Neter, Mia (Minka) (née Thalmann)

Mia (Minka) Neter (née Thalmann) was born in 1893 in Tauber-Bischoffsheim, Germany and died in 1975 in Tel Aviv. She was one of four children of Emilie and Gumpert Thalmann, who was a teacher. Following her studies, she served as the head of a Jewish kindergarten and day care institution in Mannheim between 1912 and 1915. She then worked for the Mannheim municipality as a social worker for juveniles between 1915 and 1926. She was active in the Zionist movement and founded the agricultural training centers in Birkenau and Leutershausen. After completing a course in social work at the Fröbel-Seminary in Mannheim, she directed the Jugend und Wohlfahrtsamt, or Youth and Welfare Office, of the Jewish community in Mannheim from 1926 through 1939 and published pieces in the local Jewish community bulletin. Mia married Richard Neter, in 1927, who was born in 1881 in Gernsbach, Germany and owned a metal factory. He died in 1953 in Israel. In 1939, she and her husband immigrated to Palestine. Between 1939 and 1947, she worked as a social worker and supervisor of family social work in Tel Aviv, where she implemented new social work methods. Between 1947 and 1965, she was a top supervisor department of welfare in Tel Aviv. Between 1958 and 1969, she founded and voluntarily directed the Matav home care service, an organization for welfare services for the elderly. Mia retired in 1965. In 1966, she won the "Kaplan" governmental award for contribution in the welfare sector.