Anton Kollisch

Anton Köllisch (1888-1916) was the German chemist who, whilst working at Darmstadt for pharmaceutical giant Merck, first synthesized the chemical MDMA that would later come to be known as ecstasy.

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A patent was filed for the drug on Christmas Eve 1912, and was granted on June 16 1914. Köllisch, however, died as a soldier in the World War I in September 1916 with no idea of the impact his synthesis would have.

References

• Benzenhöfer, U. and Passie, T. (2006). The early history of Ecstasy. Nervenarzt 77, 95-99. (German) PMID 16397805.
• Adam, David. Truth about ecstacy's unlikely trip from lab to dance floor: Pharmaceutical company unravels drug's chequered past, Guardian Unlimited, 2006-08-18.