Louis de Wohl, earlier Ludwig von Wohl (Berlin, Germany, 24 January 1903 – Lucerne, Switzerland, 2 June 1961) was a German-British Catholic author, and an astrologer notable for his work with MI5 during World War II. Sixteen of his popular pre-war novels were the basis of movies. His later novels are literary hagiographies of notable Roman Catholic Saints and different periods of the Bible.
Louis de Wohl was born in Berlin to a poor Catholic family, with a Hungarian father and Austrian mother. 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 relocated to London, England as an objector 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." This is untrue.
He 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, he 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, he married Ruth Magdalene Lorch, who was Lady Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Louis de Wohl himself had the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
He died in Switzerland in 1961, shortly after finishing his final work, Founded on a Rock.
He began writing as early as the age of 7. His teachers praised his ability. At the age of 8 he wrote the play "Jesus of Nazareth" because he didn't like how Jesus was portrayed by some books he read. Writing as Ludwig von Wohl, he became quite a successful novelist during his youth in Germany, where sixteen of his novels were turned into films. The best known of these was the 1934 comedy classic Die englische Heirat (The English Marriage).
In an audience with Pope Pius XII he was told to "write about the history and mission of the Church in the World." 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." From that time, he allegedly believed that he had to write for God, and felt that his earlier novels in the German language were of 'small significance compared to the novels he wrote for the glory of God'.
His novel The Spear brought him international acclaim. Even now 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, and Constantine I among many others.
