Anette Fischer
Anette Fischer née Klavsen (1946–1992) was a Danish librarian and human rights activist. After heading the Danish branch of Amnesty International, in 1989 she was appointed a member of the organization's International Executive Committee (IEC), becoming its head in 1991. She died together with her husband in a car accident in Florence, Italy, in July 1992.[1][2]
Early life and education
Born on 13 July 1946 in the Copenhagen district of
While still at university, she began to take interest in Amnesty International in 1969.[4]
Career
In early 1972, together with her newly wedded husband the engineer Carl Eli Seidel Fischer, she moved to Tanzania where she established a film library in
She became so effective at expanding the library's reference works that she was allowed to devote some of her time to the Danish branch of Amnesty International (AI) over a number of years. After working as a campaign coordinator for the organization, in 1983 she was appointed a member of the Danish board. From 1986, she served as chair of the Danish branch before becoming a member of AI's most important decision-making authority, the International Executive Committee (IEC), in 1989. Two years later, with her appointment as head of the board, she became the first woman and the first Dane to head Amnesty International.[3]
While working for AI in Denmark, she fought for the release of prisoners of conscience and against human rights abuses in Chile, South Africa and the Soviet Union. She also set up a Danish group to campaign against torture and the death penalty and to prevent disappearances in Argentina. After becoming chair of the Danish branch, she ran campaigns against mass executions in Iran and abuses in Israeli-occupied territories.[1]
Chosen to coordinate AI's work in the
After being appointed head of the IEC, demands on her time for voluntary work increased, forcing her to cut her paid library work to half time. Her husband helped her along and took her on holidays to reduce the stress. It was when they were returning from a holiday in Italy that they both died in a head-on collision in torrential rain in Florence on 11 July 1992.[1][2]
References
- ^ a b c d e Staunton, Marie (15 July 1992). "Obituary: Anette Fischer". Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Anette Fischer; Leader in Amnesty International". Los Angeles Times. 17 July 1992. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ a b c Berg, Birgit. "Anette Fischer (1946 - 1992)" (in Danish). Kvinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Gestorben: Anette Fischer" (in German). Der Spiegel No. 30. 1992. Retrieved 18 November 2019.