Ben Weider Dead at Age 85

MONTREAL—Ben Weider, businessman and sports leader, died suddenly Oct. 17 in Montreal; he was 85 years old. The younger brother of Joe Weider, the “Father of Modern Bodybuilding” and founder of Weider Nutrition, Ben was the founding president of the International Brotherhood of Body Builders (IFBB) in 1946, and worked to set up competitive events and federations globally. He was also known for his historical investigation, The Murder of Napoleon, in which he showed Napoleon had been poisoned by arsenic. While there was initial resistance to the theory, it was eventually shown to be true, and Ben Weider received the French Legion of Honor award in 2000. He is survived by his wife, three sons and two grandchildren, as well as his brother Joe and sister Freda Yankofsky.