GENEVA - Scientist David Goodall, 104, has died after choosing to end his life at a clinic in Switzerland, a right-to-die organisation says.
The lauded ecologist and botanist, who was not terminally ill, said the decision had been driven by his deteriorating quality of life.
Mr Goodall had flown from Australia for his assisted suicide, attracting the attention of people around the world.
In his final public appearance, he said the public interest had surprised him.
"I no longer want to continue life," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"One wants to, at my age, even rather less than my age... to be free to choose death when the death is at an appropriate time."
The London-born academic died "peacefully" at 12:30 (10:30 GMT) in Basel, from an infusion of Nembutal, a barbiturate, said Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, the group which helped him take his own life.
In his final minutes he was played Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th symphony. Mr Goodall's last meal was his favourite - fish and chips and cheesecake.(FA)