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From First Contact to First 'Meet and Greet' - 2000

Lisa Green Kentala has this memory of the 'Meet and Greet' In the big open courtyard of Versailles. "Anne Golon is in the middle, I'm on far left. She was waiting for us to arrive. This is within the first minute of seeing her in the huge courtyard of Versailles. Angelique had come to life!"

I'm so pleased that Lisa mentions that Anne was 'waiting for us to arrive' - I shall never forget the moment she came to meet my sister, Marysia and myself at the station in Versailles!

Nadine recording the happy event of the 'Friends of Angélique' 2000 meet with Anne Golon looking on and savouring every moment.

Truly international the 'Friends of Angélique' boast most nationalities and English-speakers in their membership - here Anne dons a typical geisha outfit given to her by Seiji Toyota one of the original members.

It may have been party time for the fans - but never for Anne, every book in any language and any format is lovingly and personally dedicated - this picture also includes my sister Marysia.

Nobody minded cramming into the small premises of the then 'Archange International' offices in Versailles just so they could be close to their idol. Sadly, in the background of the picture on the left, directly behind Nadine is my late friend Anna Naganowicz without whose help I wouldn't have been able to forge the close friendship and trust I have with the Golons.

One Year On

Our first anniversary as the official English-speaking fan club of Anne Golon

After all the excitement and 'whoo-ha' of finding each other on the internet and discovering that no only was Anne Golon alive but her daughter, Nadine Golubinoff, was prepared to communicate with us. We decided that we would formalise our existence and once we had a name 'Friends of Angélique' the rest proved a little more tricky. Our main hurdle was the fact that although we had come together through Harvey J Adkins, who became our first 'President', we were scattered across all points of the compass. What we had in common, in most cases, was that the agreed and first language of the group was English. What we certainly did not have in common was a suitable timeframe for communication as our group stretched from the northernmost tips of Canada and Sweden to the southernmost tips of Australasia and all points in between. Harvey was, at the time, stationed in Italy and had a view of Vesuvius out of his window. But we managed and in due course, the first Committee of the group was formed. President : Harvey J Adkins (Italy), Vice-President : Steve Hall (Australia), Treasurer & Membership Secretary : J Anna Ludlow (UK) and Administrator/Newsletter : Joyce LeBlanc Murphy (USA). E-Mail and Harvey's chat page meant that dialogue could be carried out although at times we would have to wait for responses to each others queries and suggestions. Our group of English-speakers (mainly because they weren't French speakers except for the biligual Canadians and some other language experts) extended to most non-French speaking European and Latin American countries.

In due time we became aware of a strong French community of fans which still exists today (2016) and although we encountered Spanish and Russsian speaking groups, we know the Spanish groups did not flourish and many joined the 'Friends' and very welcome they were too. We believe Russia still has a thriving community of fans.

Currently Harvey's original Yahoo discussion group and the slightly newer and currently more established Facebook page are still in existence and greeting new members from around the world.

First Contact

First contact was made with Nadja Golon (Goloubinoff) via a web-page (see below the narrative section) which clearly stated in an 'open' statement that Anne Golon, author of the Angélique series was alive and well and still completing the epic saga of her eponymous heroine. This revelation was an absolute gold-mine for all of her fans many of whom had no idea whether or not she was still alive and who, in fact, were wondering was 'Sergeanne' - man, woman or beast?

Since originally writing up this page I have discovered that some other countries had also used the amalgamated pseudonym of Serge and Anne as originated by the British and American publishing world. Trans-Globally, readers of these books in a language other than English and some northern and central European languages were streets ahead of us because they knew that two people were responsible for this remarkable piece of writing which still mesmerised in 2011 (when this was first written) and continues to do so today (2015), well into the second decade of the 21st Century!

[I am unable to say why and would not wish to speculate, however, I was rather astonished to find that many English fans believed that the partnership was that of a brother and sister once they had discovered that 'Sergeanne' was two people.] A recent 'find' of trivia leads me to believe that I and others had possibly seen this description at some time or another and kept it in the recesses of our minds until we discovered the truth!

Anne and Serge Golon

Husband and Wife or Brother and Sister?**

As the image is a little difficult to read I have reproduced the narrative below :

"The brother and sister team of Serge and Anne Golon have produced a tremendous saga of 17th-century France, tracing Angelique's career from childhood through a series of strange marriages and amorous adventures, perils and excitements, unequalled in the field of historical romance fiction. Translated into most European languages, a sensational runaway success in France, Angelique is one of the world's most fabulous bestsellers. The most ravishing, and surely the most ravished, heroine of all time."

** Read the Anne Golon Interview here where Anne tells of the 'strange solution' offered by the American publishers to change the author name to 'Sergeanne'.

The First Message

Thanks to Nadja posting this first message, picked up by the late Harvey J. Adkins (whose name appears at the end of the narrative posted by Nadja), the Yahoo Group known as 'Friends of Angélique' came into being and still thrives today. In turn it has provided an off-shoot onto Facebook and fans are invited to choose which group (or both) they wish to participate in. As Harvey had already created a web-site which brought many of us together, and had some hitherto generally unknown information to impart, namely that there were 5 films and three untranslated works still to be enjoyed, it seemed only natural that he should become the first President of the group. He led a properly structured committee of appointed officers to formally present the acclamation of the English-speaking fans to Anne Golon. It is a regret, to all of us, to no know that at that time Anne had been informed by her publishers that she had no fans and that her books had lost their popularity resulting in the heart-rending message sent out by Nadja and reproduced in its original text below.

Before I leave you to read this (please remember that English is not Nadja's first language and I had no intention of changing any of her words) I would ask you to ponder on one thought - if Anne's popularity and that of her books had fallen so dramatically in popularity, as told to her by her publishers - why were they still reprinting the books on a regular basis? This is an area of contention but not my place to pursue it as this web-site section is to promote my affection and enthusiasm for this great author and her fascinating story-telling.

"Regarding Anne Golon author of Angelique series by Nadja Golon(Goloubinoff)email: archangeinternational@yahoo.com"

"To all Angelique's readers,
Thank you for being there and making hear the voice of real normal and human people having heart and soul, and expressing their passion for Angelique's books. Here are some short- and real - informations on the author, mostly unknown. As I told in a previous message,Anne Golon is alive. She is today 76. Her real name is Simone Changeux, born in Toulon(France)in december 1921. Her father was captain Pierre Changeux in the French Navy. She began writing at the age of 6 and published her first book "At the Land of Behind My Eyes" while being 18, under the pen name of Joelle Danternne. So she began her writer career, writing several books (most of them best sellers), synopsis for movies, papers in news-papers. While tramping in Africa she met her husband, a scientist(Dr in geology chemistry and speaking about 17 language : Vsevolod Sergeïvich Goloubinoff. Born in Persia where his father, Sergeï Petrovich Goloubinov was the Tzar Consul. They had 4 children and I am one of them (born in Paris in 1955, Nadine Seraphine Goloubinoff, called Nadia or Nadja for friends). Vsevolod Goloubinoff had before written a souvenir book with the help of a French writer and then chosed the pen name of Serge Golon. When they went back to France, they were very poor for years. Serge couldn't find any work in his profession and so they began working together on scientific articles and some of his souvenir(he had a life close to Marco Polo and Indiana Jones) in newspapers, Anne were writing and making it understandable for the public. When she began writing the first Angelique he helped her in her historical researches. The first Angelique was printed in 1956 in Germany under the name of Anne. Later the French agency asked "for making more serious"(we were in 1956)to put only the man name -Serge- which he refused (and Anne did'nt care). A compromised was found with: Anne and Serge or Sergeanne. All these details for understanding about these two names. Concretely, Anne never stopped writing and Serge helped her for the documentation until he consecrated himself to painting and chemical researches on painting colours. This till 1972 where he died while being in Quebec for organising his next exhibition... and Anne for Angelique documentation. Their love story was as great as Angelique and Joffrey. Besides, they had 4 children and I am one of them : born Nadine Seraphinne Goloubinoff in Paris in 1955 (called Nadia or Nadja for friends)and created the company charged to manage Anne and Serge's rights. I'll tell you the next chapters of the story next time. In short, today Anne is in deep misery, struggling against those who thieved most of her authors rights.(Between other things they are responsible for the non-printing of the 3 last books in USA) Until the next trial (in next autumn) how to live?... And our company had to open several procedures against other companies who partly or completely forgot the author. In Russia the average sale of Angelique books is of 14 millions books for one year. And her author has to pick up vegetables in the end of markets for eating! (Most of time I do it for her). Who could believe it? This is reality in the country of human and authors rights.(More info at:
http://198.147.102.107/forums/culture/messages/1161.html
OK. Now for stopping on gloomy things, I just tell you we are preparing for the future the printing of the real original Anne's Angelique manuscripts, which had been mostly badly printed, with a lot of cuttings and errors. Of course we have projects for USA and real new English translations of this tremendous work. Anne also works on the 2 next Angelique books. All help, all suggestions are welcome.As we still don't have computers of our own. I send this message from a computer renting room and we will read all your messages and answer them as soon as we can. See you soon. Nadja G."
"Here is the address of our company (representing Anne Golon's Copyright by Nadja):
ARCHANGE INTERNATIONAL (S.A.R.L. RCS B 404 105 322)
53 rue Boissiere, 75116 Paris
Fax 0033 1 39 55 93 63 - Tel 0033 1 39 54 50 11
All correspondences to ANNE GOLON may be sent to this address."
Angelique site:
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/7174/adkinsangel01.html

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