Albert Hoffmann

I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD, it is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.

Swiss chemist known best for being the first known person to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann was also the first person to isolate, synthesize, and name the principal psychedelic mushroom compounds psilocybin and psilocin. 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 in a list of the 100 greatest living geniuses, published by The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Albert Hofmann was born in Baden, Switzerland on 11 January 1906. He was the first of four children to factory toolmaker Adolf Hofmann and his wife Elisabeth (née Schenk) and was baptized Protestant. When his father became ill, Hofmann obtained a position as a commercial apprentice in concurrence with his studies. At the age of 20, Hofmann began his chemistry degree at the University of Zürich, finishing three years later, in 1929. Owing to his father's low income, Albert's godfather paid for his education. Hofmann's main interest was the chemistry of plants and animals, and he later conducted important research on the chemical structure of the common animal substance chitin, for which he received his doctorate with distinction in 1929.