Emmanuelle Arsan, the pen name of Marayat Rollet-Andriane, born in 1932 as Marayat Bibidh, also known as Marayat, Marajat, Kramsaseddinsh, Krasaesundh, Krassaesibor, Virajjakkam, Virajjakam, Virajjakari, Rollet - Andriane, Bibidh is a French novelist of Eurasian origin, most famous for creating the fictional character Emmanuelle, a woman who engages in an exploration of her own sexuality under varying circumstances.
Arsan was born in Bangkok, Thailand. At the age of 16 she was married to a French diplomat at UNESCO, Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane, the couple had two daughters. The novel Emmanuelle was published and distributed clandestinely in France without an author's name in 1959. Successive editions later bore the moniker Emmanuelle Arsan, who was subsequently revealed to be Marayat Rollet-Andriane. Though the novel was sometimes hinted to be a quasi-autobiography, it was later revealed that the actual author was Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane. Several more novels were published under the Emmanuelle Arsan moniker.
Following the success of the film adaptation Emmanuelle in 1974, Arsan was the titular director and writer of the film Laure (1976) about the sexual discoveries of a younger "Emmanuelle" named Laure in yet another exotic setting. The film was actually directed by Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane and by Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli, though Rollet-Andriane, reportedly frustrated with his collaboration with the producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, asked for the Emmanuelle Arsan name not to be associated to the project, resulting in the film being credited to an anonymous director.
She had also appeared on screen under the stage name Marayat Andriane in the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles and in the 1967 episode "Turn of a Card" of the U.S. series The Big Valley. Her only other film appearance, credited as Emmanuelle Arsan, was in Laure, which was also released under the title Forever Emmanuelle.