Bengt lindqvist: A prominent figure and advocate

This chapter presents highlights of the career and perspectives of Bengt Lindqvist - a prominent voice for disability rights internationally. Bengt Olof Lennart Lindqvist was born in Helsingborg Sweden on June 3, 1936, and died on December 3, 2016. Bengt was a dedicated career politician. He was an expert at using the leverages of political power to help people with disabilities. A lifelong member of the Social Democratic Party, he was first elected as a Member of the Swedish Parliament representing Stockholm County from 1982 and continued to serve for 12 years to 1995. From 1994 to 2002, Bengt Lindqvist served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development. In addition, he served as chairman of the Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired from 1975 to 1985, the rehabilitation committee of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind from 1974 to 1985, and the Swedish Disability Association from 1977 to 1985. Together with Marcia Rioux, he created Disability Rights Promotion International and was its codirector until his death. During his lifetime, he received a wide variety of awards including honorary doctorates. He traveled the world and the seven seas looking for everything to use, looking for something, to keep moving on, and advance the rights of people with disabilities.