Jacques Yves Cousteau. Destruction of the legend. Jacques-Yves Cousteau: forever in Monaco The military rank of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau is an outstanding oceanographer and just a great person. During his long and eventful life, this outstanding researcher managed to do very, very much. He will be remembered by his descendants as a talented writer, director, as well as an outstanding scientist who revealed many secrets of the underwater world, thus making an invaluable contribution to world science.

Without it, our understanding of the world of the underwater depths would not be complete. After all, the scientific contribution of this outstanding Frenchman will always remain truly invaluable.

Early years, childhood and the family of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

The future famous oceanographer was born in the French town of Saint-André-de-Cubzac in the Bordeaux region, which has always been famous for its warm sun and rich grape harvests. His mother was a housewife most of her life, and his father, Daniel, worked as a lawyer.

On the paternal side, our today's hero has Belarusian roots. The father of the future oceanographer moved to France from Belarus. The uncle of the oceanographer lived all his life in the BSSR.

It is quite remarkable that the real name of the oceanographer, as well as his lesser-known father, is "Bus". Only after marrying the mother of Jacques-Yves, his father decided to remake the Belarusian surname and write it down in the French manner.

Returning to other aspects of the life of the Cousteau family, we note that the parents of the oceanographer were constantly traveling. They often traveled to other cities, went to the mountains or to the seashore. Perhaps it was this way of life that predetermined the character of our today's hero.

He was drawn to new discoveries and bright achievements. Having learned to swim early, Jacques-Yves Cousteau did not climb out of the water for days. Subsequently, it became an important part of his life.

After the First World War, Cousteau Sr. found a job in an American company, and therefore the whole family was forced to follow him. In the USA, Jacques-Yves learned English well, and also began to get involved in mechanics for the first time.

It was here during one of the trips to the sea that our today's hero made his first dives. The underwater world of the ocean so fascinated the young guy that later he simply could not imagine his life without the depths of the sea.

Why did Jacques If Cousteau convert to Islam?

After returning to France, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to create technical samples and very soon managed to design a battery-powered machine. This engineering success brought him some money, with which he bought his first movie camera.

During this period, he was interested in many things at once, as if still unable to find himself among many hobbies. He took small sketches, was engaged in the creation of sketches of various techniques, and also went swimming in the evenings. Absolutely indifferent, our today's hero was only related to training sessions.

Because of his low academic performance, they once even wanted to expel him from school. However, his father intervened in the matter, taking the guy from the classroom on his own. At the family council, it was decided that Jacques-Yves Cousteau would go to the army. This decision suited everyone, and therefore, very soon, the young guy submitted documents to the French Naval Academy.

In the early thirties, as part of the battle cruiser Jeanne d'Arc, our today's hero made a round-the-world trip across all the seas of our planet. This event played an important role in his fate. Jacques-Yves Cousteau got acquainted with various aspects of being at sea, and also comprehended the basics of shipbuilding and maritime navigation. Subsequently, the famous oceanographer sailed on many other ships.

The path of Jacques-Yves Cousteau in science: to the depths of the sea

In 1938, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to often dive into the depths of the sea, using only a mask and fins. During this period, for the first time, he began to seriously study the underwater world and its inhabitants.

Odyssey by Jacques Cousteau

Realizing that the existing technologies are imperfect, already in the early forties, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, together with his friend Emile Gagnan, began to create a special apparatus for diving to the bottom of the ocean. From the very beginning, it was decided that the system would operate on the basis of compressed air, which would be located in special cylinders.

As a result, in 1943, the first prototype of an aqualung was created, which was subsequently improved and refined several times. Having finally received all the necessary equipment for the study of underwater depths, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to engage in scientific activities.

He was engaged in writing books, shooting documentaries, as well as exploring the mysterious world of the deep ocean. Since 1950, our today's hero traveled exclusively on the legendary ship Calypso, which later became a real symbol of the science of oceanography.


In 1957, Jacques-Yves headed the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, within which he began to study marine life. One of the most famous scientific discoveries of the oceanographer was the discovery of internal sonar in cetaceans. In 1973, our today's hero created a non-profit foundation for the protection of underwater inhabitants.

The Last Years of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

During his long life, the scientist created many amazing technical devices for exploring the depths of the sea. So, he is considered the author of waterproof lenses for video cameras, special submarines for the scientific study of underwater depths.

The research of Jacques-Yves Cousteau formed the basis of a series of documentaries, which were subsequently broadcast on many television channels around the world.

For his outstanding scientific research, our today's hero was consecrated to the Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor, and was also awarded many other awards. After the death of the great explorer in 1997, he was solemnly buried in one of the cemeteries of his native town of Saint-André-de-Cubzac.

Personal life of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was married twice in his life. In marriage with his first wife Simone Melchior, two sons of a scientist were born. Both sons from the first marriage of our today's hero also subsequently connected their lives with science.

After the death of his first wife, Jacques-Yves remarried. His second wife was Francine Triplet, who even before the wedding gave birth to a scientist's daughter and son.

June 11, 1910 in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, in the French region of Bordeaux, was born one of the most prominent Citizens of the Ocean - Jacques Yves Cousteau

This extraordinary man always wanted to keep a secret most of his life in general, and his work in particular. In fact, in all his actions, public or not, there were two sides - visible and hidden. It was relatively easy to reconstruct the course of his life, compose his biography and present a catalog of his discoveries and works, and, on the contrary, in most cases it was quite difficult to understand why he decided to participate in this or that enterprise, to move in the chosen direction. The task was complicated by the fact that he practically did not discuss the strategy and tactics of his actions with anyone, even with the people closest to him. He was a "pasha", a "charismatic leader", and he said: "We will go there" - and everyone else obeyed faithfully and obediently.

His father Daniel worked as a private secretary for two Americans. The first was an insurance agent, the second was an entrepreneur. His mother, Elizabeth Duranton, was the daughter of a local apothecary. Because of his father's official duties, the family moved a lot from place to place and quite often lived in the United States, where Jacques Yves studied at one of the private educational institutions in New York.

When it was time to return to France, Cousteau was 13 years old. His father bought a movie camera to shoot family entertainment, but once it fell into the hands of Jacques, he became the sole owner of it. This was the beginning of a real passion: Jacques created "real films", built scenery, filmed and even developed the film himself. He soon formed his first motion picture society, Film Zix, Jacques Cousteau.

The study, which he continued in France, was not marked by particular success. Domestic teaching methods were too different from American ones, and only within the walls of the Jesuit College in Paris, Cousteau began to take classes seriously. He received his bachelor's degree in 1930 - at the age of 20, passed the entrance exams to the Higher National Naval School and was accepted there with good results. In 1933, he was assigned to the Primoge cruiser, heading for the Middle East, and even then, his comrades noted Cousteau's tendency to a somewhat strange manner of talking about himself, as well as his desire for isolation and loneliness.

In 1936, he asked for an assignment to the Naval Aviation and obtained a transfer. In the same year, fascinated by cars and high speeds, he took his father's sports car for a ride and had an accident. Its consequences were truly terrifying for Jacques Yves Cousteau. Many of his ribs were broken, his vertebrae were displaced, his lung was pierced, and his arms were paralyzed. The career of lieutenant of naval aviation Cousteau was over, and only his exceptional willpower, the character of a fighter allowed him to leave the hospital in less than a year. Cousteau was weak, but he stood on his own feet and confidently wielded both hands. He was also in love. Simone Melchior became his happy chosen one. Her mother was the daughter of Admiral Jean Baem, passionate about underwater exploration, the organizer of an expedition to Tunisia, to Mahdia. The will of chance manifested itself in the fact that 12 years later, Jacques Yves Cousteau returned to the same region on a ship to carry out underwater work.

Cousteau was assigned to Suffren and then to Codercel, assigned to the naval base at Toulon. In July 1937, naval lieutenant Jacques-Yves Cousteau married Simone Melchior in Paris and the young family settled down to live in Toulon. Simone was a charming young woman, an exemplary officer's wife, and attracted the attention of all who knew her, and especially those who later came aboard the Calypso.

At the same time, an outstanding person was in Toulon, a naval officer of a higher rank than Jacques Yves Cousteau, a poet, humanist and great sports lover, in love with the sea. He devoted all his time outside of service to the sea, and he spent most of his free time spearfishing in the waters of the Var department, in southern France. His name was Philippe Taye. His inseparable spearfishing friend was named Frederic Dumas, and it was he who later became the legendary Didi. In his book Free Dives (Plongees sans cables), Philippe Taillet later described the character of Jacques Yves Cousteau quite impartially. They met one day in 1938 and Philippe Thayet became Cousteau's freediving godfather. The equipment at that time was the simplest and was limited to a pair of glasses (the so-called Fernez), by the way, very uncomfortable.

Jacques Yves Cousteau was shocked, his whole life turned upside down at that moment, and he decided to devote it entirely to penetration into the underwater world. Philippe Taye, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Didi never parted again. Together they made dives, tried to adapt the systems that existed at that time for breathing underwater. Such, for example, as the spacesuit of Captain Le Prieur. Jacques Yves Cousteau's father-in-law, Henri Melchior, worked for the I Air Luquide company in Paris, where they studied and developed materials and equipment used for various types of gases. His support was invaluable to the three friends.

In September 1939, Jacques-Yves Cousteau was assigned as a gunner to the cruiser Duprelx, where he served until June 1940, the date of the armistice between France and Germany. As for Philippe Tayet, he served on the destroyer Valmy, while Didi was a muleteer in Northern Provence.

In early 1941, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, on the orders of the Vichy government, participated in a successful raid on the Italian representation in Sète in order to obtain secret military fonts. For this operation, he was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1946. Cousteau's participation in this operation was largely due to the position of his older brother Pierre Antoine. With all this, Jacques-Yves Cousteau never left the passion for cinema. With the help of one of his friends, Wesh, he built a 35mm camera, put it in a waterproof box, and after several unsuccessful attempts he managed to take pictures of the seabed at a depth of about 20 meters.

After the sinking of the French fleet at Toulon in November 1942, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his friends were left without their ships and practically without work. They returned to their underwater hobbies and began editing the episodes filmed earlier. The result of this work was the 18-minute film "18 meters under water". This film was first presented to the public on April 10, 1943 in Paris at the National Theater of Chaillot, as part of a screening organized by the then French authorities under the control of the propaganda department of the occupation authorities. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was introduced as the film's director and received a warm welcome, especially in the pages of I Am Everywhere, a collaborationist publication edited by Pierre Antoine Cousteau. As a result of this screening, and again thanks to the help of his older brother, Jacques-Yves Cousteau received permission from the occupation authorities for favorable conditions for filming, including permission to film in the militarized zone of the Mediterranean coast. In addition, he had the opportunity to receive film, which was strictly limited at that time. In 1942, Jacques-Yves Cousteau created his first film production company, Cousteau's Science Film Studio, before organizing Sharks United, which later released a large part of his films. It can be said with full confidence that it was at this time that Captain Cousteau's Odyssey began.

The project took off at an unusually rapid pace thanks to a meeting brokered by Henri Melchior's father-in-law between Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan, an engineer at I Air liquide. Jacques-Yves Cousteau outlined his wishes regarding equipment to ensure the supply of air during diving. Engineer Emil Gagnan was working at that time on a prototype gearbox for a motor running on a gas mixture. He assembled such an apparatus and conducted a series of tests on the Marne near Paris in 1943. Not too satisfied with the first results, Emile Gagnan modified the apparatus, and in June 1943 the model, tested at sea, proved to be excellent in operation.

Three friends united again, but this time at the insistence of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. They were going to start filming again without any special restrictions thanks to a sufficient amount of film and passes provided with the participation of Pierre Antoine Cousteau. The footage they shot became the basis of the film "The Remains of Sunken Ships". Among other places, shooting was also carried out among the sunken ships that lined the bottom of the Toulon raid.

After the liberation of France in 1945, officers Philippe Taillet and Jacques Yves Cousteau returned to naval service. They were looking for jobs that would match their professionalism and technical training in the field of underwater work, and they were asked to develop and implement a program to clear the mines of the Toulon road. Friends undertook this dangerous assignment. They created a specialized G.E.R.S. (Group of Underwater Research and Search) structure at the base of the Navy, which was led by Captain Theis. Later, they found a reason for officially accepting the "mule driver" Dumas into their ranks.

In 1947, G. E. R. S. received her own ship, the Engineer Elie Monnier. The Department of the Navy provided the G.E.R.S. funds for the work of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. It agreed to support the resumption of archaeological excavations in Mahdia at a depth of more than 30 meters in difficult diving conditions. The ministry also proposed to continue experimental work on the creation of a deep-sea diving apparatus by the Swiss professor Picard near Dakar. This last experience was unsuccessful, and strongly reflected on Cousteau, but it allowed him to learn an unforgettable lesson for the future.

The promotion in the rank of officer obliged Cousteau to change his position, and this prospect did not please him at all, as it forced him to leave the underwater activity begun under the G.E.R.S. However, he was a candidate for several positions at once. Thanks to one of them, he could become the head of a new program for the development of the bathyscaphe. Cousteau decided to ask for a special status for himself, and his request was granted, after which Jacques-Yves Cousteau strove to achieve independence at all costs in order to do what he himself wanted without guardianship and coercion. That is why he wanted to be able to dispose of the huge economic potential that underwater developments had at that time thanks to “his” Cousteau / Ganyan gearbox, put into commercial production by Spiroteknik, a subsidiary of Air Liquide.

Later, the controlling company, Aqua Lang International, brought together more than 20 perfect different companies, successfully manufacturing and selling diving equipment under various brands around the world. This company provided a trade turnover of about a billion French francs, of which Jacques Yves Cousteau received 5 percent as the author of a patented invention.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau sought complete independence in order to try to realize his most daring ideas - to be the first and most ambitious explorer of the underwater world, to create and perfect technical equipment that would meet the specific requirements of the present and future. He did not want any guardianship, he wanted to personally determine the goal in order to independently use the results of the work done. To do this, he needs his own ship. Cousteau was very fond of an old minesweeper belonging to the Royal British Navy, which he saw in Malta and which bore the fateful name "Calypso". But Cousteau did not have the funds to buy the ship. The well-known Guinness beer maker became a patron of the arts, it was he who contributed most of the required amount, while the rest of the potential contributors participated in the costs: the association "French Oceanographic Societies", created by Jacques Yves Cousteau specifically for this occasion, made a historic purchase, which took place in July 1950 of the year. Jacques Yves Cousteau was 40 at the time.

The re-equipment of Calypso lasted a whole year. The most important of the ship's technical innovations was the device under the bow, about 2 meters below the waterline. It was a special cabin for underwater observation. It had the shape of a sphere in which special windows were installed. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was willing to lay down his body and soul in order to obtain the necessary subsidies for his first expedition to the Red Sea. The French Navy seconded two mechanics and one sailor aboard the Calypso. All other crew members were volunteers, as was Simone Cousteau, who was appointed commissioner of the ship. Frédéric Dumas was on board as assistant dive officer. Volcanologist A. Tazieff also participated in the trip on a voluntary basis and, together with the others, performed the necessary work on board, grumbling and swearing.

Three months later, the expedition returned, and a man later named the legendary Beber, Bernard Falco, boarded the Calypso. He left the ship only in 1996, during his crash off the coast of Hong Kong. In the same year, Cousteau became seriously interested in stories about amphora shards and various objects that were often found by fishermen casting their nets opposite Marseille, in the Grand Congluet area, from the Frioul Islands. Having received the necessary information, he decided to take over what became the first and greatest underwater archaeological construction site. Cousteau did not finish it, leaving this concern to the passionate enthusiast Yves Giraud, who from the very beginning participated in all the works. More than 2,000 amphoras and other items were raised to the surface. Some critics said that the excavations were carried out without any method and without special training, but these statements, formulated by later titled archaeologists, did not take into account the myriad difficulties of deep diving in difficult terrain, in sometimes quite harsh seas. On the other hand, it was extremely difficult to ensure the successful interaction of people and especially machines and equipment, including pumps that pump out sand and mud, which are inconvenient and dangerous to manage, especially since they were often used at a depth of about 50-60 meters.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau used his genius abilities, which were later honed to perfection, in working with the media. The press and television all over the world reported on the construction at Grand Congluet, and National Geographic devoted a long article to it, which made Cousteau famous in English-speaking countries.

And at the same time, more advanced equipment for underwater filming was being created. First of all, thanks to Professor Edgerton, the inventor of the electronic flash, and the brilliant engineer Laban, the author of cameras for filming. The most famous industrial firms sought participation in this technological breakthrough and willingly made capital investments. However, the hectic activity came at a high cost, and Jacques-Yves Cousteau was forced to turn to solving less spectacular but more profitable problems. Offshore oil was in vogue, and its developers urgently needed trained teams to operate effectively. Having begun work in this area, Cousteau created the French underwater research company 1OFRS (1 Office Francais de Recherches Sous marines), which entered into contracts with oil companies and allowed Cousteau to take a short break before shooting a feature film. The idea of ​​the picture has long been matured in his head, it should have the same name as the book written by him together with F. Dumas in 1953 - "The World of Silence", which was a huge success all over the world, finally establishing the fame of Jacques Yves Cousteau .

At the same time, Cousteau took part in the experimental dives of the Trieste bathyscaphe by Professor Picard, forgetting the failures of 1948. The device successfully dived to a depth of 3200 meters with the professor and his son on board. During this operation, the command of the French Navy asked him to provide underwater surveys. Cousteau was convinced that his future lay in researching the technique of human penetration into the underwater world. Experiments with the "Precontinent" were carried out to prove this.

In 1954, Jacques-Yves Cousteau went to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. On board the Calypso was also a young cinematographer, Louis Malle. Cousteau introduced him to diving, and the young man filmed a documentary series, which was later successfully shown to millions of viewers. Cousteau had already realized that television was the medium of the future, bringing the image into homes faster than potential audiences could get to the movies. This series greatly increased its American audience and was produced by a new society founded by Jacques Yves Cousteau, Les Requins Associes.

At the beginning of 1955, everyone gathered aboard the Calypso for the great sailing, heading for the Red Sea. The shooting of "The World of Silence" has begun, which has become a cult film for all those who are in love with the underwater world. The Red Sea was filmed, then the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles with excerpts from Jojo le Merou, then numerous surveys were made around the world in places unknown at the time.

The film was edited and presented on an extraordinary scale in Paris in February 1956 at the theater on the Champs Elysées. All sorts of celebrities were invited, the president of the republic, the chairmen of both houses of parliament, representatives of the constitutional authorities, as well as ambassadors from more than 30 countries were present. The National Navy provided a guard of honor to the accompaniment of naval marches. The triumph of the film is unimaginable, the audience applauded standing for more than half an hour. Newspapers, radio and television called the film the work of the century.

The film was selected for screening at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or for the first time in the documentary category. In New York, the film received a similarly phenomenal reception. In 1957, he was awarded an Oscar, and the following year, another film by Jacques Yves Cousteau, The Story of a Red Fish, received another prize at the Cannes Film Festival and another Oscar in Hollywood. This confirmed that the success of his work was not accidental. Jacques Yves Cousteau managed throughout his life to maintain the halo of glory that "The World of Silence" brought him. And he made full use of all the opportunities provided by the media.

In 1957, Prince Rainier of Monaco invited Cousteau to become director of the Oceanographic Museum of the Principality. He accepted the offer, and this suited both parties: the state took advantage of the cinematic fame of the researcher Cousteau, and Jacques Yves could congratulate himself on his appointment to a scientific position. In fact, he never called himself a scientist, but acted and behaved as if he were one. It is enough to listen to his speeches and comments in copyright films to be convinced of this. This state of affairs somewhat annoyed some real scientists, but they did not have such practical underwater experience as Cousteau.

Being Cousteau at the head of the Oceanographic Museum had little effect on the activities of this organization. Jacques Yves could not often be found in his office, he sacredly observed the condition set upon appointment to the post - to retain freedom of action in everything related to the rest of his activities. He gave the opportunity to replace himself to Jean Alin, and then to Philip Rowe, allowing them to solve current issues. But he never delegated authority to resolve fundamental problems. Cousteau left his post only in 1989, 32 years after he settled in the principality.

In 1957, in between filming, Cousteau experimented with the first draft of the "diving saucer", he tested the apparatus at great (about 2000 meters) depths. A year later, the researcher accepted a number of proposals for organizing new work for the OFRS requiring diving to great depths. First of all, he studied the possibility of laying an oil pipeline. Already since 1959, the "diving saucer" has become a great help in the implementation of underwater projects.


The year 1960 brought bountiful income to Cousteau, which made it possible to finance the multifaceted activities of Cousteau's subordinate companies, while he himself was carried away by an extremely ambitious project that could be dubbed "Underwater Houses". In 1962, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began his legendary experiment to study the full life under water. During Operation Precontinent I, two swimmers Albert Falco and Claude Wesley lived for a week on the high seas off the coast of Marseille in an underwater house at a depth of 10 meters and worked at a depth of 25 meters under water. The results of the work were encouraging, and in 1963 Operation Precontinent II was undertaken in the Red Sea, followed in 1965 by Operation Precontinent III. Five people, among whom were "veterans" of the first "Precontinent", participated in the second experiment and six - in the third. Among them was Philippe Cousteau, the son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. But he had two sons. The eldest son Jean-Michel became an architect in 1960, and soon completed several sketches for his father. The younger Philip, having received a bachelor's degree in 1961, entered the military service in the French Navy, and after some time - to the Higher Cinematographic Courses. He took an active part in his father's research activities.

Cousteau's experiments made it possible to achieve certain scientific and technical results, to better study the features of the human psyche in a closed space at depth, but were regarded by the authorities as too expensive. Stopping work greatly disappointed Cousteau.

Another result of the operation "Precontinent III" was the "Oscar" for the film "World Without Sun". The film was not as successful as The World of Silence. Some critics did not fail to reproach the filmmakers for frankly crude stunts, but Cousteau was upset by these reproaches mainly because they knocked out the technical and scientific staff at Calypso. To cope with the difficulties that arose, Cousteau secured a major contract from the French government for "carrying out underwater research work of a new type." "Argyronet" - this is the name given to the figment of the imagination of the engineer of the French Institute of Petroleum (FIN) Pierre Wilm. The project was funded in half by FIN and CNEXO. Having drawn up and approved the initial estimate, they handed over the implementation of Argyronet to CEMA Jacques Yves Cousteau. The scale of the planned work is enormous. They were designed for more than four years. This period was the most difficult for the researcher from a financial point of view. But Cousteau could afford a lot, given his fantastic fame. In 1972, Cousteau left his homeland. In America, he met his youngest son Philip, the owner of his own film studio. The elder Jean-Michel also went with his father. He was responsible for the logistics needed to travel the Calypso around the world.

In the United States, Cousteau had an "alternate airfield". His company, Requins Assoies, had a very important contract with a number of American television programs for five years. In many ways, it was this circumstance that made the face of Jacques Yves Cousteau familiar to viewers all over the world. And above all - thanks to the television series "The Odyssey of Captain Cousteau." He laughed when he heard that he had become a real TV star. He did not care about criticism, whether it came from scientists or from filmmakers. Jacques-Yves Cousteau always wanted to achieve more. It was not enough for him to remain only a researcher and documentary filmmaker, and he seeks to expand his powers.

In 1977, the Cousteau Society was organized in the United States under the guise of a non-profit organization. Its goal was "to protect nature and improve the quality of life", the father became the president of the society, and the son Jean-Michel was appointed vice-president. New York City was chosen as the headquarters. The name Cousteau worked wonders. Contributions were actively received into the society, members of the society received the published works "Calypso Log" and "Dolphin Log". The sale of goods at home was carried out in the American manner - by mail. The success has been enormous, and it is pushing for the creation of branches of the society in Norfolk and in Los Angeles.

In Norfolk, the Cousteau Society wanted to build, with the help of the municipal authorities, an oceanographic park, similar to the one that Jean-Michel and his father had tried to create in Long Beach, but the project ended in complete financial failure and the loss of millions of dollars. But despite a scathing campaign against the project in the local press, he convinced the authorities of his trustworthiness. Unfortunately (or, conversely, fortunately for investors), due to a change in city authorities, this plan was not destined to materialize.

In 1979, Cousteau's youngest son Philippe died. He participated in the filming of films with his father, filling the pictures with footage taken from the Catalina seaplane. On June 28, 1979, Philip went to Portugal, to the Rio Tejo delta, to check the quality of the repair of the seaplane, carried out in local workshops. The tests went flawlessly, but during the landing on the water, after the first contact with the surface, the nose of the car suddenly went under the water. The tail of the hydroplane was only flooded with water, the entire crew remained safe and sound, only Philip, who was declared missing, was not on board. His body was never found.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau with his sons Philip and Michel.

The death of his son had a strong impact on Cousteau. The failure of the plan to create a park in Norfolk did not affect the popularity of Jacques Yves Cousteau in the United States. However, in 1981 he returned to his homeland, where he founded the "Cousteau Foundation" with the same structure and the same goals as his older "American brother". The success was almost the same, and this society exists to this day. It was under the auspices of this organization that the first tests of the vessel were carried out on a fundamentally new, revolutionary wind traction - a turbo-sailboat. The society purchased an old catamaran and repaired it. The director of the marine shipyard in Sanary became a loyal associate of Cousteau. Meanwhile, the authors of the turbosail concept L. Malavar, B. Charrier and Jacques Yves Cousteau decided that the catamaran would serve as a reduced model for the Alsion ship. The company developed under the direction of the naval architect Maurice, the designer of the France 3 sailing ship participating in the America's Cup, and the author of the initial conversions to the Calypso. The small ship was given the name "Windmill". In late 1983, she set out on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic, where she was caught in a very violent storm, losing her mast and sail. But Jacques Yves did not despair. He contacted the investors and resumed the venture with a vengeance. Alsion was ready in 1985, crossed the Atlantic in the spring and made a splash with its handling and economy. However, the overall result was still not in his favor, since the cost of operating the ship exceeded the price of the saved energy. In June 1989, Cousteau took charge of the Académie française, almost simultaneously leaving his duties as director of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.


In December 1990, Simone Cousteau died suddenly, whom everyone who knew this woman closely affectionately called the "shepherdess." Her calm disposition, of course, influenced the character of Captain Cousteau. Simone's ashes were scattered over the sea off the coast of Monaco. Cousteau married a second time at the end of June 1991 to Francine Triplet, mother of Diana and Pierre-Yves Cousteau. Prior to this, Francine and Cousteau had a secret romance for 14 years. Jacques Yves Cousteau was 80 at the time.

The complex connections between the numerous societies founded by Cousteau sometimes served as a tempting bait for lovers of fishing in troubled waters. Tax services were more and more persistently interested in the management of a number of organizations. In particular, in the United States, the Cousteau Society was arrested for not providing invoices, for illegal recruitment into its ranks by mail, not provided for by law. Some divisions of society are so confused in their relationship with the law that their activities ended in the confiscation of property. Nevertheless, no one encroached on the honest name of Cousteau himself.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on June 25, 1997 of a myocardial infarction as a result of a complication of a respiratory disease and was buried in the family plot in the Saint-André-de-Cubzac cemetery.
In 2010, a documentary was made about Jacques Yves Cousteau Film Citizen of the Ocean.

Some quotes from the Commodore - Jacques Yves Cousteau, which became famous.

If we obeyed logic, our future would be sad. There are things more important than logic, because we are people, and we have faith, hope, and we know how to work.

We rule our Earth carelessly.

Childhood is the busiest period of life

Pioneers are driven by curiosity, followed by science.

Unhappiness is ourselves, and happiness is others.

The happiness of a bee or a dolphin is to exist. For a person, happiness is knowing that you exist and being delighted with this fact.

One must love life, even in the most unattractive forms.

If a person has the opportunity to lead an unusual life, he has no right to refuse it.

In a market economy, everything has a price, but nothing has a value.

Only impossible tasks are successful.

A good ecologist is a type who sees far ahead and does not really believe in progress, science and technology.

Used materials:

Site materials www.j-cousteau.ru
Site materials www.octopus.ru

Jacques-Yves Cousteau (June 11, 1910, Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac, Bordeaux, France - June 25, 1997, Paris, France) - the famous French explorer of the oceans, photographer, director, inventor, author of many books and films. He was a member of the French Academy. Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor. Known as Captain Cousteau. Together with Emil Gagnan in 1943, he developed and tested a scuba gear.
He was not a designer, scientist, architect, cinematographer. But he created scuba gear, underwater archeology, built underwater houses and shot films loved all over the world in the deep ocean. The inert scientific world arrogantly called Cousteau " upstart oceanographer". And he, always spitting on titles, degrees and authorities, urged mankind to settle in the depths of the oceans and did not hide the secret of his bright, adventurous and fruitful deeds: “ Only impossible missions bring success».
Biography

The famous oceanographer, mad explorer and fearless traveler Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 in Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac in the family of the acting personal secretary of one American millionaire Daniel and mother of Elizabeth Cousteau. Due to Daniel's busy work schedule, the family had to change housing frequently, and in 1920 Cousteau moved to the United States of America. Jacques was uncomfortable outside his native city - he felt like a native Frenchman, and his homeland constantly called him back. However, long trips around the cities had their positive sides - the boy could speak English and German fluently, thanks to trips his horizons expanded significantly. The family spent summers on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, where he could swim to his heart's content. It was this childhood that forever instilled in Jacques the desire to visit every corner of the Earth.
In 1920, the boy passed the competition at the French Military Academy in Brest, after which he went on a trip around the world on the Joan of Arc ship. Even then, Cousteau's passion for the unknown depths of the ocean was revealed - in every port the boy ran to the shore and for a long time filmed life near the water. Moreover, the diploma gave a great opportunity to travel through the sea valleys, and this greatly attracted Cousteau. Another passion of Jacques was video filming, which later became an integral part of his many studies. After graduating from the Military Academy, he decided to enter the Naval Aviation Academy. However, fate decreed otherwise - a terrible car accident put an end to Cousteau's career as a pilot. The young man had numerous fractures and partial paralysis of the limbs, and during the rehabilitation period of Cousteau it was necessary to spend a lot of time in the water, actively swim in order to regain the mobility of the hands. Thanks to numerous trainings, Jacques' health came to a relative norm, and the young man himself realized that the water element was his vocation. Then he began to work as an instructor on the cruiser "Sufren". Also a huge incentive for recovery was the first true love - Simone Melchior, whom Jacques married in 1937. The following year, the happy couple had their first child, son Jean-Michel.
In 1938, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, along with Frédéric Dumas and Philippe Taglier, began their marine explorations by diving into the water wearing a mask, fins and snorkel. However, with such equipment it was difficult to stay at significant depths for a long time. Cousteau thought about a new underwater invention. Thus, a "miracle device" was soon presented - "water lungs", which received the unpretentious name "scuba". This novelty, developed by Cousteau in collaboration with Emile Gagnan, opened the way to a prosperous future and great opportunities for exploring the very depths of the oceans. In 1940, Cousteau's second son, Philippe, was born. Jacques founded his film studio "United Sharks", which in the future produced a huge number of films about the underwater world and Cousteau's various travels. The debut in the world of cinema was the 18-minute tape "8 meters under water", which consisted of excerpts from the dives of Cousteau, Didi and Taye. The war years went by, and Jacques' family had a hard time. For special merits, Cousteau was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1946, but his brother Pierre-Antoine was threatened with the death penalty for collaborating with the Zhe Xui Partu newspaper. And only thanks to the well-known name of his brother, he was able to avoid bringing the sentence into force. In the early 50s, Jacques-Yves
Cousteau leased the old British minesweeper Calypso to be converted into a research vessel for a nominal franc per year. It was on it that the most famous dives of the researcher and his team were made - they visited the abyss of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as the Red and Black Seas. In 1953, Cousteau, together with his colleagues, edited the first documentary film about his research - "The Silent World", which received the "Golden Palm" and "Oscar". The tape was a resounding success - after its premiere, the audience gave a standing ovation for half an hour. Film critics enthusiastically called this picture the work of the century. In 1957, Cousteau accepted a lucrative offer to become director of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco and moved there with his entire family. It was there that he was able to fully devote himself to his careful research. In addition to active writing and film activities, the man became the founder of the extensive scientific program "Conshelf". On a coral reef in the Red Sea, he built the so-called "Starfish" - a metal house for five aquanauts, and a little lower - an office for two people. In 1965, he also built a house in the form of a ball, in which the researchers spent almost a month. In 1967, Jacques-Yves decided to work globally and explore the deep seas of the World Ocean, and his ship "Calypso", equipped with all the necessary equipment, set off to explore. This time, the sharks became the subject of their close attention, and the researcher shared his observations in the books “So that there are no secrets in the sea” and “Calypso and corals”.
Cousteau's team was interested not only in marine life, but also in underwater architecture. So, the team found several sunken ships near the island of St. Helena. A little later, in the 70s, Cousteau, along with his team, went to the shores of Antarctica, where they began to scientifically study the life of whales. At the same time, an unforeseen break in work appeared - the ship received significant damage due to a collision with an iceberg. But Cousteau did not despair and during this period he made a documentary film about the life of an endangered species of natives, showing himself as a competent ethnographer and anthropologist. After the ship was repaired, the expedition continued, and Cousteau's new masterpiece, The World Ocean, was soon presented to the public. In 1973, Jacques founded the Cousteau Society, which deals with the protection of the marine environment.

The year 1979 brought tragedy to the Cousteau family - the youngest son of the famous traveler Philip died. He followed in his father's footsteps, and Jacques even appointed him as his chief assistant in his research. But life dictated its own rules - Philip died in a plane crash on a Catalina seaplane, and his body was never found. At the same time, Cousteau began to have big financial problems in his foundation, and he had to ask his eldest son Jean-Michel to help pay off debts of five million dollars. Moreover, several of his projects turned out to be failures, and finances were limited. After recovering from grief, Cousteau continued his intense research activities, releasing numerous books and masterpiece videos. In 1990, another tragedy awaited Cousteau - after a long illness, his wife Simone Cousteau, who was the only person who could cope with the explosive nature of Jacques, died of cancer. It was decided to scatter the ashes of the deceased over the sea near Monaco. Despite the bitterness of loss, six months later, Cousteau had a new passion - the former Air France flight attendant Francine Triplet. As it turned out, they had a long relationship, and they were supported by two children - daughter Diana and son Pierre, born long before the marriage. Jacques-Yves did not think of abandoning illegitimate children, therefore, after the death of his first wife, he rather married and gave his offspring a famous surname. At that time, the newly-made groom was already 80 years old, and the bride was 35 years younger than him.

Jean-Michel had a strained relationship with his stepmother, and before his death, Cousteau Sr. transferred all his assets and rights to his products to his wife, and the son from his first marriage was forbidden to use his father's famous surname for commercial purposes. Jean-Michel doubted that the former stewardess would be able to keep the entire business that Jacques-Yves Cousteau had been doing for more than a dozen years. Due to constant quarrels with the stepmother, the relationship between the son and father completely deteriorated. Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on June 25, 1997 at the age of 87. The cause of death was a complication of a respiratory disease and, as a result, myocardial infarction. The great explorer was buried in the family plot of the cemetery in Saint-André-de-Cubzac. After his death, the widow Francine tried to revive the Cousteau business, but everything was in vain, because such a person could not simply be replaced. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was unique in his kind, and there will probably never be such nuggets in the world. Captain Cousteau was a versatile person - a teacher, an insatiable researcher, an anthropologist, an ethnographer, he lived in the water element and managed to make the whole world fall in love with it, and only Cousteau was able to reveal to us the secret of life at depth.
The world of Cousteau in cinema
In the early 40s, Cousteau created a film company called " United sharks". Most of his films came out of its walls, the first of which was "8 meters under water." In 1950, Cousteau began organizing underwater expeditions. It was then that the first underwater archaeological research was carried out and photographs of the seabed were obtained at a depth of 7250 m. In 1953, Cousteau also received worldwide recognition as a writer. "The World of Silence" is the first book that opened the world of the ocean to the general public. Peru Cousteau owns dozens of books, he also made 104 films from the Cousteau Team Odyssey series. In 1954, Cousteau together with cinematographer Louis Malem, they go to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, where they begin to shoot the documentary series "Odyssey of the Cousteau team."

Later, a film was born, which to this day is considered one of the best about underwater life - "Worlds of Silence". Thanks to this work, the "blue continent" attracted no longer with its mystery, but with the amazing diversity of the underwater world. Pictures from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean caused an incredible audience excitement, the film was awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Oscar. But still, official recognition of the discoveries and achievements of Cousteau came with his approval as director of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco in 1957. ambitious project. It could be dubbed "Underwater Houses".
Children of Jacques Yves Cousteau. He has two sons. Older Jean-Michel in 1960 he became an architect. Soon he is already doing several sketches for his father. The younger Philippe, having received a bachelor's degree in 1961, entered the military service in the French Navy, and after some time - at the Higher Cinematographic Courses. He takes an active part in his father's research activities. In 1962, Jacques-Yves Cousteau begins his legendary experiment to study the full life under water. We are talking about Operation Precontinent I, during which two swimmers, Albert Falco and Claude Wesley, will live for a week on the high seas opposite the coast of Marseille in an underwater house at a depth of 10 m and work at a depth of 25 m under water. The results of the work were encouraging, and in 1963 the operation "Precontinent II" was undertaken in the Red Sea, followed by "Precontinent III" in 1965 ... Five people, including "veterans" of the first "Precontinent", participate in the second experiment and six in the third. Among them is Philippe Cousteau. And if it is absolutely irrefutable that these experiments have made it possible to achieve certain scientific and technical results, it is better to study the characteristics of the human psyche in a closed space at a depth, then they were equally regarded by the authorities as too expensive. In the 70s, Cousteau created a society for the protection of the marine environment. He continued to make expeditions, actively explored unexplored areas of the oceans.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau carried out the first project on October 12, 1983. Vessel " MOULIN A VENT”was launched, and the Cousteau team went to sea to conduct tests, as a result of which the theory was tested in practice. The basis was the hull of the catamaran, on the decks of which a platform with a sail-type turbo engine was installed. The entire operation to change the angle of inclination, the area of ​​​​the sail was carried out from the captain's bridge by pressing the keys of the electric drives. The name of the vessel "MOULIN A VENT" means the "Windmill" wine variety, which was loved by the entire Cousteau team. On both sides of the hollow aerodynamic column, there are metal meshes with a variable angle of inclination, made in the form of semicircles, providing high resistance to the wind flow inside the pipe. Due to the force of the wind with the fan installation turned off, such a design, even in a passive state, is 2 times more efficient than a simple sail. The effectiveness of the installation was not long in coming, with a wind speed of 30 knots, the ship developed a speed of 11 knots. But soon the pipe could not withstand the strong storms of the Atlantic Ocean and broke, fortunately without consequences. The reason for the destruction of the column was the looseness of the fasteners and the instability of the old catamaran. Jacques-Yves Cousteau decided not to stop at the already positive result, and he created in May 1985 another ship called "ALCYONE". The ocean-going ship was named after the daughter of the Greek god of the wind. The second project of the ship is also equipped with an aerodynamic installation. Based on previous trial and error, two columns were installed on the new ocean-going vessel. The tests took place along the route the port of La Rochelle - New York.

Ocean ship ALCYONE”was a real miracle of engineering. Crew members are accommodated in comfortable cabins. According to Captain Cousteau, the ship was so computerized that it could sail without people at all. A well-equipped galley is at the disposal of the cook. The speed capabilities of ALCYONE were amazing - 13 knots, with a wind speed of 20 knots. Electric motors consume only half the power generated by a wind generator. Depending on sea conditions, a diesel engine or a wind tunnel can be used.
Heritage
Cousteau liked to call himself an "oceanographic technician". He was, in fact, an outstanding teacher and lover of nature. His work opened up the "blue continent" for many people. His work also allowed for a new type of scientific communication criticized at the time by some academics. So-called "divulgationism", a simple way of exchanging scientific concepts, was soon used in other disciplines and became one of the most important characteristics of modern broadcasting. In 1950, he rented the ship Calypso from Thomas Loel Guinness for a symbolic one franc a year. The ship was equipped with a mobile laboratory for open ocean research and underwater surveys. Since 1957 he has been director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. In May 1985, the Cousteau team acquired another ship. This is a two-masted Alsion yacht with an experimental turbo-sail that uses the Magnus effect to obtain thrust.
Cousteau died on June 25, 1997. The Cousteau Society and its French partner, Team Cousteau, founded by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, are still active today. In his last years, after his second marriage, Cousteau became involved in a legal battle with his son Jean-Michel over the use of Cousteau's name. By order of the court, Jean-Michel Cousteau was forbidden to confuse his professional business with his father's non-profit endeavors.
Awards
Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor
Knight Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
Military Cross 1939-1945
Officer of the Order of Naval Merit
Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters

In the biography of Cousteau, a naval school was completed in 1930, after which he served as a midshipman for a short time. After leaving naval training due to injuries, he settled in Toulon. Then Jacques-Yves became seriously interested in diving, as he often went to the Mediterranean Sea. Equipped with a spacesuit along with scuba gear (an autonomous type of such a spacesuit was invented by Cousteau together with E. Gagnan), Cousteau began to dive into the water at 90 m.

Also, Jacques-Yves Cousteau discovered many instruments, accessories, diving equipment. For example, a camera for underwater filming, underwater lamps, video cameras. On the Calypso submarine, Cousteau and his team descended to a depth of 7250 m. The documentaries he shot were broadcast on television in different countries for a long time.

A traveler in the depths of the sea wrote the book “In the World of Silence” (1953, together with F. Dumas), a film was made based on it (in 1956 the tape was awarded the Oscar). In 1957, Cousteau became the head of the Oceanological Museum, while not leaving underwater expeditions. In 1973, he founded a society for the protection of the marine environment, since Cousteau was very worried about the destruction of ecosystems in various regions of the world. For his biography, Jacques-Yves-Cousteau received many prizes and awards.

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Jacques-Yves is a famous oceanographer, photographer, inventor (including the first scuba gear), technician. In addition, this person is the author of many films and books. About what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for, we'll talk today.

Origin, childhood

The future ocean explorer was born on June 11, 1910 in France (Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac). Jacques-Yves' father was a lawyer. Cousteau made many travels in his youth and learned to swim from an early age. However, due to illness, he lost a lot of weight, so the doctor did not recommend the boy to do much physical activity.

The Cousteau family lived and worked in the United States from 1920 to 1922. Here Jacques-Yves learned English. These years of life were very eventful for Cousteau. Jacques-Yves Cousteau showed great interest in design and mechanics. In the summer scout camp, the future inventor made his first dives. Returning to France, he purchased the first movie camera and also designed a battery-powered car.

Academy education, travel

By the beginning of the 1930s, Jacques-Yves was trained at the French Naval Academy. He was lucky, because his group went on a round-the-world trip on the ship "Joan of Arc". After some time, according to the distribution, Jacques-Yves Cousteau ended up in Shanghai, at a naval base. A couple of years later, he also visited the USSR. In the Soviet Union Jacques-Yves took a lot of pictures, but almost all the pictures were confiscated from him.

Accident, work as an instructor, marriage

Cousteau wanted to become a pilot as a young man after completing his studies at the Naval Aviation Academy. However, he was in a serious car accident and suffered many injuries, which forced him to give up this dream. Simone Melchior, the beloved girl of Jacques-Yves, helped him to survive. In 1936, in order to rehabilitate Cousteau, he began working on the cruiser "Sufren" as an instructor. Here, in the port of Toulon, for the first time in his life he explored the sea in special glasses for Jacques-Yves realized that this was his destiny.

Cousteau married Simone Melchior in 1937 (pictured above). They had sons Philippe and Jean-Michel.

Snorkelling, founding of a film company and the first films

Together with Philippe Tayet and Frederic Dumas in 1938, Cousteau plunged into the water with a snorkel, mask and fins. He later wrote of the first explorations of the ocean wearing a mask, that his eyes met "an amazing sight."

Jacques-Yves in the early 1940s became the founder of a film company called Shark Association. In 1942, Cousteau's 18-minute film "8 meters under water" appeared. He became one of the first paintings by Jacques-Yves about the underwater world. Cousteau participated in the resistance movement in France during World War II.

Inventions of Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Speaking about what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for, it is impossible not to talk about the many of them that is the creation of scuba gear. In 1943, the first prototype was tested. And it went well. This model was designed by Jacques-Yves together with Emile Gagnan. In 1946, mass production of scuba gear began. Jacques-Yves Cousteau also created lighting fixtures, an underwater television system and the SP350 ("diving saucer"), a small submarine with good maneuverability, in his lifetime. It was intended for the scientific study of the depths of the ocean. On behalf of the French Navy, immediately after the end of the war, Cousteau founded a school of scuba divers. Somewhat later, Jacques-Yves Cousteau became the head of the French Center for Underwater Research.

"Calypso"

In the early 1950s, this ship, which previously belonged to the British Royal Navy, but was decommissioned, became the naval "base" of Jacques-Yves. Cousteau converted it into a mobile laboratory. After that, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began to carry out research on it in the ocean. The discoveries made by him on this ship are numerous. One of the first achievements made on the Calypso was photographing the seabed, taken at depths of up to 7.2 km. Jacques-Yves often accompanied her husband on expeditions. And his sons, Philippe and Jacques-Michel, worked as cabin boys.

First book, new films and world fame

By the early 1950s, Jacques-Yves Cousteau had already accumulated considerable experience in studying the ocean. His research was to be made public. For this, Cousteau, together with Frederic Dumas, wrote a book in 1953 called "In the World of Silence". In it, for the first time, readers were introduced to the world of the ocean, the study of which Jacques-Yves Cousteau devoted many years of his life to. A film based on this book, released in 1956, also won an Oscar. It immediately brought worldwide fame to its authors. Cousteau traveled across the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea in 1954. The result of this expedition was the series, known to many of us - "The Odyssey of the Cousteau team." This is what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for all over the world. The researcher of the underwater world in 1957 became the director of the

"Underwater houses" and "Cousteau Society"

The development of Underwater Homes, this explorer's ambitious project, dates back to the 1960s. Its implementation was the 1963 Operation Precontinent II and the 1965 Operation Precontinent III.

But we have not yet told everything about what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for. This researcher was a prominent public figure. Jacques-Yves in 1973 created the non-profit organization Cousteau Society, whose goal is to protect the marine environment.

The researcher carried out his expeditions, studying the unknown zones of the oceans. Jacques-Yves designed new types of environmentally friendly ships. In 1985, his "fleet" was replenished with the yacht ALCYONE, which moves thanks to the electric wind system. In 1979, during the filming of the next film, the youngest son of Jacques-Yves, Philippe, died.

Cousteau Foundation, expedition to Antarctica, marriage to Triplet

In 1981, the Fondation Cousteau was established in Paris. After 9 years, the researcher went on an expedition to Antarctica. He took with him six children (one representative from each of the continents) so that the whole world could see that the nature of Antarctica should be preserved for the younger generation.

In 1990, Simone, Cousteau's wife, died of cancer. A year after her death, Jacques-Yves married a second time. His wife was Francine, a woman before marriage gave birth to his son Pierre and daughter Diana.

"Calypso-2"

"Calypso" in 1996 sank as a result of a collision with a barge. It happened in the port of Singapore. The ship was beyond repair. After some time, it was exhibited in the museum of the city of La Rochelle. After its breakdown, Jacques-Yves Cousteau began the construction of Calypso-2. His biography is marked by many sea expeditions made together with the crew on board this ship.

Death

The researcher died at the age of 87 on June 25, 1997. Death occurred after suffering a respiratory disease that proceeded with complications. Jacques-Yves died of a myocardial infarction. It happened in Bordeaux (France). He was buried in the Saint-André-de-Cubzac cemetery.

Jacques-Yves has received many different awards for his research. Among them, the Order of the Legion of Honor, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau received, was especially valuable. The books of his authorship, which are considered the most famous, are the following: "The Living Sea", "Life and Death of Corals", "In the World of Silence", "Sunken Treasures", "World without Sun", etc.

The Jacques-Yves case continues

And today the Cousteau Team and the Cousteau Society are working - organizations created by him. His children and grandchildren continue the work of the explorer, studying the oceans. Jean-Michel, his son, is an environmentalist, researcher, film producer, teacher. In the footsteps of his grandfather, his grandson Fabien also followed (pictured below). He decided to become an oceanographer. In honor of Jacques-Yves, in 2014 he made an underwater scientific expedition lasting 31 days.

The dive was made at Aquarius station. Thus, today the important work for mankind, which was started by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, continues. His biography inspires many people to study the ocean depths and protect the environment.

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