Claude Vorilhon - Marriages

Marriages

Vorilhon was married three times.

In 1974, Vorilhon decided to give up his automobile magazine, Autopop. That September, the last issue, number 34, was published. Vorilhon then devoted himself to the task he said was given by his "biological father", an extraterrestrial named Yahweh. Shortly after a first public conference, Vorilhon founded MADECH - a group of people interested in helping him in his task, which later became the International Raëlian Movement. Sociologist Susan J. Palmer said that Cristini, a nurse, diagnosed Vorilhon as clinically depressed after he appeared at her door step in 1987, burnt out from the tasks he carried out within the movement.

Vorilhon focused on spreading his message in Japan in the 1980s, and by 1987, he met Lisa Sunagawa. Sunagawa soon began accompanying Vorilhon during his travels to Lima, Miami, Brazil, and Martinique. In a television documentary, They're Coming! (1990) by Radio Canada, Vorilhon was seen with four women, while Lisa, in slow-motion, wore a pink tutu and held hands with him.

Vorilhon separated from Sunagawa some time between 1990 and 1992. Around that time, Sophie de Niverville, whose mother and aunt were both Raëlians, was convinced of the authenticity of the messages. Sophie received a Raëlian baptism at age 15. When she turned 16, she married Vorilhon at Montreal's city hall. This was done with her mother's permission. During a December 2001 interview with sociologist Susan J. Palmer, Sophie spoke positively about Vorilhon despite their divorce the previous year. In 2003, he was married to Sophie. On 6 August 2003, the Cybercast News Service said Vorilhon moved back to Canada with his wife Sophie after being escorted out of South Korea by government officials.