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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (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 and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

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'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') 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 May 1923 by J ...

'', journalist, biographer, film historian,

International Festival of Independent Cinema Off Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema ''Off Camera'' is a film festival held in Kraków, Poland, with up to 400 screenings annually, seminars, international stars, guests and jury. It is the first event of its kind in the country based o ...

(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 from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. 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 ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) 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. ...

, France, and then

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

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

Bibliography

* * Ronald Bergan. (1994) ''Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise'' * Ronald Bergan.

Robyn Karney Robyn Karney (4 January 1940 – 7 December 2017) was a South African-born London-based film writer and critic. Karney was born in Cape Town, but raised in Johannesburg. A stage manager for the theatre companies of Brian Brooke and Leonard Schach ...

. ''Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide'' (London: Bloomsbury, 1988, 1991), :: known as the ''Holt Foreign Film Guide'', :: then ''The Faber Companion to Foreign Films'' in the United States * * * * * * * ''Great Theatres of London'' * ''Francis Coppola: The Making of His Movies'' * ''Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise'' * ''Anthony Perkins: A Haunted Life'' * ''Isms: Understanding Film'' * ''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 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 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