Descended from French naval officers, Simone Melchior married
Jacques-Yves Cousteau in Paris on 12 July 1937. She was an integral
part of the many expeditions of film-making and oceanography that made
Cousteau famous. She spent years living about Calypso, the converted
WWII minesweeper that Cousteau outfitted as an oceanographic vessel.
Her two sons,
Jean-Michel Cousteau (b. 1938) and
Philippe Cousteau (b.
1940 d. 1979) were also active in film-making and marine exploration
and conservation.