Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
Alexander Shulgin
Sign in to saveAlso known as Alexander Theodore Shulgin, Sasha Shulgin, Alexander "Sasha" Theodore Shulgin, Godfather of Ecstasy
American medicinal chemist, biochemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author (1925–2014)
OverviewAI-generated
Alexander Shulgin, also known as Oleksandr, was an American biochemist, pharmacologist, chemist, and writer. Born in Berkeley, California, on June 17, 1925, he served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was educated at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy. His professional focus included psychopharmacology and medicinal chemistry.
Shulgin was married to Ann Shulgin. He authored notable works such as *Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved*, *Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved*, *Pihkal*, and *Concerning the pharmacology of nutmeg*. He died of liver cancer, a natural cause, in Berkeley on June 2, 2014.
Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 17 June 1925
- Died
- 2 June 2014
- Works
- 12
Top works
- Concerning the pharmacology of nutmeg
- Tihkal
- Tihkal
- Nature of Drugs Volume 2
- The Commemorative Edition of Pihkal and Tihkal
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Berkeley, California, USA
Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was a prolific American medicinal chemist, biochemist, organic chemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author. He is credited with introducing MDMA (ecstasy) to psychologists in the late 1970s for psychopharmaceutical use and for the discovery, synthesis and personal bioassay of over 230 psychoactive compounds for their…
Known for
- How to Change Your Mind — Self - Chemist, Author & Professor (archive footage)2022
- Better Living Through Chemistry — Self2021
- The Business of Drugs — Self - Chemist (archive footage)2020
- Hamilton's Pharmacopeia — Self (archive footage)2016
- Ecstasy — Self2010
- Dirty Pictures — Alexander Shulgin2010
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- Alexander Theodore Shulgin , ( 1925-06-17 ) June 17, 1925, Berkeley, California , U.S.
- Died
- June 2, 2014 (2014-06-02) (aged 88), Lafayette, California , U.S.
- Alma mater
- Harvard University University of California, Berkeley ( PhD )
- Known for
- Rediscovering MDMA 2C Family DOx Family PiHKAL TiHKAL Shulgin Rating Scale Shulgin Index Shulgin Research Institute Various phenethylamines and tryptamines
- Spouses
- Nina Gordon (deceased), Ann Gotlieb (deceased)
- Awards
- DEA Awards (numerous)
- Fields
- Chemistry , psychology , philosophy , biology
- Institutions
- MAPS Dow Chemical San Francisco State University San Francisco General Hospital Bio-Rad Laboratories Cognitive Liberty/Ethics Centre
- Thesis
- The synthesis of several isotopically labelled amino acids (1955)
- Doctoral advisor
- David M. Greenberg
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Oleksandr
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Berkeley
- Place of death
- Berkeley
- Spouse
- Ann Shulgin
- Occupation
- pharmacist
- Educated at
- University of California, San Francisco
- Notable work
- Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved
- Academic degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Field of work
- medicinal chemistry
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- United States Navy
- Official website
- www.cognitiveliberty.org/shulgin/blg/index.html
- Image
- Alexander Shulgin cropped.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- date of death
- 2014-06-02
- Commons category
- Alexander Shulgin
- date of birth
- 1925-06-17
- cause of death
- liver cancer
- manner of death
- natural causes
- social media followers
- 2393
- name in native language
- Alexander «Sasha» Theodore Shulgin
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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 pharmacology of such agents—in his mid-life and later, many through preparation in his home laboratory, and testing on himself. He is acknowledged to have introduced to broader use, in the late 1970s, the previously synthesized compound MDMA ("ecstasy"), in research psychopharmacology and in combination with conventional therapy, the latter through presentations and academic publications, including to psychologists; and for the rediscovery, occasional discovery, and regular synthesis and personal use and distribution, of possibly hundreds of psychoactive compounds (for their psychedelic and MDMA-like empathogenic bioactivities). As such, Shulgin is seen both as a pioneering and a controversial participant in the emergence of the broad use of psychedelics.
In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin compiled the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL (Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved, likewise for Tryptamines), from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of psychoactive drugs. Shulgin documented the chemical synthesis of many of these compounds. Some of the syntheses catalogued by Shulgin in his books include chemicals in the 2C family (such as 2C-B), compounds of the DOx family (such as DOM), and tryptamines (such as 4-HO-MET and 4-HO-MiPT).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alexander Shulgin” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.