About Jacques Cousteau

Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910 in Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac in France. Cousteau died in 1997 at the age of 87. His death was caused by a heart attack which he received while recovering from a respiratory ailment. As a boy Cousteau was expelled from high school after he broke seventeen of the schools windows. He was bored by formal education. After high school, he joined France’s Naval Academy. He graduated from there and became a gunnery officer. He was in his training to become a pilot when he was involved in a nearly fatal car crash. This ended his aviation career and he was then transferred to sea duty. That’s when he started swimming more and becoming more and more interested in the oceanic environment.

Cousteau’s first wife was Simone Melchior, with who he had four children, Diane, Elizabeth, Pierr-Yves Daniel, and Phillipe. Cousteau’s sons appeared with him in his movies and some of his children still carry on his work of oceanic exploration today.