Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born in St.-Andre-de-Cubzac village, Gironde, France on 11 June, 1910. His mother, Elizabeth Duranthon, came from a family of affluent proprietors and wine merchants. His father, Daniel, was a lawyer. He had a brother, Pierre-Antoine that was 4 years older than him.
In september 1914, When Cousteau was 4 years old, World War II broke out and the german army reached the borders of paris. Their well-to-do lives in Paris became one of bare minimums. Cousteau suffered from chronic enteritis & a torrent of stomach inflammations, which increased the family’s troubles. He became a skinny, grim and reserved boy. They went back to St.-Andre where they could live by sustenance.
When Cousteau was 7, he paid no attention to games and sports, was aloof and indifferent to most things. He only showed an interest to mechanical items. When he was 10, his family moved to America due to his father’s job. He assembled a working scale model of a dock crane from ideas in Popular Mechanics Magazine where it could be moved by cranks and pulleys on rolling cams he supplemented to the design when he was 11. He also attended a two-week summer camp on Vermont Lake where he found his love for water while clearing dead tree branches from the pool. “I loved touching water, physically. Sensually. Water fascinated me.”
In 1923, when Cousteau was 12 years old, his family moved back to france and his Brother left home, so he spent most of his time reading about technology and fiddling with his models in his bedroom workshop. When he was 14, he bought a secondhand Pathe Baby, a hand-cranked camera, and spent hours taking it apart and constructing it back. He also learnt how to make and process films, and shot his first film at a cousin’s wedding.
In 1928, Elizabeth confiscated Cousteau’s camera as his grades were terrible. After shattering some windows in school, his parents sent him to boarding school in Alsace-Lorraine. He graduated as the best in his class in 1929. He then sat for the examinations for admittance into the French naval academy, Ecole Navale in Brittany and passed. After a cruise onboard a training ship around the world, he received his appointment in the navy. However, in 1936, just before becoming a pilot, he had a car accident and suffered from serious injuries on his left arm, ending his flying career.