Émile Gagnan

Émile Gagnan (born November 1900 in Bourgogne , † 1979 in Canada ) was a French engineer. Together with Jacques-Yves Cousteau , he is the developer of today's regulator , also known as "Aqualung" in technical terms.

Life

After completing his studies (around 1920), Gagnan worked for the Air Liquide company and received a pressure reducer from the Piel company, which had already been patented in 1864 for the French Rouquayrol-Denayrouze , but which was too big for diving and not close to the 1940s Compressed air bottles was adapted.

During the German occupation of France in World War II, due to a lack of petrol on the market, Gagnan adapted this pressure reducer to the need to run engines on gas. The device made of Bakelite was patented in his name.

His then superior at Air Liquide was an admiral in the French Navy, whose daughter was married to the ensign at sea Jacques-Yves Cousteau and who sought to improve naval diving and its autonomy since 1930. He brought the two together and the regulator developed from the work they did together .

Cousteau and Gagnan patented their invention for export in 1945 under the abbreviations CG45 (for Cousteau-Gagnan1945) and "Aqualung". To commercialize their product, they founded the company “La Spirotechnique” within Air Liquide.

In 1947 Émile Gagnan emigrated to Canada, where he died in 1979.