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.
Cousteau was born in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, to Daniel and Élisabeth Cousteau. He is generally known in France as le commandant Cousteau ("Commander Cousteau"). Worldwide, he was commonly known as Jacques Cousteau or Captain Cousteau.
Brief Personal history
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born in France to Daniel Cousteau (a lawyer) and Élisabeth Cousteau.
- 1910: Born 11 June.
- 1930: He entered French Navy as the head of the underwater research group.
- 12 July 1937: He married Simone Melchior.
- 1938: His son Jean-Michel Cousteau was born.
- 1940: His son Philippe Cousteau was born.
- 1967: His grandson Fabien Cousteau (son of Jean-Michel Cousteau) was born.
- 1979: His son Philippe Cousteau died in a PBY Catalina flying boat crash.
- 1980: His grandson Philippe Cousteau Jr. (son of Philippe Cousteau) was born
- 1 December 1990: His first wife Simone died of cancer.
- June 1991: He married Francine Triplet. They already had a daughter Diane Cousteau (1980) and a son Pierre-Yves Cousteau (1982) prior to their marriage.
He 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 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 organized 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 who was the first President, he created the Cousteau Society for the protection of ocean life; 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 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 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 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. On January 11, 1996, the Calypso sank in Singapore harbour. Cousteau died on June 25, 1997. The Cousteau Society and its French counterpart Equipe Cousteau, which Jacques-Yves Cousteau founded, are still active today.
Pop culture tributes and references
In the 14 May 2007 episode of TNT's Inside the NBA, Shaquille O'Neal requested that he be addressed from that point on as "Shaq Cousteau".
The 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou directed by Wes Anderson, is regarded as both an homage and send-up of Cousteau's career. It includes a credit and the end 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."
The John Denver song "Calypso" is a tribute to Cousteau. It was first released on the album Windsong in 1975.
In summer of 1997, just after Captain Cousteau died, John Denver wrote another song to tribute his late friend's effect on the world, called "Blue Water World." This song was never officially recorded, as Denver himself died later that same year.
Gwar wrote a tribute song to Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, a shuttlecraft carried aboard USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D bears his name.
In the Farscape episode "Crichton Kicks", Regarding Sikozu's Leviathan hunting contract Crichton says "So, you just Jacques Cousteau your way upstream to where they die."
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 En Attendant Cousteau (1990), respectively.
The French protagonist in the 1963 film The Pink Panther was named Inspector Jacques Clouseau.
In an episode of the TV show Friends, Phoebe thinks she has subconsciously developed a crush on Jacques Cousteau.
In an episode of the cartoon TV show Pinky and the Brain, Brain claims to be Jacques Cousteau when his submarine is radioed and asked who it was driving it.
In an episode of the Earthworm Jim cartoon, titled "The Sword of Righteousness", Psy-Crow remarks to Jim (just before squashing him with a spectral hand): "You're goin' down like Jacques Cousteau!".
In an episode of The Tracey Ullman Show, on The Simpsons short "Bathtime", Bart Simpson mimics Jacques Cousteau in the bathtub, first aired on March 8, 1989.
In the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Courteney Cox' character corrects her boss' mistake of calling a dolphin a fish instead of a mammal. Angry, he retorts, "Thank you, Miss Jacques Cousteau".
American poet Adrienne Rich refers in her poem "Diving into the Wreck" to Cousteau and his "assiduous team" published in 1973.
The Incubus song "Nice to Know You" features the lyric "Deeper than the deepest Cousteau would ever go".
The Blue Öyster Cult song "Perfect Water" features the lyric "Do you know Jacques Cousteau, when they said on the radio that he hears bells in random order, deep beneath the perfect water?"
The Jurassic 5 song "Red Hot" features the lyric "The Jacques Cousteau with flow".
The Wu-Tang Clan song "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" features the lyric "Jacques Cousteau could never get this low," sung by Ol' Dirty Bastard. A Jedi Mind Tricks song, "Get This Low," samples the line.
The Andrew Bird song "Lull" features the lyric "Being alone/It can be quite romantic/Like Jacques Cousteau/Underneath the Atlantic".
The Ukrainian band 5'nizza song "Морячок" (lit. sailor) features the lyric in Russian "Как Жак-Ив Кусто/Километров на сто/В батискафе пьет Нескафе..." (roughly translated, "Like Jacques-Yves Cousteau/100 kilometers below/In the bathyscaphe he drinks Nescafé...")
An Erasure single Boy (2006) contains instrumental track entitled "Jacques Cousteau".
See also
Jacques-Yves Cousteau's ships
External links
- 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 IMDb
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau (A brief biography by British amateur scuba diver Dave "Hooch" Hasney)
- Fact file by NNDB