Émile Gagnan, Co-Inventor of the Aqua-Lung

Émile Gagnan was born December 11, 1900. An engineer and inventor, Gagnan worked with French Navy diver Jacques Cousteau to create the Aqua-Lung in 1943, which revolutionized the diving industry and led to the popularization of scuba equipment.

Gagnan was employed by Air Liquide, a French gas-supply company, as an engineer specializing in high-pressure pneumatics. Using his experience in this industry, he and Cousteau created the Aqua-Lung and filed for its patent in 1943, with the regulator officially going into production in 1945 under the name CG-45 – the initials for Cousteau and Gagnan, respectively, along with the year.

In the first photo, we see Émile welcomed by Cousteau and his wife in Los Angeles to file the first patent for the regulator. Without their innovation, scuba diving would not be what it is today.

With Émile’s passing in 1984, Jacques Cousteau wrote to him a tribute, which is the bottom photo in this set. An English translation is beside it. Thank you to Émile’s grandson, Yann de la Fouchardière, for sending in the first photo and the tribute by Cousteau, as well as helping with the translation.