Simone Melchoir-Cousteau

Simone Melchoir-Cousteau was a pioneering French explorer, widely recognized as the first woman scuba diver and aquanaut, and the beloved wife and partner of legendary oceanographer, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. She was key in his co-invention of the Aqualung, a revolutionary invention that transformed scuba diving, introducing him to the engineer and the funding. Simone witnessed the first successful test of the Aqualung prototype in the Marne River.

She was instrumental in the acquisition of Calypso, the Cousteau family’s famed research vessel, and played a key role in the operation at sea. For the Calypso’s early expeditions, she sold her family jewels and fur coats to purchase fuel and essential navigation instruments for the vessel. She was known as "La Bergere," the Shepherdess, as she acted as nurse, psychiatrist and mother to the all-male crew for 40 years.

In 1963, Simone made history by becoming the world’s first female aquanaut when she visited the Conshelf II undersea habitat in the Red Sea. Her legacy as a pioneering woman in scuba diving and ocean exploration continues to inspire generations of explorers and conservationists worldwide.