Departures of note

Joseph Di Mambro, a French esotericist, founded and led the Order of the Solar Temple, a group that ended in a mass murder-suicide in 1994. He had a long history of involvement with various esoteric groups and was convicted of fraud, including impersonating a psychiatrist. Di Mambro claimed to be a reincarnation of figures like Osiris and Moses, and he presented himself as a medium, convincing followers he was a 'walk-in' being. He was the true leader of the Order, while Luc Jouret served as its public face.

Di Mambro's early life included an apprenticeship as a jeweler and watchmaker, and after World War II he joined the Rosicrucian organization AMORC. He later scammed a business partner and fled France, returning in 1972 to face a prison sentence for writing bad checks and impersonating a psychiatrist. In the 1970s, he founded the Centre for the Preparation of the New Age and the Golden Way Foundation, and in 1984, with Jouret, he formed the Order of the Solar Temple. He claimed that a daughter, born in 1982, was a 'cosmic child' conceived through his mental powers, and he had followers engage in 'cosmic coupling,' which broke up marriages.

In the early 1990s, the group faced internal doubts and scandals, including the revelation that Di Mambro faked mystical apparitions. He became increasingly paranoid, and the group's concept of a 'transit'—a voluntary departure to another dimension—grew more prominent. In October 1994, under his direction, members were murdered in Cheiry, Switzerland, and Di Mambro died by suicide in Salvan, Switzerland, as part of a mass suicide that killed 25 people. His body was found near that of his daughter, and he was cremated and buried in an unmarked grave.