Florian Willet
German author and pro-euthanasia activist (1977–2025)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Florian Willet (3 August 1977 – 5 May 2025) was a German author and pro-euthanasia activist.[1][2]
Florian Willet | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 August 1977 |
| Died | 5 May 2025 (aged 47) Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Occupations | Author, pro-euthanasia activist |
Biography
Willet was born in Heidelberg on 3 August 1977. His father was an architect.[3]
Willet's father committed suicide when he was 14. Willet recalled being "surprised" when others told him his father had committed a "selfish" act, saying that although he was sad about his father's death, he did not think that his father had been sad.[4]
Willet initially worked in asset management, before pursuing a career in science. He worked as a communication psychologist, legal scholar and economist. As a university lecturer and academic consultant; Willet focused on behavioral economics, legal philosophy and anthropology, with an interest in cognitive and statistical biases in opinion and judgement formation processes.[5]
Willet lived in Switzerland.[6] He was a spokesperson for Dignitas, and later the president of The Last Resort,[6] an organization which provides assisted suicide.[4] He was a member of Mensa.[4]
Willet was arrested on 23 September 2024. He was accused of helping an American woman die by suicide with a Sarco pod in Merishausen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland earlier that day.[1][7][4] Although assisted suicide is legal in the country, it is strictly regulated.[1][7] The woman had been using a device called a "suicide pod", produced by the company Sarco.[1][7] Willet was held in pretrial detention for 70 days,[1] some of which was spent in solitary confinement,[4] before being released in December 2024.[8]
In January 2025, he attempted suicide at his home in Zurich, resulting in him getting hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.[9]
Willet died in Cologne on 5 May 2025, aged 47.[10] According to the inventor of the Sarco pod, Philip Nitschke, Willet died by assisted suicide. Nitschke further added that Willet had been traumatized by his 2024 detention.[1] The criminal case against him was dropped after his death.[11]
Publications
- Deutschlands Frauen schaffen ihre Männer ab: Florian Willet erklärt weiblichen Chauvinismus, Ludwig, 2011, ISBN 978-1-52032-927-7.
- Florian Willet denkt nach über Hirnforschung, Evolution und Ökologie: Neuropsychologie und Verhaltensökonomie, Ludwig, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86935-200-8.
- Der Soziale Schwan: wo Kahneman, Taleb und Darwin auf Marx stossen, Ludwig, 2017, ISBN 978-1-52032-923-9.
- Mir nach, ich folge Euch!: Wie uns die Parteien über den Tisch ziehen, Solibro, 2018, ISBN 978-3-96079-045-7.
- Wie die Parteien uns über den Tisch ziehen, Solibro, 2021, ISBN 978-3-96079-084-6.