Commander of the Legion of Honour. Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit. Commander of Arts and Letters. Officer of Maritime Merit. Commander of the Order of San Carlos. Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Medal of Freedom of the United States.

Born on June 11, 1910, in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Gironde, Jacques-Yves Cousteau pursued his studies in Rome, Bordeaux, New York, Paris, Ribeauvillé, and continued at Stanislas College in preparation for the Naval Academy entrance exam (class of 1930). From 1930 to 1957, he developed his military career, during which, among other things, he commanded the naval base in Shanghai, studied frogman equipment, participated aboard the cruiser Dupleix in the hunt for the pocket battleship Graf von Spee, as well as in the bombing of Genoa (war cross with decoration and two mentions), joined the Resistance (Legion of Honour awarded for this), then co-founded with Commander Philippe Tailliez the Underwater Research Group (GERS), and converted the German aviso Ingénieur Elie Monnier into an oceanographic vessel.

During this period, he also organized the French Navy’s participation in the FNRS II bathyscaphe expedition and undertook efforts leading to the signing of the Franco-Belgian agreement concerning the FNRS III.

In 1943, he conceived and built with engineer Émile Gagnan the prototype of the Cousteau-Gagnan compressed-air autonomous diving suit.

Co-inventor of the first underwater television camera, exploration submarines, and the wind propulsion process for ships, used on the research vessel Alcyone. He was the pioneer of a new method of underwater living called the Précontinent experiments (I, II, III).

Since 1950, he has sailed aboard the former minesweeper Calypso, with which he has led over fifty far-flung expeditions around the world. He created two associations to organize these cruises and to develop special technical equipment: the French Oceanographic Campaigns and the Centre for Advanced Marine Studies.

In 1957, he was elected director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, a position he held until 1988. He was Secretary General of the International Commission for Scientific Exploration of the Mediterranean from 1962 to 1988.

President of the Cousteau Society (United States) since 1974 and of the Cousteau Foundation (Paris) since 1981. Foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (1968) and of India (1978). Honorary Doctor of Harvard, Rensselaer, Brandeis, and Berkeley universities (USA).

Elected by the French Academy on November 24, 1988, to the seat of Jean Delay (17th seat).

WORKS:

• 1946: 18 Meters Down (out of print).

• 1950: Diving with Scuba, in collaboration (R. Laffont).

• 1954: The Silent World, with Frédéric Dumas (R. Laffont).

• 1962: The Best Tales of the Underwater World, with James Dugan (R. Laffont).

• 1964: World Without Sun (Hachette).

• 1970: Sharks, with P. Cousteau (Flammarion).

• 1971: The Life and Death of Corals, with Philippe Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1971: A Sunken Treasure, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1972: Our Friends the Whales, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1973: Octopus: The End of a Misunderstanding, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1973: Three Adventures of the Calypso, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1974: Diving Companions, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1974: Cousteau Encyclopedia, in 20 volumes (R. Laffont).

• 1975: Dolphins and Freedom, with P. Diolé (Flammarion).

• 1978: Calypso, with Alexis Alvirine (R. Laffont).

• 1978: Salmon, Beavers, and Otters, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1979: Life at the End of the World, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1980: Surprises of the Sea, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1980: The World of the Oceans (R. Laffont).

• 1981: In Search of Atlantis, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1981: Cousteau Almanac for the Environment (R. Laffont).

• 1981: Frenchman, They Have Stolen Your Sea, with Henri Jacquier (R. Laffont).

• 1982: The Fate of the Nif, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1983: Fortune of the Sea, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1983–1985: Planet Ocean, encyclopedia in 24 volumes (R. Laffont).

• 1983: From the High Seas to the Great Lakes, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1985: The Cousteau Expedition in the Amazon, with Mose Richards (R. Laffont).

• 1985/1987: Cousteau Cards, with Y. Paccalet.

• 1986: The Planet of Whales, with Y. Paccalet (R. Laffont).

• 1987: The Wounded Sea, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

• 1988: The Sea of Cortez, with Y. Paccalet (Flammarion).

Main scientific publications and communications:

• 1952: Underwater Topography and Current Sedimentation, with W. Nesteroff and H. Tazieff. XIX International Geological Congress, Algeria, 1952.

• 1958: On Certain Secondary Techniques in Oceanography. International CURS Colloquia, LXXXIII, Nice-Villafranca.

• 1958: Deep Sediments Along the Nice Coast, with Jacques Benicourt, Gilbert Boillet. Proceedings of the weekly sessions of the Academy of Sciences.

• 1961: Terrain Accidents in the Ligurian Sea, CNRS Colloquia.

• 1964, July: Measurement of the Absorption in Seawater of Light Emitted by an Artificial Source at Different Depths, Vertically and Horizontally, with Casimir Jausserau, André Laban, Michel Liverman, Bulletin of the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, Vol. 63, No. 1309.

• 1965, May 12–20: Exploration Submarines, First International Congress on Petroleum and the Sea, Monte-Carlo.

• 1966, May: On Human Adaptation to Underwater Life in Natural and Synthetic Compressed Atmospheres, with J. Chouteau, J. Alinat, CR Academy of Sciences, vol. 262.

• 1978: Report on the CIRSTI-Cousteau Foundation Expedition: Establishment of a Mediterranean Health Bulletin. IVth Study Days on Pollution, Antalya.

• 1979: Oil and Risk Management. Science and Society, vol. 29, no. 2.

• 1979: Rights for Future Generations (charter of rights).

• 1979, May: Basic Principles for a Global Oceanographic Policy.

• 1985: Wind Propulsion for Ships. B. Charrier, J. Cousteau, L. Malavard, Wintech’85, International Symposium on Wind Technology Applied to Ships, University of Southampton.

• 1986, October 27: Ecoconservation. 14th FICOM Conference, Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Cartoons: (with Dominique Sérafini and Yves Paccalet)

• 1985: The Island of Sharks (R. Laffont).

• 1985: The Coral Jungle (R. Laffont).

• 1986: The Sunken Galleon (R. Laffont).

• 1986: The Traps of the Sea (R. Laffont).

• 1987: The Lions of the Calypso (R. Laffont).

• 1987: The Mystery of Atlantis: The Pergamon Loot (R. Laffont).

• 1988: The Mystery of Atlantis: The Wave of Fire (R. Laffont).

Feature films:

• 1956: The Silent World

• 1963: World Without Sun

• 1975: Voyage to the End of the World

• 1981: Traps of the Sea

Short films:

• 1942: Eighteen Meters Down

• 1943: Remains

• 1944: Landscapes of Silence

• 1948: The Seals of the Sahara

• 1949: A Ruby Dive, Around a Reef, Dive Log

• 1953: Station 307

• 1957: The Source of Vaucluse (with L. Malle). The Sunken Galley (with J. Ertanot).

• 1958: Showcases Under the Sea (with F. Alepée). Story of a Goldfish (with E. Sechan).

• 1962: The House at the Bottom of the Sea, The Oceanauts.

Television films:

• 1965: The World of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

• 1967: Sharks, Coral Jungle, The Fate of Sea Turtles.

• 1968: Whales and Sperm Whales, Pepito and Cristóbal’s Surprise Trip, The Sunken Treasure, The Legend of Lake Titicaca.

• 1969: The Whales of the Desert, The Night of the Squids, The Return of the Elephants.

• 1970: Those Incredible Submersible Machines, The Living Sea, The Tragedy of the Red Salmon.

• 1971: Dragons of the Galapagos, Sunken Caves, The Fate of Sea Otters, The Last Mermaids.

• 1972: Octopus, Little Octopus, The Song of the Dolphins.

• 1973: 500 Million Years and Under the Sea, The Walrus’s Smile, Hiccup! Hiccup! The Singing Whale.

• 1974: Antarctica (4 films).

• 1975: Life at the End of the World, The Winter of the Beavers, The Coral Crazies, The Sleeping Sharks of Yucatán.

• 1976: Flippers Under the Sea, In the Heart of the Caribbean Reefs, The Fish That Swallowed Jonah, The March of the Lobsters.

• 1977: The Enigma of the Britannic, Pergamon Loot Recovered from the Waters.

• 1978: In Search of Atlantis (2 films), The Testament of Easter Island, Ultimatum Under the Sea.

• 1979: The Blood of the Sea, The Nif (2 films).

• 1980: Fortunes of the Sea, Clipperton, Island of Solitude.

• 1981: Warm Blood in the Sea.

• 1982: Traps of the Sea, From the High Seas to the Great Lakes, The Amazon (7 films), The Mississippi (2 films).

• 1985: Alcyone, Daughter of the Wind, Message from a Lost World, River of the Future, Jacques-Yves Cousteau: My First 75 Years, Haiti: The Water of Sorrow, Cuba: The Waters of Destiny, Cape Horn: The Waters of the Wind.

• 1986: The Legacy of Cortez, The Marquesas: The Mountains of the Sea.

• 1987: Islands of the Strait (2 films), New Zealand (3 films), Tahiti: The Water of Fire.

• 1988: Island of Peace (Costa Rica), Cocos: Sharks of Treasure Island, The Bering Sea, Australia: The Last Barrier.