A magazine article about Vic Finkelstein

Victor (Vic) Berel Finkelstein (25 January 1938 – 30 November 2011) was a disabled activist and writer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and later living in Britain, Vic is known as a pioneer of the social model of disability and a key figure in developing the understanding of the oppression of disabled people.

The followng article was donated to the archive by Katherine Walsh, taken from a 2007 newsletter: 



Sweet Tree at Home

The Newsletter of Sweet Tree Home Care Services Autumn 2007

pp 4-5

Victor Finkelstein's Inspiring Story

A short while ago Mr Finkelstein, a client of Sweet Tree' s, spoke to Sweet Tree at Home about his fascinating life as a father, activist, educator and tetraplegic. His story is inspiring and shows how walls often come down when we force them to.

Mr Victor Finklestein was born in 1938 in South Africa to an Estonian mother and a Russian father. He went to school in Durban where, as a result of a pole vaulting accident at the age of 15, he would use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

After finishing school Mr Finkelstein studied architecture and then psychology at university and it was here that he became involved in anti-Apartheid protests, fighting segregation alongside his fellow students.

Suspicions that Mr Finkelstein was helping Bram Fischer (a lawyer and dedicated anti-apartheid activist who was in hiding after Nelson Mandela's arrest), led to his own arrest and torture. Mr Finkelstein reflects on how he thought ‘they’ were "going to beat the hell out of me but were unsure what to do with a man in a wheelchair". Deciding not to harm Mr Finkelstein, he was deprived of sleep for a week.

After six months isolation in detention and one month detention during the trial, Mr Finkelstein was eventually convicted, and received an 18 month sentence of which 15 months were suspended. Unsurprisingly, no jail was wheelchair accessible so Mr Finkelstein was continuously moved. He notes, 'This was the only time in South Africa that things were made accessible for me. In jail I was provided with a bed (political prisoners slept on a mat on the floor) and assisted with 'helpers' because of course, the jails were otherwise totally inaccessible. Somehow when the state has a need it does make things accessible!'

It is down to this oppression that Mr Finkelstein puts his relentless determination "It is amazing what six months isolation can make you think about" he adds. On release from prison Mr Finkelstein was issued with a five-year banning order, which was intended to prevent him from doing..., well just about everything.

In 1968 he came to the UK where he met his wife Elizabeth. His interests meant he wanted to work as a psychologist with disabled people however, at that time there was no such profession so took on a post in a psychiatric hospital.

Mr Finkelstein decided to change careers and retrained as a teacher. Once again, accessibility became a problem as it was difficult to find a school that was wheelchair accessible.

It was a time of change in the social sector with the advent of the Open University, reform in the NHS and a developing recognition of how little was understood about disabled people. Mr Finkelstein change career and joined the Open University as a lecturer on the new course on 'disability'.

Mr Finkelstein and his wife Elizabeth (who had trained as a physiotherapist) became heavily involved in setting up organisations for disabled people. A great friendship and working partnership soon developed with Paul Hunt and his wife who Mr Finkelstein notes, "were very advanced in their thinking." Mr Finkelstein drew on his political knowledge and Paul Hunt on his institutional experience to set up UPIAS (Union of the Physical Impaired against Segregation); an organisation which redefine the meaning of disability through 'The Social Interpretation'.

The social interpretation views disability not as a personal problem but as a social problem. UPIAS argued for social change to eliminate discrimination against disabled people. Sadly, in 1981 Paul Hunt died which was a huge loss for UPIAS, the disability community and Mr Finkelstein personally.

Recognising the need to bring all of the desperate bodies representing disabled people together, Mr Finkelstein campaigned for the creation of a single national organisation. A British Council was eventually established with Mr Finkelstein nominated as Chair. In 1981 Mr Finkelstein was asked to represent the UK at a World Council meeting in Singapore where he was elected on to the World Council of the Disabled People's International, an appointment that demonstrated how much the world had changed thanks to Mr Finkelstein and others.

As his career progressed he was a consultant to the United Nations and World Health Organisation. He was on the editorial board of two new 'disability' journals, worked with the British Museum, ITV and Channel 4 and wrote a cartoon serial for the Sunday morning show "Does he take sugar?". He also wrote 'Revolution' a wonderfully relevant fable which can be found on the Internet.

Mr Finkelstein's wife Elizabeth tragically died when the girls were young. At the time Mr Finkelstein gave up work to be a single parent which itself adds a whole dimensional to the above and this amazing man. He lives with his youngest daughter Rebecca. Anne, his eldest daughter, is training as a GP, and visits regularly.

When asked if he had ever considered writing a book about his experiences Mister Finkelstein said he would like to and 'perhaps it wouldn't be one of horror!' Knowing Mr Finkelstein, I suspect his story will be one of hope and conquest and would be an inspiration to us all.