Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 – 29 April 2008) was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to
synthesize,
ingest
Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in a substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking. In single-celled organisms, inges ...
, and learn of the
psychedelic effects of
lysergic acid diethylamide
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a Semisynthesis, semisynthetic, Hallucinogen, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and ...
(LSD). Hofmann's team also isolated, named and synthesized the principal
psychedelic mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...
compounds
psilocybin
Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a natural product, naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug found in more than List of psilocybin mushroom ...
and
psilocin
Psilocin, also known as 4-hydroxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-HO-DMT), is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocy ...
. He authored more than 100 scientific articles and numerous books, including ''LSD: Mein Sorgenkind'' (''LSD: My Problem Child'').
[ In 2007, he shared first place with ]Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow a ...
on a list of the 100 greatest living geniuses published by ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' newspaper.
Early life and education
Albert Hofmann was born in Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Ba ...
, Switzerland, on 11 January 1906. He was the first of four children to factory toolmaker Adolf Hofmann and Elisabeth ( Schenk) and was baptized Protestant. When his father became ill, Hofmann obtained a position as a commercial apprentice in concurrence with his studies. Owing to his father's low income, Albert's godfather paid for his education. At age 20, Hofmann began his study of chemistry with Paul Karrer
Paul Karrer (21 April 1889 – 18 June 1971) was a Swiss organic chemist best known for his research on vitamins. He and British chemist Norman Haworth won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1937.
Biography Early years
Karrer was born in Moscow, ...
at the University of Zürich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
. Hofmann's main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals. He earned his doctorate with distinction in just four years for research on the chemical structure of the animal substance chitin
Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...
in 1929.
Career
Of his decision to pursue a career as a chemist, Hofmann provided insight during a speech he delivered to the 1996 Worlds of Consciousness Conference in Heidelberg, Germany:
Discovery of LSD
In 1929, Hofmann became an employee of the pharmaceutical and chemical department of Sandoz
Sandoz Group AG is a Swiss company that focuses on generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Prior to October 2023, it was part of a division of Novartis that was established in 2003, when Novartis united all of its generics businesses under the ...
Laboratories as a coworker of Arthur Stoll
Arthur Stoll (8 January 1887 – 13 January 1971) was a Swiss biochemist.
Education and career
The son of a teacher and school headmaster, he studied chemistry at the ETH Zurich, with a PhD in 1911, where he studied with Richard Willstätte ...
, founder and director of the pharmaceutical department. He began studying the medicinal plant
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...
(squill) and the fungus ergot
Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''.
The most prominent member of this group is '' Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that c ...
as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals
Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...
. His main contribution was to elucidate the chemical structure of the common nucleus of the glycoside
In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...
s (an active principle of Mediterranean squill). While researching lysergic acid
Lysergic acid, also known as -lysergic acid and (+)-lysergic acid, is a precursor for a wide range of ergoline alkaloids that are produced by the ergot fungus and found in the seeds of '' Argyreia nervosa'' ( Hawaiian baby woodrose), and ''Ipomo ...
derivatives, Hofmann first synthesized LSD on 16 November 1938. The main intention of the synthesis was to obtain a respiratory and circulatory stimulant (analeptic
An analeptic, in medicine, is a type of central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. The term ''analeptic'' typically refers to respiratory stimulants (e.g., doxapram). Analeptics include a wide variety of medications used to treat depression, attenti ...
) with no effects on the uterus
The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...
in analogy to nikethamide
Nikethamide is a stimulant which mainly affects the respiratory cycle. Widely known by its former trade name of Coramine, it was used in the mid-twentieth century as a medical countermeasure against tranquilizer overdoses, before the advent of e ...
(which is also a diethylamide) by introducing this functional group
In organic chemistry, a functional group is any substituent or moiety (chemistry), moiety in a molecule that causes the molecule's characteristic chemical reactions. The same functional group will undergo the same or similar chemical reactions r ...
to lysergic acid. It was set aside for five years, until 16 April 1943, when Hofmann reexamined it and accidentally discovered its powerful effects. He described what he felt as being:
Three days later, on 19 April 1943, Hofmann intentionally ingested 250 micrograms of LSD, which he thought would represent a prudently safe, small amount, but was in fact a strong dose. At first, his trip was not pleasant, as people appeared to morph into fantastic creatures, office furniture moved and shifted like living entities, and he felt possessed by otherworldly forces.
April 19 is now widely known as Bicycle Day, because as Hofmann began to feel LSD's effects, he tried to ride to the safety of his home on his bike. This was the first intentional LSD trip in history.
Hofmann's research with LSD influenced several psychiatrists, including Ronald A. Sandison
Ronald Arthur Sandison (1 April 1916 – 18 June 2010) was a British psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Among his other work, he is particularly noted for his pioneering studies and use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) as a psychotheraputic d ...
, who developed its use in psychotherapy. Sandison's treatment at Powick Hospital in England received international acclaim.
Hofmann continued to take small doses of LSD throughout his life, and always hoped to find a use for it. In his memoir, he emphasized it as a "sacred drug": "I see the true importance of LSD in the possibility of providing material aid to meditation aimed at the mystical experience of a deeper, comprehensive reality."
Further research
Hofmann later discovered 4-acetoxy-DET, a hallucinogenic
Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, moo ...
tryptamine
Tryptamine is an indolamine metabolite of the essential amino acid tryptophan. The chemical structure is defined by an indole—a fused benzene and pyrrole ring, and a 2-aminoethyl group at the second carbon (third aromatic atom, with the firs ...
. He first synthesized 4-AcO-DET in 1958 in the Sandoz lab. Hofmann became director of Sandoz's natural products department and continued studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexican mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom.
The standard for the n ...
s and other plants used by aboriginal people there. This led to the isolation and synthesis of psilocybin
Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a natural product, naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug found in more than List of psilocybin mushroom ...
, the active agent of many "magic mushrooms
Psilocybin mushrooms, or psilocybin-containing mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms or as shrooms, are a type of hallucinogenic mushroom and a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain the prodrug psilocybin, which turns into t ...
". Hofmann also became interested in the seeds of the Mexican morning glory
Morning glory (also written as morning-glory) is the common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose taxonomy and systematics remain in flux. These species are distributed across numerous genus, gene ...
species , called by natives. He was surprised to find the active compound of , ergine
Ergine, also known as lysergic acid amide (LSA or LAA) as well as LA-111, is a psychoactive compound of the ergoline and lysergamide families related to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Ergine is an ergoline alkaloid found in fungi such as ...
(LSA, lysergic acid amide), to be closely related to LSD. This discovery is said to have initially been met with "a state of disbelief bordering on accusations of scientific fraud", but was soon confirmed by other researchers.
In 1962, Hofmann and his wife Anita Hofmann traveled to Mexico at the invitation of the ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson to search for the psychoactive plant "Ska Maria Pastora" (Leaves of Mary the Shepherdess), later known as . He was able to obtain samples of it, but never succeeded in identifying its active compound, which has since been identified as salvinorin A
Salvinorin A is the main active psychotropic molecule in '' Salvia divinorum''. Salvinorin A is considered an atypical dissociative hallucinogen.
It is structurally distinct from other naturally occurring hallucinogens (such as DMT, psil ...
. In 1963, Hofmann attended the annual convention of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences (WAAS) in Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
.
Later years
Interviewed shortly before his 100th birthday, Hofmann called LSD "medicine for the soul" and was frustrated by its worldwide prohibition. "It was used very successfully for ten years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was misused by the counterculture of the 1960s
The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...
, and then criticized unfairly by the political establishment of the day. He conceded that it could be dangerous if misused, because a relatively high dose of 500 micrograms has an extremely powerful psychoactive effect, especially if administered to a first-time user without adequate supervision.
In December 2007, Swiss medical authorities allowed psychotherapist Peter Gasser to perform psychotherapeutic experiments on patients with terminal-stage cancer and other terminal diseases. Completed in 2011, these represent the first study of the therapeutic effects of LSD on humans in 35 years; other studies had examined the drug's effects on consciousness and body. Hofmann acclaimed the study and reiterated his belief in LSD's therapeutic benefits. In 2008, he wrote to Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
, asking him to support this research; it is not known whether Jobs responded. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is an American nonprofit organization working to raise awareness and understanding of psychedelic substances. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin and is now based in San Jose, C ...
(MAPS) has supported psychoanalytic research using LSD, carrying on Hofmann's legacy and setting the groundwork for future studies.
Hofmann was a longtime friend and correspondent of German author and entomologist Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''.
The son of a successful busin ...
, whom he met in 1949. Jünger experimented with LSD with Hofmann; in 1970, Jünger published a book of his experiences taking several types of drugs, ''Approaches: Drugs and Intoxication'' ().
Archives
After retiring from Sandoz in 1971, Hofmann was allowed to take his papers and research home. He gave his archive to the Albert Hofmann Foundation, a Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
–based nonprofit, but the documents mostly sat in storage for years. The archives were sent to the San Francisco area in 2002 to be digitized, but that process was never completed. In 2013, the archive was sent to the Institute of Medical History in Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, where it is being organized. According to Beat Bächi, who has been researching the estate at the Institute as part of a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) research project, LSD, as a drug, was something for the cultural elite in Hofmann's opinion.
Death
Hofmann died at the age of 102 from a heart attack, on 29 April 2008, in Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
Honors and awards
The ''Swiss Federal Institute of Technology'' (ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...
) honored him with the title DSc (honoris causa) in 1969 together with Gustav Guanella, his brother-in-law. In 1971 the Swedish Pharmaceutical Association granted him the Scheele Award, which commemorates the skills and achievements of the Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania (; ) was a dominions of Sweden, dominion under the Sweden, Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish-Swedish War, Polish War and the Thirty Years' War ...
chemist and pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Carl Wilhelm Scheele (, ; 9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786) was a Swedish Pomerania, German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist.
Scheele discovered oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), and identified the elements molybd ...
.
Publications
Books
*
*
* ''Einsichten und Ausblicke (Essays)''. Basel: Sphinx Verlag (1986); ISBN 3-85914-633-5.
Public speaking
"Transcript of a Special Videotaped Message From Albert Hofmann to the Participants at the April 16 & 17, 1993 Symposiums on the 50th Anniversary of his Discovery of LSD."
''MAPS , Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies'', vol. 4, no. 2 (Summer 1993), p. 56.
See also
* History of lysergic acid diethylamide
The psychedelic drug (or entheogen) lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesized on November 16, 1938, by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in the Sandoz laboratories in Basel, Switzerland.Albert Hofmann; translated from the original Ge ...
* Drug design
Drug design, often referred to as rational drug design or simply rational design, is the invention, inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target. The drug is most commonly an organic compound, organi ...
* Psychedelic therapy
Psychedelic therapy (or psychedelic-assisted therapy) refers to the proposed use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, psilocin, mescaline (peyote), DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, Ibogaine, MDMA, to treat mental disorders. As of 2021, psych ...
* James Fadiman
James Fadiman (born May 27, 1939) is an American writer known for his research on microdosing psychedelics. He co-founded the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, which later became Sofia University.
Early years
Fadiman was born in New York ...
* David E. Nichols
David Earl Nichols (born December 23, 1944, Covington, Kentucky) is an American pharmacologist and medicinal chemist.
Previously the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University, Nichols has worke ...
* Alexander Shulgin
Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American biochemist, broad researcher of synthetic psychoactive compounds, and author of works regarding these, who independently explored the organic chemistry and ph ...
* Owsley Stanley
Augustus Owsley Stanley III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American-Australian audio engineer and clandestine chemist. He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role ...
References
Further reading
*
* Nathaniel S. Finney, Jay S. Siegel: ''In Memoriam'' – Albert Hofmann (1906–2008). Chimia 62 (2008), 444–447,
* Roberts, Andy. ''Albion Dreaming: A Popular History of LSD in Britain'' (2008), Marshall Cavendish, U.K,
* Hagenbach, Dieter and Lucius Werthmüller. ''Mystic Chemist: The Life of Albert Hofmann and His Discovery of LSD'' (Synergetic Press, 2013).
External links
Albert Hofmann Foundation
''LSD: My Problem Child''
Career Autobiography
A book by Albert Hofmann
Erowid: Albert Hofmann Vault
("Stanislav Grof interviews Dr. Albert Hofmann")
– Daily Telegraph obituary
Watch ''Hofmann's Potion'', a documentary on the origins of LSD
Albert Hofmann's life and articles
LSD ReturnsFor Psychotherapeutics (Scientific American Magazine article)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Albert
1906 births
2008 deaths
Swiss chemists
People associated with the University of Zurich
University of Zurich alumni
Psychedelic drug researchers
Psychedelic drug advocates
Lysergic acid diethylamide
Swiss men centenarians
People from Baden, Switzerland