Louis de Wohl

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Ludwig von Wohl
Nationality German

Louis De Wohl (24 January 1903 – 2 June 1961) was a German-Catholic author and astrologer who specialized in historical fiction novels of notable Roman Catholic Saints and different periods of the Bible, after an audience with the Pope where he was told to "write about the history and mission of the Church in the World."

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[edit] Life

Born in Berlin to a poor family and Catholic upbringing, de Wohl was forced by his mother to assume an apprenticeship to a banker when he was only 17. However, in 1924, at the age of 21, he was fired. In 1935, he moved to London, England as an objector to the Hitler regime. There are some 'writings' that claim he had a wife named Alexandra, who supposedly fled to Santiago, Chile, claiming to be a Romanian princess and was known as "La Baronessa." This could not be further from the truth. His wife of 15 years was Ruth Magdalene Lorch, Lady Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of whom Louis de Wohl had the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He had a tenure as an astrologer for the British intelligence agency MI5 during World War Two. His MI5 file was released in early 2008, and as reported in the Independent newspaper, he was recruited initially as an informant because he was casting horoscopes for people of interest to MI5. However, it was believed that Hitler was strongly influenced by astrology, and hence might be likely to choose 'lucky' astrological dates for major ventures. He prospered, reaching the rank of captain, although some of his handlers disapproved of him strongly.

He began writing as early as the age of 7 having his teachers applaud him on his ability. At the age of 8 he wrote a play "Jesus of Nazareth" because he didn't like how Jesus was portrayed by some books he read. Who was to know that 40 years after that he would write 'The Spear' which brought him international acclaim and started the road to being one of the greatest Catholic authors of all time.

The Cardinal of Milan, Ildefonso Schuster, came to de Wohl after reading some of his writings telling him "Let your writings be good. For your writings you will one day be judged." He then knew that he had to write for God.

Even today Louis de Wohl's books are widely read. His non-fiction work, "Founded on a Rock: A History of the Catholic Church" is often required reading for RCIA students.

He has written books on St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, Constantine just to name a few.

He wrote some novels in the German language before he fled to England in 1935 but he felt they were of 'small significance compared to the novels he wrote for the glory of God'.

He died in Switzerland in 1961 shortly after finishing his final work, "Founded on a Rock".

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