Tribute to Igor Mann
25.06.2022
On June 25, at the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, a presentation entitled Tribute to Igor Mann, a super vet, performed by his daughter Rhodia Mann.
On June 25, at the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, a presentation entitled Tribute to Igor Mann, a super vet, performed by his daughter Rhodia Mann. About 25 people took part in it, including representatives of the Polish diaspora, the press and people associated with culture.
The unconventional biography of Igor Mann told by his daughter in a colorful way, although typical of the generation that survived World War II, aroused great interest in the audience. A great value of the presentation was the rich iconographic material from the family's collection.
Born in Przemyśl in 1906 to a Jewish family, he studied veterinary medicine at the Jagiellonian University and in Brno in the Czech Republic. After graduation, he founded and ran his own veterinary practice in Katowice. After escaping from Poland in 1939, he ended up in Romania, where he met his wife, a Romanian citizen, and after joining Nazi Germany in 1940, he had to flee again. He stayed in Palestine and Egypt, then in Northern Rhodesia, and finally in 1942 he settled in Kenya as a refugee. He could not practice as a veterinarian because his diplomas were not recognized by the colonial British authorities. He worked as a quality controller in meat plants. In 1965, he founded the Animal Health and Industries Training Institute (AHITHI) in Nairobi and became its first director. After retiring in 1973, he remained active working as a consultant to FAO and WHO. He died in 1986. The institution he founded still exists, and the leather production department was named after Igor Mann.
