Dignitas founder Ludwig Minelli has ended his life aged 92 at one of his own assisted dying clinics, just days before his birthday.
The not-for-profit Swiss clinic announced the human rights lawyer had ‘chosen to end his life’ on November 29.
In a four-page tribute, Dignitas said ‘he stood unwaveringly for his convictions when it came to the protection of fundamental rights and the freedom of citizens’.
Minelli set up the clinic in 1998 to help the terminally and chronically ill die with ‘dignity’.
The clinic’s slogan reads: ‘Live with dignity, die with dignity.’
‘Right up to the end of his life, he continued to search for further ways to help people to exercise their right to freedom of choice and self-determination in their ‘final matters’ – and he often found them,’ Dignitas said.
As of 2024, the organisation had helped more than 4,000 people end their lives.
In 2023 he told the Financial Times how he was still ‘working all day and half the night’ at the age of 90.
In the same interview, he called suicide a ‘marvellous possibility’, arguing assisted dying should be available to almost everyone, as should euthanasia, where a doctor administers the poison.
Originally a journalist, Minelli became a qualified lawyer in his 50s, with a particular interest in the potential of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Assisted dying is currently not legal in the UK but has been the subject of an ongoing debate.
In September, peers warned that legalising assisted suicide could create a ‘licence to kill’ and lead to doctors euthanising people who are not terminally ill.
Former prime minister Theresa May said the controversial bill going through parliament could have a catastrophic impact on disabled people, those with chronic physical illness or mental health problems.
Britain’s equalities watchdog has also raised concerns about the assisted dying bill, calling for more detailed assessment of how the proposed legislation might impact society’s most vulnerable.
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland under specific circumstances, outlined in the Swiss Criminal Code.
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