Georges Chaulet (25 January 1931 – 13 October 2012) was a French writer most famous for the series Fantômette, a series he created in 1961. His books were destined for young readers and Fantômette featured a female superhero for the first time in French literature. He is also the author of Les 4 As, a series created in 1957. He also released Le Petit Lion children's book series.
Career
Chaulet's father was an engineer, and his mother a shopkeeper. The family settled in 1936 in Antony (Hauts-de-Seine), France. After his baccalaureate, Georges Chaulet continued studying architecture at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. From 1952 to 1954, he served in the French Army in Germany. Then he returned to Antony, where he worked in the family coffee business with his parents, at the same time starting to write as an author. He would stay in Antony most of the time.
In 1957, Georges Chaulet proposed his first series, Les 4 As, to Hachette, one of France biggest publishers. But Hachette refused to publish it, having just bought the rights to all of Enid Blyton's novels, most notably The Famous Five. Eventually Casterman, another major French publisher, published Chaulet's work. There were six books in the series, followed by 43 volumes as a comics series narrated by Chaulet and drawn by François Craenhals. The series was the basis of the Belgian illustrated novel Les 4 As au collège by Chaulet and Craenhals, first published in 1962. The novel was published by Casterman in the Relais series.
Strengthened by the success of Les 4 As, George Chaulet then proposed a new series titled Fantômette to Hachette, and this time the publishing house accepted. Forty-nine volumes of Fantômette were published from 1961 to 1987 in the Bibliothèque rose series. The Fantomette books were aimed at eight- to twelve-year-old girls. There are 52 books in the series. It also resulted in a comic book series by François Craenhals, and a 1993 live-action TV series starring Katia Sourzac and a cartoon series in 1998. In 2006, to celebrate the 150 years of the "Bibliothèque rose", and after an eighteen-year absence, Georges Chaulet wrote a new adventure of his favorite heroïne titled Le Retour de Fantômette.
Chaulet also authored Le Petit Lion, a series of 13 children books inspired by the TV series of the same title. The books were published between 1968 and 1979 on Hachette in the collection series Bibliothèque rose.
Chaulet died on 13 October 2012, having written more than one hundred and fifty books for youth in the course of his career.
Publications
Les 4 As series
Books
1957: Le Fantôme de Campaville
1958: Les 4 As font du cinéma
1959: Les 4 As et Picasso
1961: Les 4 As et le Serpent de mer
1962: Les 4 As et le Secret du donjon
1962: Les 4 As au collège
Comics
1964: Les 4 As et le Serpent de mer
1964: Les 4 As et l'Aéroglisseur
1964: Les 4 As et la Vache sacrée
1965: Les 4 As et le Visiteur de minuit
1966: Les 4 As et le Couroucou
1967: Les 4 As et la Coupe d'or
1968: Les 4 As et le Dragon des neiges
1969: Les 4 As et le Rallye olympique
1970: Les 4 As et l'Île du Robinson
1971: Les 4 As et le Tyran
1973: Les 4 As et la Ruée vers l'or
1974: Les 4 As et le Picasso volé
1975: Les 4 As et la Bombe F
1976: Les 4 As et la Saucisse volante
1977: Les 4 As et le Gang des chapeaux blancs
1978: Les 4 As et le Vaisseau fantôme
1979: Les 4 As et le Diamant bleu
1980: Les 4 As et la Licorne
1981: Les 4 As et l'Iceberg
1982: Les 4 As et le Château maléfique
1983: Les 4 As et le Trésor des Tsars
1984: Les 4 As et le Hold-up de la Big Bank
1985: Les 4 As et le Magicien
1987: Les 4 As et le Secret de la montagne
1988: Les 4 As et la Déesse des mers
1989: Les 4 As et la Navette spatiale
1990: Les 4 As et le Requin géant
1991: Les 4 As et l'Empire caché
1992: Les 4 As et le Mystère de la jungle
1993: Les 4 As et les Extraterrestres
1994: Les 4 As et le Fantôme du mont Saint-Michel
1995: Les 4 As et le Robot vandale
1996: Les 4 As et l'Atlantide
1997: Les 4 As et les Sorcières
1998: Les 4 As et les Dinosaures
1999: Les 4 As et la Momie
2000: Les 4 As et les Fantômes
2001: Les 4 As et le Monstre des océans
2002: Les 4 As et Halloween
2003: Les 4 As et le Loup de Tasmanie
2004: Les 4 As et le Grand Suprême
2005: Mission Mars
2007: La Balade des 4 As (by Sergio Salma and Alain Maury)