104-year-old Australian scientist dies peacefully in Switzerland

104-year-old Australian scientist David Goodall ended his life on Thursday in Switzerland by assisted suicide and died peacefully after making a joke, the director of euthanasia advocacy group Exit International said. Goodall, who was not terminally ill, said he was ready for the end and even complained the process took too much time.

The former ecologist travelled to Switzerland because the nation's liberal assisted suicide laws let him commit suicide legally, in contrast to his home country Australia where it remains forbidden. Goodall was born in London in 1914 and moved to Australiain 1948, where he was a lecturer at the University of Melbourne.