What is Jacques-Yves Cousteau famous for? Biography, research, inventions

Jacques-Yves - a well-known oceanographer, photographer, inventor (including the first aqualung), a technician. In addition, this man 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 June 11, 1910 in France (Saint-André-de-Cubzac). Jacques-Yves' father was a lawyer. Cousteau in his youth made many trips and from early childhood learned to swim. However, because of the illness, he lost a lot of weight, so the doctor did not recommend the boy a lot of physical activity.

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

Education in the academy, travel

By the beginning of the 1930s, Jacques-Yves was trained at the French Naval Academy. He was lucky, as his group went on a round-the-world trip on the ship "Jeanne d'Arc." After a while, according to the distribution, Jacques-Yves Cousteau came to Shanghai, to the naval base. A couple of years later he also visited the USSR. In the Soviet Union, Jacques-Yves photographed a lot, but almost all the photographs were seized from him.

Accident, work as an instructor, marriage

Cousteau in his youth wanted to become a pilot after completing his studies at the Academy of Naval Aviation. However, he was in a serious car accident and suffered many injuries, which is why he had to part with this dream. Simone Melchior, the favorite girl of Jacques-Yves, helped him to survive. In 1936, in order to rehabilitate, Cousteau began working on the Sufren cruiser as an instructor. Here, in the port of Toulon, he was the first time in his life to explore the sea in special glasses for scuba diving. Jacques-Yves realized that this was his destiny.

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

Dive with the mask, the foundation of the film company and the first films

Together with Philippe Taye and Frederic Dumas in 1938, Cousteau plunged into the water with a pipe, mask and fins. He later wrote about the first studies of the ocean in a mask, that his eyes were presented with a "spectacular sight".

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

Inventions of Jacques-Cousteau

Speaking of what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for, one can not help telling about his many inventions. The most famous of them is the creation of an aqualung. In 1943, the first prototype was tested. And it was successful. This model was developed by Jacques-Yves together with Emil Gagnan. In 1946, the mass production of aqualungs began. Jacques-Yves Cousteau for his life also created lighting fixtures, waterproof cameras, an underwater television system and the SP350 (a "diving saucer") - a small submarine with good maneuverability. It was intended for scientific exploration of the depths of the ocean. On behalf of the French Navy, immediately after the war, Cousteau founded a school of scuba divers. Later became the head of the French Center for Underwater Research Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

"Calypso"

In the early 1950s, this ship, the minesweeper, formerly owned by the British Royal Navy, was the naval "base" of Jacques-Yves, but was decommissioned. Cousteau converted it into a mobile laboratory. After that he began to carry out research on it in the ocean Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The discoveries made by him on this ship are numerous. One of the first achievements made on "Calypso" was the photographing of the seabed, made at depths of up to 7.2 km. Jacques-Yves on expeditions often accompanied his wife. And his sons, Philip and Jacques Michel, were working as young men.

The first book, new films and world fame

By the early 1950s, he had already accumulated considerable experience in studying the ocean Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His research was to become public. For this, Cousteau, together with Frederic Dumas in 1953, wrote a book titled "In the World of Silence." In it, for the first time, readers were introduced to the world of the ocean, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau devoted many years of his life to studying. The film, based on this book, published in 1956, won the "Golden Palm Branch" and "Oscar". He immediately brought world fame to its authors. Cousteau in 1954 traveled the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. The result of this expedition was a series known to many of us - "Odyssey of the Cousteau team". That's what Jacques-Yves Cousteau is famous for all over the world. The researcher of the underwater world in 1957 became director of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco.

"Underwater houses" and "Society of Cousteau"

The development of "Underwater Houses", an ambitious project of this researcher, dates back to the 1960s. Its implementation was the 1963 operation "Precontinent II" and 1965 "Precontinent III".

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

The researcher carried out his expeditions, studying unknown zones of the World Ocean. Jacques-Yves designed new types of ships that are ecologically safe. "Fleet" it in 1985 replenished the yacht ALCYONE, which moves thanks to the electro-electric system. In 1979, during the filming of the next film, the youngest son of Jacques-Yves, Philip, was killed.

The Cousteau Foundation, an expedition to the Antarctic, a triplet to Triplet

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

In 1990, Simone, the wife of Cousteau, died of cancer. A year after her death, Jacques-Yves married for the second time. His wife was Francine Triplet. This woman even before the 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. This happened in the port of Singapore. The vessel was not subject to recovery. After a while it was exhibited in the museum of La Rochelle. After his breakdown, he began construction of Calypso-2 by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His biography is marked by a multitude of marine expeditions carried out together with the crew aboard this ship.

Death

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

Jacques-Yves was awarded 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", "The Life and Death of Corals", "In the World of Silence", "Sunken Treasures", "The World without the Sun", etc.

The case of Jacques-Yves continues

And today the "Team Cousteau" and "Society Cousteau" - the organizations created by him. His children and grandchildren continue the work of the researcher, studying the World Ocean. Jean-Michel, his son, is an environmentalist, researcher, film producer, educator. In the footsteps of his grandfather went also his grandson Fabien (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 carried out at the station Aquarius. Thus, today, the important thing for mankind, which began Jacques-Yves Cousteau. His biography inspires a lot of people to study the ocean depths and protect the environment.