Sidney Gottlieb was known as the "Black Sorcerer" of the Central Intelligence Agency.
A brilliant chemist, Gottlieb was the driving force behind the infamous MKULTRA program, a series of covert, illegal experiments conducted by the CIA in the 1950s and 1960s.
Gottlieb was born in the Bronx in 1918 and earned a Ph.D.
In biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1948.
After a short stint as a professor at Stanford University, Gottlieb joined the CIA in 1951.
Gottlieb quickly rose through the agency's ranks and soon became one of its most powerful and influential figures.
He was in charge of the CIA's Technical Services Division, which was responsible for the development of chemical and biological weapons, mind control drugs and other covert tactics.
As such, Gottlieb was responsible for the creation of the MKULTRA program, which aimed to study the effects of drugs and other interrogation techniques on unwitting test subjects.
The program was shrouded in secrecy and Gottlieb ensured that the CIA would never be held accountable for its actions.