Bengt Lindqvist

Bengt was a lively child, born in 1936. When he was eight it was discovered that he had a degenerative eye disease. By the time he was 15 he could barely see at all. Bengt had enormous support from his parents and became one of the first people in Sweden to be integrated from a school for the blind to a regular school.

Bengt feels privileged to have had a lot of interesting jobs during his career, and also that he has been able to influence accessibility politics.

Fresh out of university, he had to fight for an entire year for his right to become a teacher. He switched careers and was chair of the national association of the visually impaired from 1975. He was elected member of parliament in 1982 and appointed Minister for social service and family policy in 1985. Between 1994 and 2002 he served three consecutive terms as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability.

He says being able to read and write was key to his personal development, in particular to his career. While at university Bengt considered a career in music as he loves jazz and plays the drums. He finally focused more on the academics, but still keeps his drum set close at hand.