Famous twin entertainers choose to die together in assisted suicide

Twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler, who gained fame as entertainers in post-war Europe, have died from assisted suicide. They chose to die together simply because they were tired of living.

Key Takeaways:

• The Kessler twins were born in Germany in 1936, where they grew up learning ballet. They escaped East Germany in 1952, and moved to Italy.

• They performed as dancers, actresses, and singers, and competed in the Eurovision Song Contest.

• During their career they met celebrities like Elvis Presley, appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, and were featured on the cover of Life magazine.

• At the age of 89, the two underwent assisted suicide together, allegedly because they simply no longer wanted to live.

The Details:

Bild, a German newspaper, was the first to report the twins' deaths, noting that they were "inseparable in life, forever united in death." According to Bild, the two were not ill, but "no longer wanted to live."

In Germany, assisted suicide is legal, though euthanasia — where the doctor actively participates in taking the patient's life — is not.

The twins previously told Bild they wanted their ashes mixed together in the same urn, and to be buried near their mother and their dog. "That's what we stipulated in our wills," Ellen said.

Disturbingly, their deaths are already being romanticized; in an Instagram post, Radio Monte Carlo wrote:

Alice and Ellen Kessler passed away together, just as they had lived: inseparable.

Born in 1936, they were an absolute symbol of European entertainment, spanning music, dance, and television.

In Italy, they became known as the "legs of the nation," icons of elegance and stage presence since the 1950s.

A unique artistic couple, capable of leaving an indelible mark on the collective imagination.

MSN reported that the two had spoken for years about their wish to commit suicide together.

Why It Matters:

Assisted suicide is being legalized around the globe and is also becoming more culturally acceptable, as seen with the Kessler twins. Rather than viewing a double suicide as the tragedy that it is, reports have framed it as an empowering and heartfelt way for two beloved sisters to die together.

The Kessler twins were elderly, and this makes a difference in the collective mindset; suicide for the elderly, disabled, poor, or ill is seen as acceptable — or even promoted and encouraged — while suicide among the young and health is seen as something to be prevented at all costs.

Yet this culture of death has consequences. As assisted suicide is legalized, the overall suicide rate increases.

“If we encourage assisted suicide, then we will encourage suicide,” Professor David Albert Jones, director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, said, adding:

“If we legalize what is euphemistically called ‘assisted dying,’ then more people will kill themselves, and not only people with chronic or terminal illnesses. The evidence is out there, the threat is real.

Belgium, which legalized euthanasia in 2002, currently has the highest suicide rate in Western Europe. In the Netherlands, which has more euthanasia than any country in the world, suicide is also rising. In America, suicide is rising more in states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide than it is in states that have resisted calls to change the law.”

The Bottom Line:

It is a tragedy that two women chose to engage in a joint suicide pact. And it is even more of a tragedy to know that much of the world applauds their deaths as a good thing, and frames it as an empowering or romanticized choice other people should follow.