On the occasion of the broadcast of The odyssey, Tuesday January 11 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2, spotlight on the woman in the shadows who lived with Commander Cousteau, his wife Simone, to whom the Calypso owes as much as to the famous explorer.
Behind every great man hides a woman, it is often said. A great woman one should say with regard to Commander Cousteau. Simone Cousteau, née Simone Melchior, is often presented as the real captain of the Calypso, the legendary boat of the man in the red cap, and nicknamed the Shepherdess because she watches carefully over the entire crew. In The odyssey, which France 2 broadcasts on Tuesday January 11 at 9:10 p.m., she is embodied by Audrey Tautou, while Lambert Wilson lends his features to the famous commander.
Simone met Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1937 at a party. She is 18 years old and the young naval officer 27 years old. They get married the same year and at the same time she espouses her man’s ambition: to explore the seas of the planet. To buy the Calypso, in 1950, Simone will agree to sell her family jewels. But before that, the couple founds a home. In 1938, she gave birth to their first child, Jean-Michel. Philippe is born four years later. During their childhood, the two boys study in a boarding school and on the weekends, they find their parents on the boat. ” My children knew how to dive before they could swim »Explained Simone Cousteau in the documentary The blue eminence. Sometimes to the detriment of her role as a mother, most of his life revolves around the journeys of Calyspo and the destinations chosen by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. On board, she takes care of everything while her husband surfs on his notoriety and responds to all kinds of requests. She never appears in the photos or in the documentaries shot by Commander Cousteau. In the biography The soul of Calypso, this woman in the shadows confides to be the ” only sailor’s wife waiting for her husband on board “. She also chooses the crew members. Surrounded by men, she is like a fish in water. But when she learns that Commander Cousteau is cheating on her, she takes refuge in alcohol. The disappearance of their son Philippe in a tragic seaplane accident in 1979 devastates it. She fell ill, eaten away by skin cancer which made her suffer greatly.
The couple walks away, Jacques-Yves Cousteau maintains an affair with Francine Triplet, a flight attendant he met in 1976 during a diving course in the United States. They even have two children, Diane born in 1979 and Pierre-Yves born in 1981, of whom Simone will learn of existence only a few weeks before her death, on December 1, 1990 at the age of 71. Six months later, Commander Cousteau marries Francine with whom he will remain married until his death on June 25, 1997 at the age of 87.
Photo credits: John Lindsay / AP / SIPA