Adolf Ratzka was born 1943 in Germany and was an active pioneer for the rights of disabled people for the majority of his life. He died on the 21st of July in Sweden due to an accident.
Adolf’s focus in his work was advocating for deinstitutionalization of disabled people and their equal opportunity to Independent Living. He played a big part in implementing personal assistance (PA) services in the Nordic Countries, in Europe, and other parts of the world.
Adolf became disabled after contracting polio when he was 17 years old and since needed to use an electric wheelchair, breathing devices, and assistance from others in his daily life. The first years after becoming disabled Adolf was institutionalized in Germany but then was granted a scholarship in California, United States where he moved to pursue his education. Staying in the United States influenced Adolf deeply but that is where he got to know the Independent Living Movement and the concept of personal assistance. He received direct payments from the government in Germany which made it possible for him to hire his own assistants to be able to live an independent life in the US.
When Adolf came back to Europe, he become one of the leaders of independent living and personal assistance in Sweden. He founded the cooperative STIL in the year 1984 in Stockholm, that still is actively running today. This inspired other cooperative groups in Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and other neighboring countries. Adolf also founded the Independent Living Institute in Sweden.
Adolf Ratzka contributed a lot to the independent living movement in Iceland. He visited the personal assistance cooperative (NPA miðstöðin) when it was founded and he also welcomed us to Sweden to learn from their implementation of personal assistance. He was very generous with time and experience and always believed in the work that was being done. We, the disabled people who have personal assistance in Iceland, have a lot of gratitude for his work.
Adolf’s fight for independent living and personal assistance for disabled people is rooted in his experience becoming disabled as a teenager and feeling the urgency of claiming his freedom and self-determination as a disabled person.
Adolf’s funeral will take place on the 12th of August in Stockholm. His family has decided, in his honor, that those who want to donate in his remembrance, can make donations to the
Memory fund of Adolf Ratzka for disabled migrants in Sweden. Our deepest condolences go to Adolf’s wife and daughter and disabled people all over the world who have lost a leader and a wonderful colleague.
Adolf’s family has set up a website where everyone who wants to remember him in some way can do so.
Tabu’s spokespersons,
Freyja Haraldsdóttir
Embla Guðrúnar Ágústsdóttir