L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology and author of Dianetics, is a controversial figure. He made grandiose claims about his achievements, including being a nuclear physicist and a heroic soldier. Hubbard sought psychiatric help and his notebooks revealed disturbing beliefs about slavery. He had three marriages and seven children, and his eldest son was an outspoken critic of Scientology. Hubbard’s third wife died in 1986, and his blood was found to have high levels of a prohibited drug.
L. Ron Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), given name Lafayette, is a controversial figure best known as the founder of Scientology and author of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Prior to these successes, he worked as a pulp fiction writer, a passion that continued later in his life. Many considered him brilliant, or even a prophet. His own statements and actions have caused many others to form a very different opinion.
The non-secular Church of Scientology paints Hubbard in a very positive light. This is often in stark contrast to the credibility issues surrounding the man who has pointed to his authorship of Dianetics as equally important to the invention of the wheel, the control of fire and the development of mathematics. He was known for making grandiose statements. For example, he claimed to have been one of the first nuclear physicists in the United States, as noted on the dust jacket of All About Radiation, published in 1957. He maintained this claim in a 1961 Scientology flyer designed to interest new members.
In fact, Hubbard had dropped out of George Washington University in 1931, which he attended for less than two years. Academic records reveal not only that his grades were miserably below average, but also that he failed physics. She later retracted her claims of him being a nuclear physicist.
In keeping with the theme of questionable claims, the author presented himself as a heroic soldier wounded in combat on the island of Java during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Military records show otherwise, indicating that at the era was located in New York of the battle. During his service, Hubbard was described by a naval attaché as unsatisfactory for any assignment, while a senior officer noted that he was temperamentally unfit for independent command. When he once commanded a submarine, he reportedly spent three days dropping depth charges “on two Japanese submarines,” claiming to have sunk one. A naval investigation later revealed that he was bombarding a known magnetic deposition in the ocean floor, with no evidence that Japanese submarines had been in the area.
The Church of Scientology is known for releasing an official military document known as Form DD214, which lists its achievements, medals and awards. However, the signing officer never existed, according to official Navy records. A statement released by the Navy acknowledges several discrepancies between the much more modest official naval records and the document held by the Church of Scientology.
According to a June 1990 Los Angeles Times article, The Mind Behind The Religion, as early as 1947, Hubbard sought psychiatric help from the Veterans Administration to treat suicidal bouts of profound depression. Coupled with great bouts, this drastic swing from one extreme to the other potentially points to bipolar disorder again, though if he was ever officially diagnosed as manic-depressive, it was never made public.
Hubbard’s notebooks filed in a Los Angeles court in the 1980s revealed that the writer considered all men his slaves, denying the right to be “ruthless whenever (his) will was against it.” However, he maintained friendships with some influential people, including science fiction editor John W. Campbell.
Hubbard married three times between 1933 and 1952, fathering seven children between his wives. His second wife, Sara Northrup, divorced him for being married to his first wife at the time of their marriage, without his knowledge. He also cited extreme physical abuse in court documents, including attempted strangulation and alleged abduction of their child.
His eldest son, Ronald L. Hubbard Jr. (1934 – 1991), changed his name to Ronald DeWolf. DeWolf was an outspoken critic of Scientology and his father, stating in a 1983 Penthouse interview that almost everything his father said was a lie. DeWolf also suspected that agents of the Scientology organization were responsible for the suspicious death of his half-brother, Geoffrey Quentin McCaulley Hubbard (1954-1976). The younger brother had rejected Scientology after being trained to take over the organization and died under suspicious circumstances. According to friends of Quentin, Quentin ceased to be a pilot and may have been homosexual, an orientation rejected by Scientology at the time as perversion.
Hubbard remained with his third wife until she died of a stroke in 1986. Although Scientology lawyers attempted to arrange a quick cremation, the local coroner stepped in to perform the requested autopsy. Curiously, his blood was found to have high levels of hydroxyzine, an antihistamine drug that also has psychoactive properties, making it prohibited by the Scientology ethos.
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