Simone Cousteau (née Melchior; 19 January 1919 – 1 December 1990) was a French explorer. She was the first woman scuba diver and

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as sat ...

, and wife and business partner of undersea explorer

Jacques-Yves Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the A ...

. Although never visible in the '' Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau'' series, Simone played a key role in the operation at sea. Acting as mother, healer, nurse and psychiatrist to the all-male crew for 40 years, her nickname was "La Bergère", the Shepherdess. She led Jacques to the men and money who would build his scuba invention, she helped buy their beloved ship Calypso, saved the ship during a storm, and made sure each exploration achieved its objective.

Life and career

Simone was born on 19 January 1919 in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Her father Henri Melchior and both grandfathers Jules Melchior (paternal) and Jean Baehme (maternal) were admirals in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. Simone's mother was Marguerite Melchior (née Baehme), affectionately called Guitte. She had two brothers: Maurice, and Simone's twin, Michel. In 1924, Henri Melchior, as a director with

Air Liquide Air Liquide S.A. ( , ; literally " liquid air") is a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services to various industries including medical, chemical and electronic manufacturers. Founded in 1902, after Linde it is ...

(France's main producer of industrial gases), moved his family to

Kobe, Japan Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

. Simone learned Japanese at the age of five years. Simone met her future husband, Jacques, at a cocktail party in 1937. He was a naval officer of 26 and she was 17. They were married at Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, on 12 July 1937. After a honeymoon in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

the Cousteaus settled in Le Mourillon, a district of

. They had two sons, Jean-Michel (born 6 May 1938) and Philippe Pierre (30 December 1940 – 28 June 1979). Both sons were born on the family's kitchen table. In 1942, Simone's father provided financing and the manufacturing expertise of

Émile Gagnan Émile Gagnan (1900 – 1984) was a French engineer and, in 1943, co-inventor with French Navy diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau of the Aqua-Lung, the diving regulator (a.k.a. demand-valve) used for the first Scuba equipment. The demand-valve, or re ...

at Air Liquide to build Jacques Cousteau's aqua-lung. Simone was indirectly to hold the key to this significant step in diving history. She was present in 1943 at the testing of the prototype for the aqua-lung, in the

Marne River The Marne (; ) is a river in France, an eastern tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the departments of France, departments of Haute-Marne, Marne (department), Marne, Seine-et-Ma ...

outside Paris. The new invention was employed to locate and remove enemy mines after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Cousteau family's underwater investigation and exploration led to the purchase of the minesweeper '' Calypso'' on 19 July 1950. Thomas Loel Guinness bought the ship and leased it to Jacques for a dollar a year. Simone sold her family jewels for the ''Calypsos fuel, and her fur to buy a compass and gyroscope. The ''Calypso'' set off in 1952 on her maiden voyage, to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. Simone was the only woman on board. In 1963, Simone became the world's first female

by living in Starfish House, an

underwater habitat Underwater habitats are underwater structures in which people can live for extended periods and carry out most of the Circadian rhythm, basic human functions of a 24-hour day, such as working, resting, eating, attending to personal hygiene, and ...

, for the final four days of the

Conshelf II Continental Shelf Station Two or Conshelf Two was an attempt at creating an environment in which people could live and work on the sea floor. It was the successor to Continental Shelf Station One (Conshelf One). The alternate designation Precont ...

project. Describing his wife, Jacques Cousteau said, "She was the happiest out of camera range, in the crow's nest of '' Calypso'', for example, scanning the sea for whales. Nothing would get by her." He continued, "She lives to spend hour after hour in the wind and the sun, watching, thinking, trying to unravel the mystery of the sea." Simone died in 1990 of cancer. She received a full military funeral, during which her ashes were scattered over the Sea of Monaco.

Grant

On 8 March 2021, the Women Divers Hall of Fame announced on International Women's Day, that a new research grant in the name of the French diver, Simone Melchior-Cousteau was being launched.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melchoir, Simone 1919 births 1990 deaths Aquanauts Deaths from cancer in Monaco 20th-century French explorers French underwater divers Place of death missing Cousteau family Sportspeople from Toulon Women Divers Hall of Fame