It all began in 1946 when Australian Roland Berrill and Dr. Lancelot Ware from Britain shared the same train. The absurdity of the Second World War had just ended and the need for logic to prevail was imperative at the time.
The two men spent several hours talking. When they reached their destination, they exchanged information and went their own way. This was followed by other meetings during which the two men built their vision. Berrill and Ware envisioned a community of people of high intelligence who, utilizing this special feature, could give back to society in a way that would rule out the possibility of humanity ever having to live again such catastrophic moments. A community of people free of discrimination, where sex, race, origin and social status would be of no importance.
Thus, the idea of an intelligence test was the reason for the creation of MENSA. MENSA brought people of every background and different viewpoints around the same table in order to interact and cooperate, while at the same time Mensa maintained a superior objective, i.e. discovery through research and the promotion of human intelligence as a means of promoting society. However, it was not possible to support this objective until the size of the organization and members’ attitudes allowed it. When this became possible in the 1960’s, there was no turning back.