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Jacques-Yves Cousteau: Life and Legacy

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, scientist, and photographer. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung which allowed easier underwater exploration. He pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie Française. Cousteau directed films documenting his underwater research, including The Silent World which won the Palme d'Or and introduced the world to underwater cinematography. He received numerous honors in his lifetime for his contributions to ocean exploration and conservation.

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145 views2 pages

Jacques-Yves Cousteau: Life and Legacy

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, scientist, and photographer. He co-developed the Aqua-Lung which allowed easier underwater exploration. He pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie Française. Cousteau directed films documenting his underwater research, including The Silent World which won the Palme d'Or and introduced the world to underwater cinematography. He received numerous honors in his lifetime for his contributions to ocean exploration and conservation.

Uploaded by

Marius Morarescu
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Biography:

Jacques-Yves Cousteau,  11 June 1910 – 25 June 1997) was a French


naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, scientist, photographer,
co-developed the Aqua-Lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a
member of the Académie Française.
Cousteau described his underwater world research in a series of books,
perhaps the most successful being his first book, The Silent World: A Story
of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, published in 1953. Cousteau also
directed films, most notably The Silent World, the documentary adaptation
of his book, which won a Palme d'or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. He
remained the only person to win a Palme d'Or for a documentary film
until Michael Moore won the award in 2004 for Fahrenheit 9/11.

Early life:
Cousteau was born on 11 June 1910, in Saint-André-de-
Cubzac, Gironde, France, to Daniel and Élisabeth Cousteau. He
had one brother, Pierre-Antoine. Cousteau completed his
preparatory studies at the Collège Stanislas in Paris. In 1930, he
entered the École 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.
In Toulon, where he was serving on the Condorcet, Cousteau
carried out his first underwater experiments, thanks to his
friend Philippe Tailliez who in 1936 lent him
some Fernez underwater goggles, predecessors of
modern swimming goggles. Cousteau also belonged to the
information service of the French Navy, and was sent on missions
to Shanghai and Japan (1935–1938) and in the USSR (1939).
On 12 July 1937, he married Simone Melchior, his business
partner, with whom he had two sons, Jean-Michel (born 1938)
and Philippe (1940–1979). His sons took part in the adventures of
the Calypso. In 1991, one year after his wife Simone's death from
cancer, he married Francine Triplet. They already had a daughter
Diane Cousteau (born 1980) and a son, Pierre-Yves Cousteau
(born 1982), born during Cousteau's marriage to his first wife.
Awards:
During his lifetime, Jacques-Yves Cousteau received these
distinctions:

 Cross of War 1939–1945 (1945)


 National Geographic Society's Special Gold Medal in
1961
 Commander of the Legion of Honour (1972)
 Officer of the Order of Maritime Merit (1980)
 Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit (1985)
 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985)
 Induction into the Television Hall of Fame (1987)
 Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
 Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia (26
January 1990)
 Omicron Delta Kappa (1996)

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