Louis de Wohl - Life

Life

Wohl was born in Berlin to a poor Catholic family, with a Hungarian father and Austrian mother of Jewish descent. When he was only 17 years old, his mother pushed him into an apprenticeship to a banker, from which he was dismissed in 1924, at the age of 21. In 1935, he emigrated to England due to his objections to the Nazi regime. Some sources claim that he there had a wife named Alexandra, who fled to Santiago, Chile, where she claimed to be a Romanian princess and was known as "La Baronessa."

Wohl worked as an astrologer for the British intelligence agency MI5 during World War II. His MI5 file was released in early 2008. He was recruited initially as an informant because he was casting horoscopes for people of interest to MI5, and subsequently retained in that capacity because it was believed that Hitler was influenced strongly by astrology, and hence might be likely to choose 'lucky' astrological dates for major ventures. He prospered, rising to the rank of Captain, although some of his supervisors disapproved of him.

During the war, Wohl became increasingly religious, and he had a successful postwar career writing novels that treat of Roman Catholic Church history and the lives of the saints.

In 1953, Wohl married Ruth Magdalene Lorch, who was a Lady Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He himself held the title of Knight Commander of the Order.

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