Abstract: A manually operated ergonomic wheelchair comprises a pair of levers (10) which are pivotably mounted on said wheelchair and can be operated by the user by hand-grips (12) and/or pedals, so as to cause rotation of the wheels (3) of the wheelchair by a chain transmission (14, 19). Each lever (10) has a reciprocating oscillatory movement and has a lower branch (15, 16) in the form of a fork closed by an arched support (13) having a variable distance from the fulcrum (11) of the lever. The transmission consists of a chain section (14) attached to the two arms (15, 16) of said fork, guided by the arc (13) and meshing with a gear wheel (18) located between the arms (15, 16) of the fork. The gear wheel (18) is coplanar with the plane of oscillation of the chain section (14) and is associated, directly or by a train of driven gears (11, 20), with the hub (6) of the wheel (3) of the wheelchair, one of said gear wheels (18, 20) being a freewheel.