The founder of a Swiss organization supporting the right to voluntary end-of-life has died at age 92 through assisted suicide.
On 30 Nov 2025 GMT+7, foreign news agencies reported that Ludwig Minelli, 92, founder of “Dignitas,” a Swiss organization campaigning for the right-to-die, passed away by assisted suicide just days before his 93rd birthday.
Dignitas posted a message mourning Minelli’s passing, stating that he lived for “freedom of choice, self-determination, and human rights.”
Minelli founded Dignitas in 1998, and since then, the organization has helped thousands of people pass away peacefully.
Over recent decades, some countries have shifted their stance on assisted suicide, with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand passing laws supporting it, while the UK Parliament is currently considering related legislation.
However, opponents argue such laws could pressure disabled and vulnerable individuals into choosing to end their own lives.
Many who have received help from Dignitas traveled to Switzerland because assisted suicide is not permitted in their home countries.
Throughout his life, Minelli actively campaigned for the right to voluntary end-of-life, adopting the organization’s motto: “Dignity in life, dignity in death.”
In a 2010 BBC interview, Minelli said, “I firmly believe we must fight to bring the last human right into our society, the right to decide the end of one’s own life, and the possibility to end it without risk and pain.”
Originally a journalist for the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Minelli later studied law and focused on human rights issues.
After founding Dignitas, he faced multiple legal battles but succeeded in appealing several cases to the Swiss Supreme Court.
In a statement, Dignitas said Minelli’s work had lasting influence, citing the 2011 European Court of Human Rights ruling that affirmed individuals’ rights to choose the manner and timing of ending their lives.
However, euthanasia—where doctors intentionally inject substances to end life to relieve suffering—remains illegal in Switzerland.
Assisted suicide, where a person receives medication from a medical professional but administers it themselves, has been legally permitted in Switzerland for decades.
Dignitas stated it will continue to “manage and develop the association according to the founder’s intent, as an international professional organization committed to self-determination and freedom of choice, both in life and at life’s final stage.”
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Source:bbc