Early life Ludwig Amadeus Minelli was born in Zurich on 5 December 1932, the eldest of four children born to a house painter and decorator. Minelli grew up in
Küsnacht, in the
canton of Zurich. He recalled developing a sense for "justice" in 1944, when a
substitute teacher in his primary school class hit a younger pupil: "during the next break, I complained to a neighbouring farmer who I knew was on the school board". As a child, he wanted to become a priest and later in university, he ruminated on an acting career before settling on journalism and completing his diploma.
Assisted-dying advocacy Minelli joined the Zurich branch of
Exit, an assisted-dying organization as the legal advisor in 1992. Eventually becoming disillusioned with the organization, he formed
Dignitas with two former colleagues briefly after resigning from his position at a board of directors meeting in May 1998. Dignitas proved controversial, and Minelli as head of the organization was a frequent target of criticism and insults, including from prosecutors and church and media figures. Dignitas's services to foreigners were characterized as "death tourism", Minelli was personally accused of exploiting patients for profit, while newspapers labelled him as "Dr Death" (German: ). ==Personal life and death==