THE founder of Dignitas has ended his life at the age of 92 at one of his own assisted dying clinics.
Ludwig Minelli, described as a “pioneer and a warrior” by those who knew him, took his final breath on November 29 – just days before his birthday.
Dignitas paid a touching tribute to their founder and Secretary General after his death was confirmed as being from voluntary assisted dying.
They penned an emotional four-page handout titled “passing of a pioneer and warrior”.
It read: “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.”
Minelli, a successful human rights lawyer, set up the first Dignitas clinic in 1998 to help the terminally and chronically ill to die on their own terms.
The Swiss non-profit has always gone by the slogan “live with dignity, die with dignity”.
The tribute went on to summarise Minelli’s life as one focused around freedom of choice, self-determination, and human rights.
He spent decades fighting for the right to allow for euthanasia and campaigning for his company to exist despite political pushbacks.
Minelli even had to stand trial in court several times over the ethical and legal disputes.
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