Albert Hofmann
“LSD reminds us that we are connected to the deepest being – to nature, to the universe, to the great whole.” – Albert Hofmann
As the name of our institute suggests, we derive a large part of our idealistic approach to man, nature and society from our namesake: Albert Hofmann. Born in 1906 in Baden, Switzerland, he studied chemical sciences at the University of Zurich and obtained his doctorate with distinction in 1929 under Paul Karrer with the topic “On the enzymatic degradation of chitin and chitosan”. This was important for basic research into the biochemistry of carbohydrates and for applications in agriculture, medicine and industry. He then began his professional career at the Sandoz laboratories (now Novartis) in Basel. At his new employer, Hofmann concentrated primarily on the synthesis and modification of plant substances for medical use. In the process, he deepened his relationship with a holistic approach to research and was able to test himself scientifically. His most famous discovery, that of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), arose from research into the relief of postnatal depression. After synthesizing “LSD-25” for the first time in 1938, initially without recognizing its psychoactive effects, he accidentally experienced the first mind-expanding effects of LSD on 16 April 1943 by accidentally ingesting the substance. Three days later, on April 19 (later known as “Bicycle Day”), he deliberately undertook a self-experiment with 250 micrograms and documented the profound psychedelic effects. This marked the beginning of scientific research into LSD and other psychedelics. It is particularly exciting that Albert Hofmann discovered the potential effects of LSD a few months after Enrico Fermi’s first nuclear chain reaction, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb. Einstein, for example, said that the atomic bomb radically changed the way we think about the world – the psychedelic experience, in turn, has the potential to change the world view and life orientation of those who experience it.
While it is widely known that Hofmann was the discoverer of LSD, this was not his only intellectual and scientific achievement. In the years that followed, Hofmann investigated other psychoactive substances, including psilocybin and psilocin from Mexican magic mushrooms. In 1958, in collaboration with other scientists, he succeeded in isolating the crystalline form of Psilocybe mexicana provided by the Macatec Curandera Maria Sabina.
It should also be mentioned that for Hofmann, psychedelic experiences should be used to come closer to personal happiness – but according to him, this requires honest effort, goal orientation, perseverance and an eagerness to learn. Albert Hofmann was also only able to synthesize LSD through a desire to learn and perseverance – he believes that luck helped him to make the discovery, but that this discovery was preceded by a systematic experimental setup.
Although Hofmann criticized the use of LSD in the counter-cultural movement of the 1960s, which resulted from a lack of knowledge, he nevertheless maintained friendly contacts with his controversial research colleague Timothy Leary. He also had a close friendship with the writer Rudolf Gelpke. Both advocated grassroots democracy and the most open possible access to psychedelics. This resulted above all from their hope that a mass movement could bring about real systemic transformation processes and an evolution of consciousness. However, Hofmann’s position was more in line with that of the writer Aldous Huxley, who saw potential risks for public perception and the problematic effects of uncontrolled substance use in such distribution. Huxley and Hofmann were of the opinion – at least in public – that psychedelics should either only be available as medication and, if possible, to selected individuals. This was difficult to reconcile with Timothy Leary’s call to promote the cognitive freedom and self-empowerment of the individual, as this automatically led to the prohibition of others and the rationalization of psychedelics for medical purposes. Hofmann’s autobiography “LSD – Mein Sorgenkind” (1979) illustrates his ambivalent relationship to his own most powerful discovery – but this discovery also made him a central figure in the psychedelic movement.
Hofmann’s interest was not limited to modern science. He was intensively involved with the Eleusinian Mysteries, secret religious rites of ancient Greece. These mysteries were secret religious rites that were practiced in Eleusis, near Athens, for centuries. Participants – such as the famous philosophers Plato and Cicero – reported profound spiritual experiences that changed their lives forever.
Together with the ethnobotanist Gordon Wasson and the classical philologist Carl Ruck, Hofmann theorized that the kykeon was possibly based on an ergot-like substance containing psychoactive alkaloids. Since Hofmann had also isolated the basic substance for LSD synthesis from ergot, he suspected that the ancient Greeks might have used a similar psychoactive substance to achieve transcendental states of consciousness.
This research was not only of scientific interest to Hofmann, but also had a philosophical and spiritual significance for him. He saw a connection between the ancient mysteries, the psychedelic experience and the human quest for a deeper understanding of reality. In his later years, he often expressed the wish that modern societies could rediscover the conscious and ritualistic use of psychedelic substances – in a framework that is both spiritual and scientifically based.
Hofmann regarded LSD not only as a tool for exploring consciousness, but also as a means of strengthening the connection between man and nature. He saw an increasing alienation from nature in modern society, which he saw as the cause of many ecological, social and psychological problems. For him, the natural sciences should serve as an eye-opener to the wonder of creation and he criticized their increasing instrumental developments within modern technologies and industries. For him, man is a being of knowledge, a being of sun and light:
“It is solar energy that keeps the processes of life going, even the brain functions are fed with solar energy, so that the human mind represents the most sublime energetic transformation of sunlight. Scientific research has thus revealed that we are solar beings, a truth that is expressed in many myths.”
His work still influences psychedelic research today. Since the 2000s, LSD has been experiencing a scientific renaissance – with new studies on its use for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and existential fears. Hofmann’s vision of a conscious and respectful use of psychedelic substances could become a reality in the near future. Are we on the way to a new Eleusinian culture, one might ask?
Hofmann finally died in 2008 at the age of 102, leaving behind an opus of scientific writings and results. LSD, like other of his inventions, had already been banned for over 50 years at the time.
Today, the research landscape has evolved not only at the level of chemistry, but also in terms of scientific approaches. In the meantime, psychoactive substances have not only found their way into the bourgeois discourse, even renowned institutions such as King’s College London in the UK, Johns Hopkins University in the US and Maastricht University in the Netherlands have set up entire institutions to conduct intensive research into the benefits of such substances for the mind and body. Albert Hofmann’s research into natural healing plants, mediation and social influence set standards here at an early stage. They demonstrate his holistic approach to improving living conditions within society as well as in the context of the individual. With his scientific expertise and holistic approach, Hofmann embodied a way of combining academic research and social participation. He combined high ethical and qualitative research standards, which also perceive and research people in the context of their environment. In order to remain true to these approaches, we are in regular contact with Albert Hofmann’s community of heirs.