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Alexander Shulgin

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Alexander Shulgin

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Also 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 was an American biochemist, pharmacologist, chemist, and writer. Born in Berkeley 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, earning a Doctor of Philosophy. His professional fields included psychopharmacology and medicinal chemistry.

Shulgin is the author of notable works such as *Phenethylamines I Have Known And Loved* and *Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved*. He was married to Ann Shulgin. He died of liver cancer in Berkeley on June 2, 2014. His manner of death was natural causes.

Synthesized by Vinony from 37 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Crossref, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony graph. 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

Acting · 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

Music · MusicBrainz

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
688
Total plays
2,486

Tags

instrumentaljazzloungepianosmooth

Alexander Shulgin is a leading executive in the new Russian music industry, having worked with such iconic artists as Valeria, Mumiy Troll, Dima Malikov, Gruppa.fm and many others. Mr. Shulgin owns and operates Familia Entertainment, a record label, and Familia Publishing, a publishing company. In addition to top-10 songs, his catalogue includes a diverse array of rare releases, including hundreds of the best-known Russian gypsy songs, Songs of Siberian Exile and Best Songs of WWI, all of which

via Last.fm · Alexander Shulgin

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
Occupation
pharmacist
Academic degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Field of work
medicinal chemistry
Conflict
World War II
Military branch
United States Navy
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
Sources (5)

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.

Gallery (2)