Albert Hofmann was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
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17 Facts About Albert Hofmann
2.
Albert Hofmann authored more than 100 scientific articles and numerous books, including LSD: Mein Sorgenkind.
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4.
Albert Hofmann was the first of four children to factory toolmaker Adolf Hofmann and Elisabeth and was baptized Protestant.
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5.
When his father became ill, Albert Hofmann obtained a position as a commercial apprentice in concurrence with his studies.
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6.
At age 20, Albert Hofmann began his chemistry degree at the University of Zurich, finishing three years later, in 1929.
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7.
Albert Hofmann began studying the medicinal plant and the fungus ergot as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals.
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8.
Albert Hofmann continued to take small doses of LSD throughout his life, and always hoped to find a use for it.
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9.
Albert Hofmann first synthesized 4-AcO-DET in 1958 in the Sandoz lab.
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10.
Albert Hofmann became director of Sandoz's natural products department and continued studying hallucinogenic substances found in Mexican mushrooms and other plants used by aboriginal people there.
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11.
Albert Hofmann became interested in the seeds of the Mexican morning glory species, called by natives.
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12.
Albert Hofmann was surprised to find the active compound of, ergine, to be closely related to LSD.
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13.
Albert Hofmann was able to obtain samples of it, but never succeeded in identifying its active compound, which has since been identified as salvinorin A In 1963, Hofmann attended the annual convention of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences in Stockholm.
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14.
Albert Hofmann 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.
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15.
Albert Hofmann was a longtime friend and correspondent of German author and entomologist Ernst Junger, whom he met in 1949.
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16.
Albert Hofmann gave his archives to the Albert Hofmann Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, but the documents mostly sat in storage for years.
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17.
Albert Hofmann died at the age of 102 from a heart attack on 29 April 2008 in Switzerland.
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