{{Short description|French author (1921–2017)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox writer | name = Anne Golon | image = Imaginales 2014 - Anne Golon.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Anne Golon in May 2014 | pseudonym = {{cslist|Joëlle Danterne|Sergeanne Golon}} | birth_name = Simone Changeux | birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|12|17|df=yes}} | birth_place = Toulon, France | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|07|14|1921|12|17|df=yes}} | death_place = Le Chesnay, France | occupation = Novelist | language = | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genres = {{cslist|Adventure|historical fiction|romance}} | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | notable_works = ''Angélique'' series | spouse = Serge Golon | children = 4 (including Pierre Goloubinoff) | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | website = }}
'''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<ref name="Hollywood Reporter" /> and have inspired multiple adaptations.
==Biography== Anne Golon was born as Simone Changeux on 17 December 1921 in Toulon, a port in south-eastern France.<ref name="L'Express">{{cite web |title=Anne Golon, femme de combat, comme son héroïne Angélique |trans-title=Anne Golon, a woman of combat like her heroine Angélique |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/societe/deces-de-la-romanciere-anne-golon-auteur-de-la-serie-angelique_1927727.html |website=L'Express |access-date=19 February 2021 |language=fr |date=16 July 2017}}</ref> She was the daughter of Pierre Changeux, a scientist and a captain in the French Navy.<ref name="Le Monde obituary" /> She was interested in painting and writing from early childhood and published her first novel, ''The Country From Behind My Eyes'',<ref>Joelle d'Anterne (1943) ''Au pays de derrière mes yeux'', Desclée de Brouwer, Paris {{oclc|729900701}}</ref> 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''.<ref>Anne Golon (1947) ''La Patrouille des saints-innocents'', Alsatia, Paris {{oclc|491557649}}</ref>
She was sent to Africa as a journalist, where, in 1947, she met her future husband, Vsevolod Sergeïvich Goloubinoff, better known as Serge Golon.<ref name="Le Monde obituary" /> They collaborated on ''Angélique: Marquise of the Angels'' (1956),<ref>Anne Golon; Serge Golon (1956) ''Angélique, marquise des anges'', J'ai lu, Paris {{ISBN|978-2-27722-488-4}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hollywood Reporter">{{cite web |last1=Van Hoeij |first1=Boyd |title=''Angelique: Marquise des Anges'': Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/angelique-marquise-des-anges-film-667430 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=19 February 2021 |language=en |date=25 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Le Monde obituary" />
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 {{lang|fr|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.<ref name="BFM TV obituary" />
On 14 July 2017, she died from peritonitis in Versailles, France.<ref name="Le Monde obituary">{{cite web |title=La romancière Anne Golon, auteure de la série « ''Angélique'' », est morte |trans-title=The novelist Anne Golon, author of the series ''Angélique'', has died |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2017/07/16/la-romanciere-anne-golon-auteure-de-la-serie-angelique-est-morte_5161140_3382.html? |website=Le Monde |access-date=19 February 2021 |language=fr |date=16 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="BFM TV obituary">{{cite web |title=Anne Golon, auteure de la célèbre série littéraire ''Angélique'', est morte |trans-title=Anne Golon, author of the famous literary series ''Angélique'', has died |url=https://www.bfmtv.com/culture/anne-golon-auteure-de-la-celebre-serie-litteraire-angelique-est-morte_AN-201707160002.html |website=BFM TV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801113116/https://www.bfmtv.com/culture/anne-golon-auteure-de-la-celebre-serie-litteraire-angelique-est-morte_AN-201707160002.html |archive-date=1 August 2020 |language=fr |date=16 July 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Publications== {{inc-lit|date=October 2021}} * ''Angélique: Marquise of the Angels'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique, marquise des anges}}, 1957){{efn|name=combined|The first two novels were originally published in France as a single 800-plus page volume titled ''Angélique''.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Angélique: Marquise of the Angels'' |url=https://www.worldofangelique.com/mota.htm |website=World of Angélique |date=14 November 2018 |access-date=19 February 2021 |language=en |quote=''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.}}</ref>}} * ''Angélique: The Road to Versailles'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique : le Chemin de Versailles}}, 1958){{efn|name=combined}} * ''Angélique and the King'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique et le Roy}}, 1959) * ''Angélique and the Sultan'' ({{lang|fr|Indomptable Angélique}}, 1960){{efn|Literally translated as "Indomitable Angélique" or "Untamable Angélique". Also published in English as ''Angélique in Barbary''.<ref>{{cite book |title=''Angélique in Barbary'' |oclc=762501763 |language=en |quote=Translation of: ''Indomptable Angélique''. Published in England under the title: ''Angélique and the Sultan''.}}</ref>}} * ''Angélique in Revolt'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique se révolte}}, 1961) * ''Angélique in Love'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique et son amour}}, 1961) * ''The Countess Angélique'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique et le Nouveau Monde}}, 1964){{efn|Literally translated as "Angélique and the New World".}} * ''The Temptation of Angélique'' ({{lang|fr|La Tentation d'Angélique}}, 1966){{efn|Published in Canada as ''The Temptation of Angélique 1: The Jesuit Trap'' and ''The Temptation of Angélique 2: The Downfall of Goldbeard''.}} * ''Angélique and the Demon'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique et la Démone}}, 1972) * ''Angélique and the Ghosts'' ({{lang|fr|Angélique et le Complot des Ombres}}, 1976){{efn|Literally translated as "Angélique and the Conspiracy of Shadows".}} * {{lang|fr|Angélique à Québec}} (1980) * {{lang|fr|Angélique, la Route de l'Espoir}} (1984) * {{lang|fr|La Victoire d'Angélique}} (1985)
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.worldofangelique.com/ The official website for the ''Angélique'' series] * [https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/183/200/116919/presse/angelique-2013-press-kit-english-2.pdf A 2013 press kit featuring an interview with Anne Golon] * [https://www.bfmtv.com/tech/quand-angelique-marquise-des-anges-vire-au-reglement-de-comptes_AN-201808040048.html A 2018 article from ''BFM TV'' documenting Anne Golon's legal battle with Hachette] {{in lang|fr}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Novels}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golon, Anne}} Category:1921 births Category:2017 deaths Category:French historical novelists Category:Writers from Toulon Category:Women historical novelists Category:20th-century French novelists Category:21st-century French novelists Category:21st-century French women writers Category:French romantic fiction writers Category:20th-century French women novelists