Stephen Szára

Stephen István Szára (March 21, 1923 – August 1, 2021) was a Hungarian–American chemist and psychiatrist who made major contributions in the field of pharmacology.

Life in Hungary Szára was born in Pestújhely, Hungary in March 1923. He earned his DSc and MD from Budapest University of Medicine.

Szára discovered the hallucinogenic effects of the psychedelic drug dimethyltryptamine (DMT) via self-experimentation in 1956 following its published isolation from cohoba (yopo) snuff the previous year. Szára described experiencing intense euphoria at the higher DMT doses due to his excitement about the discovery.

Move to the United States Shortly after the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Szára left Hungary and moved to the United States Later, Szára had argued that psychedelic drugs should be studied in a heuristic manner and that learning the mechanisms by which they affect the brain may "serve as keys to unlock the mysteries of the brain/mind relationship".

Szára was an emeritus Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Heffter Research Institute. He was elected Honorary Member of the Hungarian Association of Psychopharmacology in 2007. He was also the recipient of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Administrator's Meritorious Achievement Award and the Kovats Medal of Freedom from the American Hungarian Federation (2005).