The biography of Anton LaVey is still an object of discussion. He was born in Chicago , Illinois , into the family of a liquor merchant. It is widely believed that he took the name "Anton Sandor LaVey" in later years. LaVey’s daughter Zina and her husband Nicholas Shrek claim that LaVey’s birth certificate in Cook County, Illinois, contains the name Howard Stanton Levey; and their parents were Michael and Gertrude Levy. But many of the testimonies of Zina, who had been at enmity with her father for many years, were challenged by Blanche Barton , LaVey's last companion and author of his authorized biography, The Secret Life of the Satanist”, In the famous open letter“ The Georges Montalba Mystery ”, in which the article by Zina and Nicholas Shrekov was directly called a forgery ( see below ). In particular, Barton claims that LaVey's social security card was named “Howard Stanton LaVey” - “Howard Stanton LaVey” and not “Howard Stanton Levy,” as his daughter claims. Barton says:
I also saw his children's books, signed with a child’s hand - “Anton Sandor LaVey”. His father wrote his last name as “LeVey,” Uncle Anton wrote his last name as “LaVey” . Their original surname sounded like “Bohem,” which was changed to “LaVey” on Ellis Island when Anton’s grandfather came to the country from Le Ve , France. As far as I know, the name given to LaVey at birth could well have sounded like "Howard Stanton LeVey."

The name "Anthony Sandor LaVey" is found in Russian-language literature, but it was never called that in life. In the early years of LaVey named Tony.

Soon, his parents moved to California , where LaVey spent most of his life in San Francisco. Anton’s mother, Gertrude August Colton, was the daughter of Russian Boris Koltonov (possibly Koltunov), who immigrated to the United States in 1893 and changed his surname to Colton. However, according to the biography of Anton, his family was a mixture of French , Alsatian , German and Romanian blood. LaVey's parents strongly supported the development of his musical abilities, thanks to which he learned to play many musical instruments. He especially liked keyboards such as organ and calliope. He could play almost any melody by ear. LaVey loved to listen to classical music and rock groups such as Slayer , Ozzy Osbourne , Electric Hellfire Club , Mercyful Fate , Deicide , Marilyn Manson , Acheron , Morbid Angel .

LaVey believed that its development was greatly influenced by dark literature and legends, science fiction and horror magazines, Jack London books , noir films , German expressionism and historical figures such as Cagliostro , Rasputin and Vasily Zakharoff .

According to the official biography, LaVey dropped out of school in his final years of study to join the touring circus show, first as a simple circus worker and assistant in performances with wild cats , then as a musician playing calliope . LaVey later notes that observing the same people who attended both the Saturday evening strip show and church stalls on Sunday mornings contributed to his growing cynical attitude toward religion . Then he worked for some time as an organist in various barsand night clubs . When LaVey played the organ in Los Angeles music institutions , he said, he had a short-term affair with Marilyn Monroe , still unknown at that time , - one of those events in his biography that some of his opponents later questioned.

Upon returning to San Francisco from Los Angeles, for some time LaVey worked as a photographer in the police department . He also worked as a researcher of paranormal phenomena. It is alleged that during this period he was associated with clandestine Zionist groups in San Francisco that helped supply arms to Irgun during the Israeli Revolutionary War.

In 1952, LaVey met and married Carol Lansing, who became the mother of his first daughter, Karla Maritza LaVey . They divorced in 1960 after LaVey became interested in Diana Hegarty. LaVey and Hegarty never officially got married. Their affair lasted for many years, and she gave birth to his second daughter, Zina Galatea LaVey ( Zeena Galatea LaVey ) in 1963.

Having become a local celebrity thanks to his study of paranormal phenomena and live performances as an organist (including playing the electric organ of the wurlitzer at the Lost Weekend restaurant), LaVey attracted many famous personalities in San Francisco to the evenings, including the famous science fiction writer Fritz Leiber , Dr. Cecil Nixon , Forest Eckerman , Kenneth Enger , Chester Arthur III , Karin de Plessin and others.

LaVey began lecturing on occult Friday nights for those whom he called the " Magic Circle " of his acquaintances who shared his interests. As one member of the circle told him, LaVey had the foundation for a whole new religion. On Walpurgis Night , April 30, 1966, Anton LaVey ritually shaved his head and proclaimed 1966 the foundation of the Church of Satan and the first year of the era of Satan .

The media drew attention to LaVey after the satanic wedding ceremony of radical journalist John Raymond and New York socialite Judith Case, which occurred on February 1, 1967. Photographer at the wedding was the famous Joe Rosenthal ( by Joe Rosenthal ), the author has become a landmark pictures flag-raising by US troops on Mount Suribachi during World War II . Among the publications that have published articles where LaVey called "Black Pope" , were ' of The San of Francisco Chronicle, "and" the Los Angeles Times ".

LaVey performed rituals of satanic baptism (including for Zina LaVey) , a satanic burial (including for a US naval officer Edward Olsen, awarded the Medal of Honor), and released the album “ The Satanic Mass ” ( "The Satanic Mass ").

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, LaVey synthesized the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche , Ayn Rand (the philosopher is an objectivist ), Henry Mencken and Jack London with the philosophy and ritual practices of the Church of Satan. He embodied this mix in several essays , incorporating excerpts from the social Darwinist work of “ Might is Right ” by Ragnar Ryzheborodogo . Adding to this the “satanized” version of John Dee ’s Enochian keys , LaVey expressed his philosophy in his most famous work, The Satanic Bible. He subsequently wrote a number of books revealingpsychological , social , philosophical and other aspects of satanism.

The three most famous works of LaVey:

" The Satanic Bible "
The Perfect Witch (reissued in 1988 as The Satanic Witch )
" Satanic rituals "
LaVey has been the subject of numerous media articles around the world. Articles about him appeared in such popular magazines as Look, McCall’s , Newsweek , TIME , and Playboy , and he participated in talk shows on Phil Donahue , Joe Payne [18] and Johnny Carson . LaVey participated in the production of the documentary " Satanis: The Devil's Mass " (1969).

Hegarty and LaVey broke up in the mid-1980s, and Hegarty filed a lawsuit against LaVey to pay child support, but the case was settled out of court proceedings. LaVey's next and final partner was Blanche Barton , who became the mother of LaVey's only son, Satan Xerxes Karnak LaVey (Satan Xerxes Carnacki LaVey, born November 1, 1993).

LaVey had an eclectic personality and loved classical music , painting, antique cars, firearms and animals (especially wild cats). He played musical instruments and wrote music using his keyboard synthesizers . He loved to paint pictures. In his philosophy, he paid particular attention to the practice of magic within the framework of satanic rituals . He adhered to the principle of "responsibility to those responsible" instead of spending his good disposition on irresponsible "psychic vampires." Throughout his life, LaVey attracted many allies and supporters, including such famous personalities as Sammy Davis Jr. ,Robert Fuest , Jacques Wali , Aime Mickel , Mark Almond.

Interrupting contacts with her father Zina Shrek (Zina Galatea LaVey) and her husband Nicholas Shrek in 1998 published the document “Anton LaVey: Legend and Reality” (“Anton LaVey: Myth and Reality”), which states that LaVey deliberately mystified some facts of his life. Blanche Barton , LaVey's personal companion and biographer, responded to these allegations in a letter known as The Georges Montalba Mystery.

Among the allegations against LaVey:

His whole life was a constant lie.
Diana, LaVey's ex-wife, stated that she had forged the autograph and signature of Marilyn Monroe , which he used as evidence of his romance. According to the Shreks, Harry Lipton (agent Marilyn Monroe) also denied any chance of a meeting between Monroe and LaVey.
There is no record in the San Francisco Police Department that Anton LaVey ever worked there in the 1940s, but some critics have pointed out that such old records are far from complete and may simply not contain the necessary information. LaVey's work in the circus is also called into question by the Shreks.
Zina questions LaVey’s allegations that he played organ music on Georges Montalba in the 1950s, but does not provide any evidence of his accusations.
Anton LaVey stated that “hundreds of thousands” of people at the peak of its popularity were members of the Church of Satan . Zina insists that "the number of members of the Church of Satan has never exceeded 300 people." Blanche Barton claims that both numbers were exaggerations, but that LaVey's statement is much closer to the truth.
Zina claims that her father had problems with humor and self-esteem, and he created the Church, seeking to assert himself and earn “easy money”.
The Shreks claim that several lawsuits were filed against LaVey about domestic violence and sexual perversion , citing the San Francisco Police records as its source, but these records never appeared in print , not on the internet to accompany the charge.
Most of the accusations published by Shrek against LaVey were taken from an article by Lorence Wright in Rolling Stone (1996). Both Shreki and Wright do not provide any evidence in support of their statements. Blanche Barton and other critics of Zina Shrek point to Zina’s inappropriately intense desire to undermine her father’s reputation and challenge almost everything he ever said.

“ Awakening of my demonic brother ” / “Invocation of my Demon Brother” (performer of the role of Satan , 1969)
Satanis: The Devil's Mass (member, 1970; film released on DVD by Something Weird Video, 2003)
“ The Devil's Rain ” (technical consultant, role of the High Priest, 1975)
The Car (Creative Consultant, 1977)
“Doctor Dracula,” or “Svengali,” in American Rental (Technical Consultant, 1981)
« Of Charles Manson Superstar » (Research Consultant, 1989)
« Death Scenes » (narrator / host, 1989)
" Speak of the Devil " (member, 1995)

The Satanic Mass , LP (Murgenstrumm Records, 1968; reissued on CD with one additional track, “Hymn of the Satanic Empire, or The Battle Hymn of the Apocalypse”, by Amarillo Records, 1994; Mephisto Media, 2001)
Answer Me / Honolulu Baby , 7 "single (Amarillo Records, 1993)
Strange Music , 10 " EP (Amarillo Records, 1994; now available through Reptilian Records)
Takes a Holiday Satan , CD (Amarillo Records, 199, is now available through Records Reptilian)

Books by A. Sh. LaVey

The Satanic Bible (Avon, 1969, ISBN 0-380-01539-0 )
The Complete Witch, or, What to do When Virtue Fails (Dodd, Mead, 1971, ISBN 0-396-06266-0 ); republished as The Satanic Witch (Feral House, 1989, ISBN 0-922915-00-8 ); re-released with an introduction by Peggy Nadramia, and an afterword by Blanche Barton (2003, ISBN 0-922915-84-9 ).
The Satanic Rituals (Avon, 1972, ISBN 0-380-01392-4 )
The Devil's Notebook (Feral House, 1992, ISBN 0-922915-11-3 )
Satan Speaks! , introduction by Blanche Barton , foreword by Marilyn Manson (Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-66-0 )

Books that include the works of A. Sh. LaVey

"Misanthropia," Rants and Incendiary Tracts: Voices of Desperate Illuminations 1558-Present, edited by Bob Black and Adam Parfrey (Amok Press and Loompanics Unlimited, 1989, ISBN 0-941693-03-1 )
"The Invisible War," Apocalypse Culture: Expanded & revised edition, edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-05-9 )
"Foreward," Might is Right, or The Survival of the Fittest by Ragnar Redbeard, LL.D., edited by Katja Lane (MHP & Co., Ltd, 1996, ISBN 0-915179-12-1 )

Books on A. Sh. LaVey

The Devil's Avenger: A Biography of Anton Szandor LaVey by Burton H. Wolfe (Pyramid Books, 1974, ISBN 0-515-03471-1 , Out of print)
The Secret Life Of A Satanist : The Authorized Biography of Anton LaVey by Blanche Barton (Feral House, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-12-1 )

Books by A. Sh. LaVey

LaVey A. Sh. The Satanic Bible = The Satanic Bible. - M .: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1996.
LaVey A. Sh Notebook Devil = The Devil's Notebook. - M .: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1996.
LaVey A. Sh. Satanic Rituals = The Satanic Rituals. - M .: Unholy Words, Inc. (RCS), 1997.

Books about Anton LaVey

Blanche Barton . The Secret Life of a Satanist. Authorized biography of Anton LaVey. - Ultra. Culture , 2004 .-- 400 p. - (Life of Prohibited People). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-98042-046-0 . Reissued in 2006:ISBN 5-9681-0081-8.