Chloë Eleutheriou

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Chloë Eleutheriou
File:Princess Katherine of Greece.jpg
Chloë Eleutheriou, 1937
Born4 May 1913
Garés, Alscia
Died2 October 2007(2007-10-02) (aged 94)
Albareale, Alţira, Gylias
Nationality
Occupation
  • Chemist
  • academic
  • public servant
Known forFirst director of the Controlled Substances Administration

Chloë Eleutheriou (Hellene reformed: Χλόε Ελευθεʀίου; Gylic transcription: Xyloe Eleuþeriou; 4 May 1913 – 2 October 2007) was a Gylian chemist, psychopharmacologist, and public servant. As the first director of the Controlled Substances Administration, she had a major role in shaping Gylian drug policy, laying the foundation for the "psychedelic revolution".

Early life

Chloë was born on 4 May 1913 in Garés. She came from a Hellene Gylian family and was the youngest of 6 children.

As a child, she was passionate about nature, going on many trips to the countryside with her family. She had a secular upbringing, and later commented, "I didn't have anything to do with religion until I tried psychedelics."

She completed her primary and secondary education in Garés, then moved to Etra to attend the Imperial University of Etra. She completed a degree in organic chemistry and a PhD in biochemistry, and subsequently taught chemistry at the university. One of her colleagues in the faculty was Ryōko Akagi, a leading Alscian mathematician and the mother of Ritsuko Akagi.

When Alscia joined the Free Territories, she moved to Molise, anticipating that chemistry research would be affected by the Liberation War.

She returned to Etra as the outcome of the war became clear, and resumed teaching at the formerly Imperial, now Free University of Etra.

Career

Chloë's quiet career as a university professor was interrupted by the Law on Substance Controls of 1961. She was appointed as the first director of the Controlled Substances Administration.

When she met with Prime Minister Darnan Cyras regarding her appointment, he admitted that apart from her qualifications, her "boring" image would be an advantage at the head of the CSA. This prompted her to laugh and reply, "In that case, I'll do my best to bore Gylias to sleep."

Chloë chose to operate the CSA as a pharmaceutical regulator, believing that direct control of manufacturing and distribution would interfere with its mission of drug safety. She emphasised the rooting of drug policy in scientific fact, and conducted extensive research on psychedelic drugs. Her attitude came to favour psychedelics as less harmful than other drugs.

She initiated Project Nous, paying volunteers to take drugs and report on their experiences as they happened. Many famous Gylians volunteered — including members of the Darnan Cyras government — and the experiments were filmed and used in public information films, increasing awareness of drugs. The comprehensive research of the project yielded the Chloë Eleutheriou Report of 1963, which became the basis of CSA classifications of controlled substances.

Chloë's work at the CSA helped make Gylias one of the leading centres of drugs research and culture in Tyran. Based on her classification scheme, many seized on the liberating potential of psychotropics during the Golden Revolution, encouraging psychedelic experiences as beneficial for humanity, helping bring about a "psychedelic revolution".

The reputation as a "grandmother of psychedelia" brought much amusement to the mild-mannered chemist. Chloë was largely apolitical throughout her life, and rarely expressed opinions on the "psychedelic revolution" or Groovy Gylias. She took part in Project Nous and had several psychedelic experiences, but mainly approached her work scientifically.

As Darnan had anticipated, her strait-laced personality and graceful manner did benefit the CSA: it amused the public and discredited its critics, who looked irrational and hysterical by comparison to Chloë, the "unlikely counterculture icon".

Later life

Chloë retired as director of the CSA in 1982. She returned to teaching at the Federal University of Etra, until retiring entirely in 1993.

She lived in quiet retirement, having relocated to the village of Albareale, close to Etra. She appeareed in Rasa Ḑeşéy's documentaries Nation Building (1999) and The Hurried Province (2008), the latter posthumously.

Death

Chloë died on 2 October 2007 in Albareale, of natural causes.

Private life

She was married and had one son.