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Albert Hofmann in 2006
Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 – 29 April 2008) was aSwiss scientist. He inventedLysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann wrote more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, includingLSD: My Problem Child (1979).
Hofmann was born inBaden, Switzerland. He studiedchemistry at theUniversity of Zürich. His main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals, and he studied about the chemical structure of the common animal substancechitin. Hofmann worked at the pharmaceutical-chemical department ofSandoz Laboratories inBasel.
Five years after its firstsynthesis, he discovered by accident thepsychedelic effects of LSD, after absorbing some through his fingertips on 16 April 1943. Three days later, he deliberately consumed 250 micrograms of LSD, and experienced far more intense effects. This was followed by a series of self-experiments. He first wrote about these experiments on 22 April of the same year.
He became director of the natural products department at Sandoz and went on studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexicanmushrooms and other plants used by theindigenous peoples. This led to the synthesis ofpsilocybin, the active agent of manymagic mushrooms.
