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 The History of Mensa |
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions.
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The following is from the Mensa International Journal, October, 2000, "Mensa Remembers Dr. L.L. (Lance) Ware," written by two members.
"(We) were introduced to the good doctor as a "Mensa couple" since we met at Montreal Mensa. He smiled, gently pulled us aside, and whispered "did you know I had an ulterior motive for wanting Mensa?" He proceeded to tell us about his sister. Apparently she was a delightful young lady, but men ran for the nearest exit when they discovered she was intelligent "My idea was that in an organization just for intelligent people she was bound to meet men who were not intimidated by her abilities... and I was right." |
JAPAN MENSA
Japan Mensa was founded by Richard C. Fisher (a US citizen) in 1970; he served as the group's chairman until 1980. Their first meeting was held in January 1970. The group was recognized as "permanent" in November 1970. It obtained full membership status in May 1980, but was reduced to provisional status a couple of years later. The group published a regular newsletter through most of the 1970's and 1980's.
| Past Coordinators: |
| Richard C. Fisher (c) |
01/70 -07/80 |
| Toshitake Suzuki (nr) |
01/71 -06/72 |
| Yutaka Kajiwara (nr) |
07/72 -09/74 |
| Masaji Oda (nr) |
10/74 -12/75 |
| Hisaichi Ohnabe (nr) |
01/77 -07/80 |
| Hisaichi Ohnabe (c) |
08/81 -07/82 |
| Hiroshi Nakagawa (nr) |
08/80 -07/81 |
| Michael Lloret (nr) |
07/81 -04/83 |
| Reiko Muta (Lloret)(c)(nr) |
08/82 -07/87 |
| Hiroko Seda |
07/87 -06/91 |
Recognition was withdrawn in mid-1992, following its failure to file reports and otherwise comply
with Mensa International's requirements for continued recognition. As of March 1996, Japan was again listed, as an "Emerging Mensa," but was not shown as a separate group in MIL statistics for August 1997.
| Manny Sultan |
03/96 -11/96 |
| Jukka Vitanen |
12/96 -02/97 |
| Hiroki Seda |
04/97 -10/97 |
| Mark Polansky |
11/97 -03/98 |
| Jose Beltran-Escavy |
03/98 -01/99 |
| Nick Miller |
01/99 -05/00 |
| Kay Hammond |
05/00 ~ |
(Above) *Statistics up until 10/97 were transcribed from The Mensa Book of Lists, compiled by Victor
Bonzagni, American Mensa Historian, and the International Archivist.
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