What You Didn't Know About Jacques Cousteau's Secret Family

Jacques Cousteau's wife was named Simone Melchior (pictured with Jacques above). According to Mental Floss, the two were married in 1937, and Simone played an integral role in Jacques' mission to survey the depths of the seven seas. She accompanied him and his team on expeditions and even helped him finance them. She once sold jewels passed down through her family so that they could buy fuel for his ship Calypso. Her help in the operation earned her the nickname "The Shepherdess" from the crew.

So at least Jacques had the sense to wait until after Simone died to announce that he'd been raising a whole other family in secret for much of their relationship. Simone died in 1990, and the following year, Jacques went public with his confession, announcing that he had long been carrying on an affair with a woman named Francine Triplet, who was over 30 years younger than he. They even had children. The Washington Post reports that they had a daughter in 1980 and a son two years after that.

"Life goes on, and for me life begins anew," Cousteau said at the time. He and Triplet were married not long after.

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