Ronald Bergan (né Ginsberg, 2 November 1937 – 23 July 2020) was a South African-born British writer and historian. He was contributor to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (from 1989) and lecturer on film and other subjects as well as the author (or co-author) of several books including biographies.

Career

He was born Ronald Ginsberg in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and educated there, in England, and in the United States. In France, he taught literature, theater, and film at the Sorbonne, the British Institute in Paris, and the University of Lille. He held a Chair at the Florida International University in Miami where he taught Film History and Theory. He lectured on film history at FAMU in Prague. He was a writer for ''

'' and ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', journalist, biographer, film historian, International Festival of Independent Cinema Off Camera (the head of the Jury), Film Festival Juror, founding president of FEDEORA (Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean) in May 2010 in Cannes, and film critic.

Personal life

In 1960, Bergan married Maureen Myersohn, who later changed her name to Catriona. They lived primarily in London. They had a son, though they were impoverished at his birth and could not raise him, and so they arranged to have him adopted and raised by Myersohn's mother, who lived in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

, now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. The couple briefly separated in the early 1980s but reconciled. However, in the early 2000s, after Bergan's stint at Florida International University in the United States, they moved to

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

, France, and then

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czechoslovakia. In 2020, Bergan and his wife moved to Scotland. He died on 23 July 2020, aged 82, from urosepsis.

Bibliography

* * * Ronald Bergan. Robyn Karney. ''Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1988, 1991), :: known, in the United States, as the ''Holt Foreign Film Guide'',

Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in ...

, 1989 :: then * * * * * * * * * * * ''The Eyewitness Guide To Film'' * *

References

External links

Ronald Bergan
''Guardian'' articles 1937 births 2020 deaths 20th-century British journalists 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British journalists 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers British expatriates in France British expatriates in the Czech Republic British expatriates in the United States British film critics British film historians Deaths from sepsis in the United Kingdom Florida International University faculty Infectious disease deaths in Scotland South African emigrants to the United Kingdom The Guardian journalists Writers from Johannesburg {{UK-writer-stub