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Dr. Albert Hofmann 1993

Dr. Albert Hofmann 2006

Dr. Albert Hofmann (born January 11, 1906) is a prominent Swiss scientist best known as the "father of LSD." He was born in Baden, Switzerland, and studied chemistry at the University of Zürich. His main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals, and he later conducted important research regarding the chemical structure of the common animal substance chitin, for which he received his doctorate. Hofmann joined the pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories (now Novartis), located in Basel, studying the medicinal plant squill and the fungus ergot as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals.

His research in lysergic acid, the central shared component of ergot alkaloids, eventually led to the synthesis of LSD-25 in 1938. It was five years later, on repeating synthesis of the almost forgotten substance, that Dr. Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD after accidentally absorbing some through his fingertips on April 16, 1943. Three days later, on April 19 (later known as Bicycle Day, after his bicycle ride home that day while under LSD's influence), Hofmann deliberately consumed 250 micrograms of LSD, and experienced far more intense effects (see: LSD for details). This was followed by a series of self-experiments conducted by Hofmann and his colleagues. He first wrote about these experiments on April 22 of the same year.

He became director of the natural products department at Sandoz and went on studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexican mushrooms and other plants used by the aboriginal people. This led to the synthesis of psilocybin, the active agent of many "magic mushrooms."

Hofmann also became interested in the seeds of the Mexican morning glory species Rivea corymbosa, the seeds of which are called Ololiuhqui by the natives. He was surprised to find the active compound of Ololiuhqui, ergine (lysergic acid amide), to be closely related to LSD.

In 1962, he and his wife Anita travelled to southern Mexico to search for the plant "Ska Maria Pastora" (Leaves of Mary the Shepherdess), later known as Salvia divinorum. He was able to obtain samples of this plant but never succeeded in identifying its active chemicals.

He calls LSD "medicine for the soul" and is frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960s and then unfairly demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed. He concedes LSD can be dangerous in the wrong hands. [1]

He has been the author of over 100 scientific articles and has written (or co-written) a number of books, including LSD, My Problem Child, which is partly an autobiography and describes his famous bicycle ride.

On the occasion of his 100th birthday on January 11, 2006, he was the focus of an international symposium, which drew further media attention for his discovery of LSD.

"I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD," said Hofmann. "It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be." - [2]

• [3]
• Albert Hofmann Foundation
• Flashback (Albert Hofmann: LSD - My problem Child. – full online text)
• Zauberpilz (Albert Hofmann: LSD, My Problem Child. – another online source)
• Stain Blue press ("Albert Hofmann Profile")
• SwissInfo ("Colourful moments with the man who invented LSD" – January 11, 2001)
• MAPS ("Stanislav Grof interviews Dr. Albert Hofmann" – 1984)
• psychedelic.ch ("Drogen und Drogen" [Drugs and Drugs] – video-interview in German)
• The Albert Hofmann Collection ("LSD and Psilocybin-related Papers")
• Hofmann's Potion: The Early Years of LSD, documentary (from the National Film Board of Canada)
• "Nearly 100, LSD's Father Ponders His 'Problem Child'", The New York Times, January 7, 2006.
• "Dr Albert Hofmann: The father of LSD", The Independent, January 10, 2006.