Cyril Vosper

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Cyril Vosper
Born	7 June 1935 Hounslow, Middlesex United Kingdom
Died	4 May 2004 Melbourne, Australia
Occupation	Author, The Mind Benders

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Cyril Ronald Vosper (7 June 1935 – 4 May 2004) was a Scientologist and later a critic of Scientology. He wrote The Mind Benders, which was the first book on Scientology to be written by an ex-member and the first critical book on Scientology to be published (narrowly beating Inside Scientology by Robert Kaufman).

Vosper was born in Hounslow, Middlesex and lived his early life in Britain. He joined the Church of Scientology in 1954 and was expelled in September 1968.

After leaving Scientology, he was a deprogrammer in Europe. In November 1987, while a Committee member of the British cult-awareness group, FAIR, he was convicted in Munich of "causing bodily harm" to Barbara Schwarz in the course of one of his many deprogramming attempts.^[1][2][3] Later, after moving to Melbourne, Australia, he was an exit counsellor with the Australian anti-cult group CultAware. He also did frequent press, radio and television interviews as an expert on Scientology from the 1980s through to his death, and demonstrated against the Church of Scientology in the late 1990s.

He died in 2004 of a heart attack and advanced cancer.

Contents 1 Further reading 2 Notes 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Further reading

• Cyril Vosper, The Mind-benders: Scientology, Mayflower (April 19, 1973), trade paperback, 176 pages, ISBN 0-583-12249-3; hardcover, Neville Spearman Ltd (September 9, 1971), 190 pages, ISBN 0-85435-061-6

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Eileen Barker Watching for Violence, A Comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-Watching Groups CESNUR. An unpublished draft paper presented at a 2001 CESNUR Conference in London.
2. ^ Elisabeth Arweck, Researching New Religious Movements: Responses and Redefinitions, 2005, page 114 ISBN 0-415-27755-8
3. ^ Anti-Cult Groups Riven by Schism and Bitter Feuds, The Independent on Sunday, October 10, 1994

[edit] References

• Warrior Against Sect And Prostate Cancer (obituary, The Age, 12 May 2004)

[edit] External links

• The Mind Benders (complete book)
• Cyril Vosper interview, 3-RRR Liars' Club, 10am-11am Sun 03 Sep 1995 (transcript)
• Researching New Religious Movements: Responses and Redefinitions by Elisabeth Arweck, p. 114 (required Google login)
• Hubbard v. Vosper (1972) 2 QB 84 - seminal copyright case