We were very sad to hear about the passing, on 10 September, of German disability activist and former Member of the Bundestag (German Parliament) Ilja Seifert.
Ilja Seifert represented the German Disability Council in our General Assemblies for many years, especially in the first years of our existence. He was a committed activist, fighting for the rights of all persons with disabilities, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.
Ilja was the founding president of ABiD – Allgemeiner Behindertenverband in Deutschland e. V., one of the most active organisations of persons with disabilities in the Eastern parts of Germany. He was also the Chair of Berliner Behindertenverbandes (Berlin Disability Association). He was a Member of the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag) and one of the most well-known persons with disabilities in Germany.
He advocated for close cooperation between the German Disability Council and the European Disability Forum. We were sad to understand that the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from fulfilling one of his wishes: a high-level conference about the rights of persons with disabilities in Eastern Europe and Russian-speaking countries.
Yannis Vardakastanis, EDF President, said:
Ilja was present and fully committed to EDF from the beginning and wanted to organise support to the Russian-speaking disability movements.
He was a member of the German Parliament and a great disability activist. I will remember him as a good friend and a true European.
Photo: dielinke_sachsen/CC BY 2.0