L. Ron Hubbard's Real Name: Lafayette Ronald Hubbard

Quick answer: The writer is known professionally as L. Ron Hubbard. Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia.com independently give the name Lafayette Ronald Hubbard and date his birth to March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska, and his death to January 24, 1986.

Real name and early life

Independent publishers identify him under the professional name L. Ron Hubbard and give the longer name Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. Encyclopaedia Britannica dates the birth to March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska, says he grew up in Helena, Montana, and later studied at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Encyclopedia.com independently dates the birth to March 13, 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska, says he was the son of Harry Ross Hubbard, a naval officer, attended George Washington University in the early 1930s, later studied at Princeton University in 1945, worked as a freelance writer in the years between those studies, and served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant during World War II. Encyclopaedia Britannica independently records naval service in World War II.

Career highlights

Encyclopaedia Britannica says that in the 1930s and 1940s he published short stories and novels in a variety of genres, including horror and science fiction, later published Dianetics (1950), and founded the Church of Scientology in 1954. It also says that after founding the church he struggled to gain recognition of it as a legitimate religion and was often at odds with tax authorities and former members who accused the church of fraud and harassment, and that he lived many years on a yacht and remained in seclusion for his last six years. Encyclopedia.com independently records pulp-magazine fiction of westerns, mysteries, sea adventures, and science fiction in the 1930s, the 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the founding of the Church of Scientology in 1954, later seclusion, the 1982 novel Battlefield Earth, and the later ten-volume science-fiction series Mission Earth (1985-1987).

Death

Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia.com independently date his death to January 24, 1986. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists the place of death as San Luis Obispo, California. Encyclopedia.com lists Crestone, California.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up L. Ron Hubbard or Lafayette Ronald Hubbard are looking for the same writer, including the later books most often associated with his later public professional name. Search traffic often uses the professional name L. Ron Hubbard alone in many later public professional name lookups.