Laura Ann Shulgin ( Gotlieb; March 22, 1931 – July 9, 2022) was an American author and the wife of chemist

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 ...

, with whom she wrote ''

PiHKAL ''PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story'' is a book by Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin published in 1991. The subject of the work is Psychoactive drug, psychoactive phenethylamine Derivative (chemistry), chemical derivatives, notably those that act ...

'' and '' TiHKAL''.

Life and career

Laura Ann Gotlieb Detailed biography of Ann Shulgin was born in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

, to parents Bernard Gotlieb and Gwen Ormiston, but grew up in the village Opicina outside the Italian city

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. Her father was U.S. Consul in Trieste for six years before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Later in her childhood she lived in the U.S., Cuba, and Canada. She studied art and became an artist, married an artist and had a child, and they later divorced. She had two more marriages ending in divorce and had three more children. Ann went back to work as a medical transcriber, and met Alexander ("Sasha") Shulgin in 1978; they were married on 4 July 1981 in their back yard. She worked as a lay therapist with psychedelic substances such as

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

and 2C-B in therapeutic settings while these drugs were still legal. In her writings she stressed the potential of these drugs from a

Jungian Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their s ...

psychoanalytic perspective, as well as their use in combination with

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy, also known as hypnotic medicine, is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy is generally not considered to be based on scientific evidence, and is rarely recommended in clinical practice guidelines. However, several p ...

. She often appeared as a speaker at conventions and continued to advocate the use of psychedelics in therapeutic contexts. Together with her husband she authored the books ''

'' and '' TiHKAL''. They developed a systematic way of ranking the effects of the various drugs, known as the Shulgin Rating Scale, with a vocabulary to describe the visual, auditory and physical sensations. She also contributed to the books ''Thanatos to Eros: 35 Years of Psychedelic Exploration'', ''Entheogens and the Future of Religion'', ''Ecstasy: The Complete Guide'', ''The Secret Chief Revealed'', ''Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics'', and ''Manifesting Minds: A Review of Psychedelics in Science, Medicine, Sex, and Spirituality''. According to her daughter, Shulgin had been in ill health because of

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...

. Shulgin died July 9, 2022, at her and her late husband's

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

residence.

Publications

* with Alexander Shulgin. '' PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story''. Berkeley: Transform Press, 1991. * with Alexander Shulgin. '' TiHKAL: The Continuation''. Berkeley: Transform Press, 1997. * with Alexander Shulgin. "A New Vocabulary". In Robert Forte (ed.), ''Entheogens and the Future of Religion'', Berkeley: Council on Spiritual Practices, 1997. * "Tribute to Jacob". In ''The Secret Chief: Conversations With a Pioneer of the Underground Psychedelic Therapy Movement'' by Myron J. Stolaroff, Charlotte, NC: Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, 1997. * Foreword, M. Crowley, ''Secret Drugs of Buddhism''. Amrita Press, 2017.

References

External links

Erowid Character Vaults: Ann Shulgin

Ann Shulgin dedica la traducción al español de PIHKAL y TIHKAL
(In Spanish)
A New Class of Criminals: A therapist laments the loss to science of MDMA

Video: Psychedelic Psychotherapy with MDMA – Ann Shulgin: A Chemical Performance

Transform Press – Publisher of Ann Shulgin's Books
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shulgin, Ann 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American women writers Alexander Shulgin Writers from Trieste Writers from Wellington City American psychedelic drug advocates Psychedelic drug researchers 21st-century American women writers New Zealand emigrants to the United States 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women non-fiction writers