Cousteau

To most the name Jacques Cousteau means nothing. But that is exactly the reason as to why I thought it was important for me to write a biography on him. I believe Cousteau is much unappreciated. It is partly because of him that we know so much about the ocean and so many of its fascinating inhabitants. Jacques Yves Cousteau was born to Daniel and Elizabeth Cousteau on June 11, 1910, in St.-André-de-Cubzac, France. His father worked as a legal advisor for an American millionaire, Eugene Higgins. Daniel took his family on all of his business trips so Jacques got to travel all over Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, Jacques was constantly sick. Although the doctors told the Cousteau’s to limit Jacques’ activities, Higgins thought that exercise would help Jacques’ condition, so he suggested that Jacques swim and even taught him how. Soon, Jacques began intrigued by the ocean. After Jacques graduated high school, he enlisted in France’s navy. While serving at a base near the Mediterranean Sea he began to experiment with self containing underwater breathing apparatuses (SCUBA). Although, his experiments soon ended when he became distracted with a young woman named Simone Melchior, who he later married on July 12, 1937. The couple had two sons in the first few years following their marriage. In 1940, Cousteau joined the French Resistance against the Nazis. Ironically, Jacques’ assignments often involved underwater spying. This sparked his determination to create a SCUBA machine more than ever. In 1942, Cousteau teamed up with Émile Gagnan, together they created the Aqua-Lung. Cousteau gathered a team and started making underwater films. These films are what Jacques Cousteau are best known for. Jacques Cousteau was the first person to produce color films of the ocean for the public. Cousteau made over 115 films in his lifetime. Cousteau also invented the first bathyscaphe which was a two person machine that could stay underwater for 6 hours and could go