Bodybuilding News: Ben Weider, International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) Founder, Passes Away at Age 85

I am sad to inform that Ben Weider, who in 1946 founded the IFBB and who worked closely with his brother Joe Weider (the Father of Modern Bodybuilding) to promote bodybuilding all over the world, passed away at age 85 this past Friday.

Ben's efforts in promoting the sport throughout the years resulted in the IFBB now having 173 member national federations worldwide and thousands of sanctioned amateur and professional competitive events. Ben was passionate about promoting the sport and if you had the honor of seeing him, as I once did, walking around the venue of the Mr. Olympia Expo you would have noticed how his enthusiasm for bodybuilding simply shined through him.

A sincere thanks to Ben Weider for passionately promoting an activity that once was held as a weird cult and today, thanks to his efforts and those of his brother Joe, is recognized in nations all over the world both as a sport and as a way to achieve great health and higher levels of performance in other sports.

Ben is survived by his beloved wife of 49 years Hugette Derouin, his brother Joe Weider, his sister Freda Yankofsky, three sons named Eric, Louis and Mark, and his grandchildren Joseph and Vanessa. His funeral will be held today at 1:00 pm in Montreal.