Anne Golon (17 December 1921 – 14 July 2017) was a French author, better known to English-speaking readers as Sergeanne Golon. Her Angélique novels have reportedly sold 150 million copies worldwide[1] and have inspired multiple adaptations.
Anne Golon | |
|---|---|
 Anne Golon in May 2014 | |
| Born | Simone Changeux 17 December 1921 Toulon, France |
| Died | 14 July 2017 (aged 95) Versailles, France |
| Pen name |
|
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genres | |
| Notable works | Angélique series |
| Spouse | Serge Golon |
| Children | 4 (including Pierre Goloubinoff) |
Biography
editAnne Golon was born as Simone Changeux on 17 December 1921 in Toulon, a port in south-eastern France.[2] She was the daughter of Pierre Changeux, a scientist and a captain in the French Navy.[3] She was interested in painting and writing from early childhood and published her first novel, The Country From Behind My Eyes,[4] when she was 18 under the pen name Joëlle Danterne. During World War II, she travelled via bicycle through France to Spain. She wrote using different pen names, helped create France Magazine, and was awarded a literary prize for The Patrol of the Saint Innocents.[5]
She was sent to Africa as a journalist, where, in 1947, she met her future husband, Vsevolod Sergeïvich Goloubinoff, better known as Serge Golon.[3] They collaborated on Angélique: Marquise of the Angels (1956),[6] the first installment in the Angélique series. The novel was an overnight success. When originally published in France, the Angélique novels were credited to both Anne and Serge Golon – Anne being the author and Serge having done much of the historical research. The two names were later combined as "Sergeanne Golon" by British publishers when the series was translated into English.
The popularity of the Angélique novels led to a series of five feature films directed by Bernard Borderie in the 1960s. The actress Michèle Mercier played Angélique, and Robert Hossein played her husband, Joffrey de Peyrac.[1][3]
In 1972, Anne and Serge travelled to Canada to research a new Angélique novel. That year, as Anne wrote Angélique and the Ghosts, Serge died.
Anne carried on writing and brought up her four children at the same time. Between Serge's death in 1972 and 1985, Anne wrote four more volumes, beginning with the second half of Ghosts (published in France as a single volume, Angélique in Quebec) and proceeding through La Victoire d'Angélique.
By the 1990s, Anne was reduced to a state close to poverty and filed a lawsuit against the French publisher Hachette for abuse of copyright and unpaid royalties. In 2006, after a legal battle lasting nearly a decade, she reached an agreement which left her the sole owner of the Angélique series.[7]
On 14 July 2017, she died from peritonitis in Versailles, France.[3][7]
Publications
edit- Angélique: Marquise of the Angels (Angélique, marquise des anges, 1957)[a]
- Angélique: The Road to Versailles (Angélique : le Chemin de Versailles, 1958)[a]
- Angélique and the King (Angélique et le Roy, 1959)
- Angélique and the Sultan (Indomptable Angélique, 1960)[b]
- Angélique in Revolt (Angélique se révolte, 1961)
- Angélique in Love (Angélique et son amour, 1961)
- The Countess Angélique (Angélique et le Nouveau Monde, 1964)[c]
- The Temptation of Angélique (La Tentation d'Angélique, 1966)[d]
- Angélique and the Demon (Angélique et la Démone, 1972)
- Angélique and the Ghosts (Angélique et le Complot des Ombres, 1976)[e]
- Angélique à Québec (1980)
- Angélique, la Route de l'Espoir (1984)
- La Victoire d'Angélique (1985)
Notes
edit- ^ a b The first two novels were originally published in France as a single 800-plus page volume titled Angélique.[8]
- ^ Literally translated as "Indomitable Angélique" or "Untamable Angélique". Also published in English as Angélique in Barbary.[9]
- ^ Literally translated as "Angélique and the New World".
- ^ Published in Canada as The Temptation of Angélique 1: The Jesuit Trap and The Temptation of Angélique 2: The Downfall of Goldbeard.
- ^ Literally translated as "Angélique and the Conspiracy of Shadows".
References
edit- ^ a b Van Hoeij, Boyd (25 December 2013). "Angelique: Marquise des Anges: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ "Anne Golon, femme de combat, comme son héroïne Angélique" [Anne Golon, a woman of combat like her heroine Angélique]. L'Express (in French). 16 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d "La romancière Anne Golon, auteure de la série « Angélique », est morte" [The novelist Anne Golon, author of the series Angélique, has died]. Le Monde (in French). 16 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ Joelle d'Anterne (1943) Au pays de derrière mes yeux, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris OCLC 729900701
- ^ Anne Golon (1947) La Patrouille des saints-innocents, Alsatia, Paris OCLC 491557649
- ^ Anne Golon; Serge Golon (1956) Angélique, marquise des anges, J'ai lu, Paris ISBN 978-2-27722-488-4
- ^ a b "Anne Golon, auteure de la célèbre série littéraire Angélique, est morte" [Anne Golon, author of the famous literary series Angélique, has died]. BFM TV (in French). 16 July 2017. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020.
- ^ "Angélique: Marquise of the Angels". World of Angélique. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
Angélique: Marquise of the Angels was originally published in 1957 as part of a larger 800-plus page volume that also included book two, Angélique: The Road to Versailles. However, in the UK and other countries these books were split into two smaller (but still substantial) volumes.
- ^ Angélique in Barbary. OCLC 762501763. Retrieved 19 February 2021 – via WorldCat.
Translation of: Indomptable Angélique. Published in England under the title: Angélique and the Sultan.
