacher, and lover of nature. His work permitted many people to explore the resources of the "blue continent."

His work also created a new kind of scientific communication, criticised 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 TV broadcasting.

In 1950, he leased a ship called Calypso from Thomas Loel Guinness for symbolic one franc a year and equipped her as a mobile laboratory for field research and support base for diving and filming. On January 11, 1996, Calypso was rammed and sunk in Singapore harbour by a barge.

Cousteau died on June 25, 1997. The Cousteau Society and its French counterpart l'Équipe Cousteau, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau founded, are still active today.

In his last years, after marrying again, Cousteau became involved in a legal battle with his son Jean-Michel over the use of the Cousteau name, resulting in Jean-Michel Cousteau being ordered by the court not to encourage confusion between his for-profit business and his father's non-profit endeavours.

In 2007 International Watch Co 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 into conservation of marine life and preservation of tropical coral reefs. ^[1]

Pop culture tributes and references

In 1975, folk singer John Denver composed the song "Calypso" as a tribute to Cousteau and his research ship Calypso. The song reached the number-one position on the Billboard 100 charts.

In 1993, Ol' Dirty Bastard references Cousteau in the song "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" on the Wu-Tang Clan album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

In Wes Anderson's Rushmore (1998) there is a famous quote by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in a book the main character, Max Fisher, reads and searches for who wrote it in progressing the story. The quote was "When one man, for whatever reason, has an opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself."

Two New Age composers, Vangelis (who was heavily involved with Cousteau in the 1990s) and Jean Michel Jarre, released two albums including original numbers honoring Jacques-Yves Cousteau, titled Cousteau's Dreams (2000) and Waiting for Cousteau (1990), respectively.

The 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou directed by Wes Anderson, is regarded as both an homage to and a send-up of Cousteau's career. It includes an end credit that reads "In memory of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and with gratitude to the Cousteau Society, which was not involved in the making of this film."

Musician Matthew Thiessen refers to Jacques Cousteau as being one of his role models in his song "Trademark".

See also

• Scuba diving
• Aqua-lung

Jacques-Yves Cousteau's ships

• Calypso (ship)
  • SP-350 Denise ("the Diving saucer")
• Alcyone (ship)
• Calypso II (planned)

References

• The Cousteau Society
• About the Cousteau Society (A page by Robert Simms of Clemson University Mathematics Department)
• NOAA summary of Cousteau Society contributions
• Cousteau speaking to young people (.mov QuickTime movie, 1.6Mb)
• Short biography
• Obituary (CNN)
• Jacques-Yves Cousteau at the Internet Movie Database

• Find-A-Grave profile for Jacques-Yves Cousteau

• Jacques-Yves Cousteau (A brief biography by British amateur scuba diver Dave "Hooch" Hasney)
• Fact file by NNDB
• Review of latest book, The Human, The Orchid and The Octopus