Jacques Cousteau
 Jacques Cousteau    (mariner) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 June 1910 |
| Died | 25 June 1997 (Age 87) |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | Collège Stanislas, École navale |
| Children | • Jean-Michel Cousteau • Philippe-Pierre Cousteau • Diane Cousteau • Pierre-Yves Cousteau |
| Spouse | • Simone Melchior • Francine Triplet |
| Relatives | • Pierre-Antoine Cousteau • Fabien Cousteau • Céline Cousteau |
French oceanographer and environmentalist | |
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). The apparatus assisted him in producing some of the first underwater documentaries.
Cousteau wrote many books describing his undersea explorations. His first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure, was adapted into an underwater documentary called The Silent World. Co-directed by Cousteau and Louis Malle, it was one of the first films to use underwater cinematography to document the ocean depths in color. The film won the 1956 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1957.
From 1966 to 1976, he hosted The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, a documentary television series, presented on American commercial television stations. A second documentary series, The Cousteau Odyssey, ran from 1977 to 1982 on public television stations.
Opinions
“It’s terrible to have to say this. World population must be stabilized and to do that we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. This is so horrible to contemplate that we shouldn't even say it. but the general situation in which we are involved is lamentable.”
Jacques Cousteau (1991) [1]
“Even if we found a way to feed this human tidal wave, it would be impossible to provide this multitude with decent living conditions, [...] Surviving like rats is not what we should bequeath to our children and grandchildren.”
Jacques Cousteau (June 1992) [2]
