08 May 2020
No CommentsJacques Yves Cousteau was a completely unknown name before 1943.
We know that this visionary completely changed the world of diving by co-inventing with Emile Gagnan the diving regulator; however, there is much more interesting information about him and his family than we have not heard of before. Today we will know more about the Cousteau family.
Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 in Paris, France. He died at the age of 87 in the same country. His formal studies include marine biology and naval engineering. Within his occupations we can mention him as a writer, conservationist, explorer, activist, diver, inventor and writer. In addition, he sailed the seven seas as an underwater explorer and a staunch defender of the aquatic environment.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was also an underwater photographer and cinematographer, in fact, he was the first to popularize underwater films. Much of her research was done aboard his ship Calypso, which was perfectly equipped for its purpose. It was used between the 1960s and 1970s.
Among his many achievements is the creation of the Cousteau Society, together with his two sons Jean Michel and Philippe in 1973, which was dedicated to the conservation of marine life. The society has more than 300,000 members, of which Mundo Acuático is a contributor.
Another unique achievement was the Bill of Rights of Future Generations. Cousteau led a group of notables who helped strengthen the petition. Through this document, the world was alerted to start care for the environment and to preserve it, so that future generations would have a world without pollution. He also showed the damage to which humanity was exposed if it continued to deteriorate it. The Bill was presented in October 1994, backed by 9 million firms of which 5 million were from Latin America; 750,000 were from Costa Rica.
In 1953 he co-edited the book “The Silent World”. This book is about the discovery and adventures of the depths of the sea through the man. In 1956 the book was taken to the big screen winning an Oscar for best documentary feature film.
We can keep talking about the achievements this visionary fulfilled in his life, but let’s now talk a little about his family.
First wife of Jacques Cousteau. He was born in January 1919 and died in December 1990. During virtually all her marriage, she accompanied her husband on most of her expeditions around the world. She was characterized as the first woman to dive with autonomous scavengers. As a business partner, she was a key part of more than a thousand expeditions. He had the privilege of living in an underwater house. She is the mother of Jean Michelle (1938) and Phillipe (1940). Among the crew of the Calypso was known as “The Shepherd” as it contributed greatly to the harmonious atmosphere of the ship, a very difficult task to achieve inside a boat.
Jacques Yves Cousteau married Francine Triplet in 1991. She currently serves as the president of the Cousteau Society. From this marriage their two sons Diane (1980) and Pierre Ives (1982) were born.
He learned to dive at the age of seven and like his father is an environmentalist, explorer and film producer. Despite graduating as an architect, he gave up his career to help his father after the death of his brother Philippe. He was executive vice president of the Cousteau Society for twenty years. In 1999 he founded his own company, Ocean Futures. This organization also works for the conservation of marine life, in which Mundo Acuático is a member.
Jean Cousteau has produced more than 70 films. Among his productions are the contribution he made in 2003 in “Culture of Water”, a documentary about supply problems in the USA. In 2010 he made a documentary along the Amazon River about the irreversible changes of the last 25 years. Also, in 2010 he produced another documentary about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that affected Louisiana among other areas and killed 11 workers on the Deepwater platform.
A curious fact is that he was in a special edition of the cartoon SpongeBob, explaining the real-life counterparts of the animals that are the protagonists of the fable. In addition, he can be seen in an adjunct to the film Finding Nemo interacting with the characters Nemo, Marlin and Dori, and giving an explanatory talk on how to care for the reefs.
He met the seabed when he was 4. Basically, he learned to dive earlier than to swim. He was a diver, sailor, pilot, photographer, author and director of photography specializing in environmental issues. He served as Cousteau’s cinematographer in almost all of his films.
He had an explorer soul who at the age of 16 began studying aerodynamics, graduating very young as an airplane pilot. After serving the French navy for 2 years he continued to study and graduated as a photographer.
For several years he co-produced many documentaries with his father, including Voyage to the Edge of the World and the series called Oasis in Space that dealt with environmental issues.
In 1974 he acquired a seaplane which was christened Flying Calypso and was used in many of the films they produced.
Married to the American Janice Sullivan who also joined the Cousteau team on most expeditions, had 2 children: Alexandra and Phillipe Jr.
Among the many awards and honors he received we can highlight that he was nominated for four Emmys.
Philippe died at the age of 39 in an accident due to a mechanical failure that the Flying Calypso had in Portugal.
Born in 1976, Alexandra is the daughter of Phillipe and granddaughter of Jacques. At 4 months of age she had her first expedition. His grandfather taught her to dive at age 7. Although she studied political sciences, she is an environmental activist and filmmaker. She has continued the work of his father and grandfather. Like them, it defends the importance of the conservation of marine life.
Interesting fact: She speaks Spanish, since for some time, she lived in Costa Rica.
She currently lives in Berlin with her husband and two children.
Like her father Philippe, her uncle Jean Michel, her brother Philippe Jr and her grandfather Jacques, she is the image of the prestigious diving brand Aqua Lung.
He was born in January 1980. He’s Alexandra’s brother. Like his father and grandfather, he has dedicated himself to transmitting to the world the need to collaborate in the conservation of our natural resources. He’s an ecological activist.
In 2000 he co-founded EarthEcho International with his sister so that he could continue to give Jacques Yves Cousteau’s message around the world.
In 2017 Philippe was nominated for an Emmy for the scientific series Awesome Planet, and he and his wife co-star in the Series Travel Channel Caribbean Pirate Treasure.
We can learn a lot from this family that has worked tirelessly on the outreach, education and information about the beautiful planet we inhabit.
Let us make our own efforts and follow the example of fighting to the conservation of underwater life for the future generations.
At Mundo Acuático we are proud to contribute with our grain of sand, supporting organizations founded by the Cousteau family that fulfill this great work..
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