L. Ron Hubbard

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911┬áÔ[][] January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard (and often referred to by his initials, LRH), was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first published in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation. Although many aspects of Hubbard's life story are disputed, there is general agreement about its basic outline. Born in Tilden, Nebraska, he spent much of his childhood in Helena, Montana. He traveled in Asia and the South Pacific in the late 1920s after his father, an officer in the United States Navy, was posted to the U.S. naval base on Guam. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. at the start of the 1930s before beginning a career as a prolific writer of pulp fiction stories. He served briefly in the Marine Reserves and later in the U.S. Navy during World War II, briefly holding command of 2 different vessels, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815. He was removed from his position both times when superiors found him unsuitable for command. He ended the war hospitalized for an acute duodenal ulcer.. Later he developed Dianetics, "the modern science of mental health". He founded Scientology in 1952 and oversaw the growth of the Church of Scientology into a worldwide organization. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he spent much of his time at sea aboard his personal fleet of ships as Commodore of the Sea Organization, an elite inner group of Scientologists. However, his...