{"id":5376,"date":"2025-03-05T15:37:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T20:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/?p=5376"},"modified":"2025-09-23T06:17:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:17:16","slug":"sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376","title":{"rendered":"Sidney Gottlieb: The Notorious Bronx Chemist and CIA Operative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>First, you&#8217;re a talented biology student, and then you&#8217;re creating unique poisons for the government, hiding them in clever spy gadgets to eliminate state enemies. This isn&#8217;t the plot of a Hollywood thriller\u2014it&#8217;s the real-life story of a scientist from the Bronx. In this article, <a href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\">bronx1.one<\/a> dives into the extraordinary twists and turns of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69fecb596b381\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69fecb596b381\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#A_Promising_Student\" >A Promising Student<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#Searching_for_Work\" >Searching for Work<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#Early_CIA_Projects_Failed_%E2%80%9CBluebirds%E2%80%9D_and_%E2%80%9CArtichokes%E2%80%9D\" >Early CIA Projects: Failed &#8220;Bluebirds&#8221; and &#8220;Artichokes&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#Work_on_Project_MKUltra\" >Work on Project MKUltra<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#The_Ruthless_Chemist\" >The Ruthless Chemist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/eternal\/sidney-gottlieb-the-notorious-bronx-chemist-and-cia-operative-5376\/#Life_After_Retirement\" >Life After Retirement<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Promising_Student\"><\/span>A Promising Student<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sidney Gottlieb was born in the Bronx on August 3, 1918, to Hungarian Jewish immigrants. As a child, he wasn&#8217;t particularly distinguished in his studies or hobbies and attended James Monroe High School. His family had a modest income, so after high school, Gottlieb enrolled in the tuition-free City College of New York. There, he developed a genuine interest in learning, particularly in biology and chemistry. His goal was to attend the University of Wisconsin&#8217;s biology program. To get the necessary specialized knowledge, he first attended Arkansas Tech University, where he studied botany, organic chemistry, and dairy science. Sidney was a diligent student and soon achieved his dream, becoming a student at the University of Wisconsin. His mentor was Ira Baldwin, the assistant dean of the College of Agriculture. In 1940, Gottlieb graduated with honors. His academic achievements and Baldwin&#8217;s excellent recommendation helped him get into the California Institute of Technology, where he earned a PhD in biochemistry and defended his dissertation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxcifsvavqsrdivgw44h7eoofqhgwjmvbz0jerii25loifbppknaonmdbqszp0ooizwyxiwfgtvihrrkdksietlm5_lbrtsfsccwv-ba-ezqi0yhl6uhx5kvlcrnihhplqnreez4keyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Searching_for_Work\"><\/span>Searching for Work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the institute, Gottlieb met his future wife, Margaret Moore, the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary. After graduation, Sidney and Margaret married, but they soon found that post-war life wasn&#8217;t as simple as it was in academia. Finding work was a challenge. For a time, the young family, which now included two daughters, lived in a simple cabin near Vienna, Virginia, in very modest conditions without electricity or running water. Sidney finally found a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he researched the chemical structure of organic soils. Gottlieb later moved to the Food and Drug Administration, where he developed tests to detect drugs in the body. However, this work was far too simple and boring for Sidney, who was used to complex problems and analytical tasks. In 1948, Gottlieb joined the National Research Council, focusing on research. But he couldn&#8217;t stay put for long. He eventually moved to the University of Maryland as a research fellow, where he focused on the metabolism of fungi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Early_CIA_Projects_Failed_%E2%80%9CBluebirds%E2%80%9D_and_%E2%80%9CArtichokes%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Early CIA Projects: Failed &#8220;Bluebirds&#8221; and &#8220;Artichokes&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1951, Gottlieb received an unexpected call from Baldwin, who offered him a job with the CIA. Sidney was known for his extensive experience with various toxic substances, and Baldwin was then the head of the biological warfare program at Fort Detrick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1950s are remembered as a tense phase of the Cold War. Americans were concerned about the threat of communism, which led to the expansion of the CIA&#8217;s experimental methods. The USSR and China were already using &#8220;brainwashing&#8221; techniques on their citizens and prisoners, and the U.S. was trying to catch up on this &#8220;front.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Gottlieb joined, the team was working on Project BLUEBIRD. The main goal was to create &#8220;special interrogation&#8221; methods to break down self-control using <a href=\"https:\/\/i-bronx.com\/en\/eternal-17283-addiction-treatment-in-the-bronx-a-guide-to-recovery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxfneqcehgnouxz_xkzqpdr2x1dfborz5ueqv4h7bcekzswxcywmfm2vqxg-whzjes3r6cdx4uqdrhij4wsbtwyfzjs8npcdvnadoo4iqevtb3ttbn0_fo1dcngjp9gldr3r2jjgoakeyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Project BLUEBIRD required a professional scientific approach, and Gottlieb was brought in. He proved his worth from day one, and soon after, he was made the head of the newly created Chemical Division of the Technical Services Staff. Later, he was given orders to expand and centralize BLUEBIRD, renaming it Project ARTICHOKE, which gave Gottlieb even more authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Americans were eager to find a &#8220;truth serum.&#8221; Gottlieb experimented with THC, cocaine, heroin, and mescaline, but his efforts were fruitless. Project ARTICHOKE was deemed a failure and was shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Work_on_Project_MKUltra\"><\/span>Work on Project MKUltra<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After a year and a half of work at the CIA, Gottlieb had no real results. He had experimented with various drugs, dosages, and combinations before realizing that LSD had not been properly tested by the agency, as the substance had only been synthesized 13 years prior. Gottlieb ramped up LSD experiments within the CIA. After several months of research, he approached the CIA director with a proposal to launch a new project called MKUltra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxejp2do6bi2bk-oalyqjmjfqaf6vg8eckurh_frym8t_b8c2jpre8opc8afbh1p8szaufssnmq9idorwmqakp45chuwfzs1tujjkonpej24jj5jrl9ryvsz6xp7bi_iwpawpnt-9qkeyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Gottlieb selected a group of researchers, scientists, and former OSS officers and dove into the work. Sidney was obsessed with the idea of creating a &#8220;truth serum&#8221; and would use any means necessary to achieve his goal. Initially, he experimented on students. Gottlieb and his assistants would visit college campuses and offer volunteers the chance to join the program. The terms were simple and quite appealing to young students. For each dose of the LSD-based drug they took, they received $25. Sidney thought he had it all figured out: he had the ideal age group, close to the main military demographic, and had developed the perfect formula. But the effect wasn&#8217;t what he expected. He concluded that he could only achieve results by administering the drug without warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Almost all information regarding further experiments within Project MKUltra was classified and later destroyed, as the CIA was violating a strict prohibition against conducting medical experiments on people without their consent. Only witnesses to those events remain; the evidence is gone. One story involves a secret operation in France. CIA agents under Gottlieb&#8217;s leadership distributed &#8220;poisoned bread&#8221; in the small village of Pont-Saint-Esprit, after having laced the flour with LSD. Hundreds of people suffered psychological trauma, and at least 7 died. To this day, the U.S. has not admitted its involvement in the mass LSD poisoning in France. Another tragic incident linked to Gottlieb&#8217;s experiments ended in the death of a colleague. He once gave LSD to military bacteriologist Frank Olson during an MKUltra retreat, which led to Olson&#8217;s mental breakdown and death a week later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxebntwzz1chghbybwtmpnv6jqbdkchiaa7z_tklnqgbucwpyii9kdm51lmzmuxvsz671g0igljanuj1ej5-gmrp2jjn_phgdi1etu9l7lgvkj7hsxsfjouzvzcywdafrgwq3idwkeyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Ruthless_Chemist\"><\/span>The Ruthless Chemist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gottlieb gradually transitioned from creating &#8220;truth serum&#8221; to earning the title of &#8220;America&#8217;s chief poisoner.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March 1960, as part of the &#8220;Cuban Project,&#8221; Gottlieb proposed spraying Fidel Castro&#8217;s television studio with LSD and treating his shoes with thallium to make his beard fall out. He also developed various other plans to assassinate Castro, including the use of a poisoned cigar, an exploding wetsuit, and a deadly fountain pen. By the way, the same fungus and tuberculosis-laced wetsuit created by Sidney Gottlieb was supposed to be given to Fidel Castro by the well-known American diplomat <a href=\"https:\/\/bronx-yes.com\/en\/eternal\/james-britt-donovan-the-american-officer-and-diplomat-whose-life-inspired-a-spielberg-film\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Donovan<\/a>, whom the Cuban leader trusted. However, the operation was later called off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gottlieb was responsible for many other inventions that helped eliminate enemies of the U.S. government: poisoned handkerchiefs, pencils, cigarettes, and candies. Sidney also created silver coins with a poisonous pin inside, which were issued to special operations pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxd1-4azmvnabqtimujasmndvhltytw2geqerpb-dhazfk30up2imtvbdurfalbwmu7mz8ychgix4phldk7cqqxqge93gfaeq4gx0unxjizw2vhy-z6wrgltgdoohghpeqgz3s_9keyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If captured, they were meant to use the poison to avoid being tortured and to prevent state secrets from being revealed during interrogation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Life_After_Retirement\"><\/span>Life After Retirement<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gottlieb left the CIA in 1973. Afterward, he lived with his family in Culpeper, Virginia, where he raised goats. The couple had two daughters and two sons. For two years, he and his wife Margaret traveled through Australia, Africa, and Asia. They even stayed in India for a while, where they ran a hospital for leprosy patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxfp3tudrguq8gcll92bp8it5k0ukin9l3j73wnsyisk9ikkl2otzs2r3hxlooq1w46yrwll0igag9cn1cqty8piih479wbehhcl_eplin0mahaca9m8g1z8lozxcqfxgwn2g2-fqgkeyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After this, the Gottliebs returned to Santa Cruz, California, to spend more time with their grandchildren. Sidney had suffered from a stutter since childhood and, after retiring, decided to help people with speech impediments. He earned a master&#8217;s degree in speech pathology from San Jose State University. The Gottliebs spent their final years in Virginia. They volunteered, and Gottlieb used his new degree to work as a speech pathologist in high schools and hospices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sidney Gottlieb died on March 7, 1999, at his home. It was reported that he had heart problems, but his wife did not disclose the cause of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.bronx1.one\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2025\/03\/ad_4nxeqznnwlpdnfijpneooxt6gqxv0nwpix4kpd7ajto3zgelbl9xw9wp3uuhzg6yqroxjrkpxgtlfzlqv7h3sshwz-ujpbmkihbjg4huq_2u6li3wlhqq2zg5rfemqc40tkv_srgh2gkeyvg84mvu2edpttfj5_jmkmptb.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First, you&#8217;re a talented biology student, and then you&#8217;re creating unique poisons for the government, hiding them in clever spy gadgets to eliminate state enemies. This isn&#8217;t the plot of a Hollywood thriller\u2014it&#8217;s the real-life story of a scientist from the Bronx. In this article, bronx1.one dives into the extraordinary twists and turns of his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":456,"featured_media":3791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1166],"tags":[3007,3011,3008,3013,3005,3010,3019,3014,3012,3015,3009,3017,3006,3016,3018],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[93],"moimportance":[78,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-5376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-cia","9":"tag-cia-assassination-plots","10":"tag-cia-chemist","11":"tag-cia-experiments","12":"tag-cold-war","13":"tag-fidel-castro","14":"tag-mind-control","15":"tag-mkultra","16":"tag-new-york-history","17":"tag-project-artichoke","18":"tag-project-bluebird","19":"tag-psychedelic-research","20":"tag-sidney-gottlieb","21":"tag-the-bronx","22":"tag-us-intelligence","23":"motype-eternal","24":"moformat-longrid-korotka","25":"moimportance-golovna-novina","26":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori"},"modified_by":"Yevheniia Shevchenko","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/456"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5377,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376\/revisions\/5377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5376"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=5376"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=5376"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bronx1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=5376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}