---
title: "Barbara Latto - IVU - International Vegetarian Union"
description: "Barbara Latto: Barbara Latto IVU Executive Committee 1963-67 Exracts from an obituary of Gordon Latto, d.1998: His wife Barbara (German), whom he first met at one of the Order of the Cross Summer schools in 1930 was then interested in Nature Cure which he studied and this strengthened his views on"
url: "https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4280:members-council-barbara-latto&catid=208"
date: "2026-11-06T00:04:55+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  Barbara Latto

Dr. Barbara Latto
 IVU Executive Committee 1963-67

**Exracts from an obituary of Gordon Latto, d.1998:**

> His wife Barbara (German), whom he first met at one of the Order of the Cross Summer schools in 1930 was then interested in Nature Cure which he studied and this strengthened his views on vegetarianism. After their marriage (1938) they toured Germany, where they learned about the Kneipp Hydrotherapy at Munich and visited several other Nature Cure Clinics.
>
> His wife Barbara had a lively correspondence with Dr. Bircher-Benner, convinced rawfood supporter and founder of the famous 'Bircher Clinic' in Zurich. After the Second World War the Lattos became good friends with Bircher-Benner and his children and were the only contemporary exponents of the natural medicine tradition practised in Switzerland and Germany.
>
> Both Lattos were instrumental in the founding of the South-on-Sea Vegetarian Society which was a lively, active Society and as he believed it served a very real purpose. Soon after the war the Lattos left and went to Hastings for a short time and subsequently came to Reading where they founded the Reading Vegetarian and Wholefood Society which served a very real purpose too.
>
> He has five children four sons and one daughter. Three sons also qualified in medicine, his daughter became an osteopath. He has 12 grandchildren.

**![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc60/latto.jpg)16th World Vegetarian Congress 1960**,  **Hannover and Hamburg, Germany**

> Thanks were accorded and a presentation was made to Dr Barbara Latto for brilliant translating of speeches during the Congress.
>
> *photo right: Dr Barbara Latto talks to Dr V.L.Ferrandiz after having been presented with a boquet of flowers in appreciation of her work translating speeches.*

**17th World Vegetarian Congress 1963, Barcelona, Spain**

> A las 16.30 horas Mr. Geo. Hiller, Presidente de la Union Vegetariana Alemana, spoke on *Vegetarismo En Alemana* and was translated by Mrs. Barbara Latto, Frau Dr. Schmidt, and Mr. Santiago Ferrandiz
>
>  Dr. Gordon Latto and Dr. Barbara Latto gave excellent lectures on *Dicta y Alimentos Especiales* and *Los Niños y la Alimentacion*;
>
> . . . At a subsequent Committee Meeting Mrs Isabel James and Mrs Barbara Latto were co-opted to act as Hostesses arid assist in organizing the next Congress to be held in England.
>
> **[CHILDREN AND VEGETARIANISM](https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4021:congress-wvc63-children&catid=186) - DR. BARBARA LATTO** (*full text*)

**30-31 October - 1 November 1964, Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, MEETING OF THE IVU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE**

> speakers \[for 1965 congress\] . . . Dr Barbara Latto, . . .

**18th World Vegetarian Congress 1965**,  **Swanwick, England**

> for the record we give the following programme: . . . *Recent Advances in Nature Cure and Vegetarianism in Europe* by Dr. Barbara Latto Great Britain); . . .
>
> After discussion at a series of meetings the following members have agreed to apply for constitution as a Science Council: . . . , Dr. Barbara Latto, . . .
>
> *\[IVU\]* COMMITTEE : - . . . Dr. Barbara Latto to act with Mrs. James to assist the Congress.

**19th World Vegetarian Congress 1967**,  **Delhi/Bombay/Madras, India**

> The refusal of Air India to fly passengers from England without prior vaccination prevented many delegates from attending, including Dr. Gordon Latto, Dr. Barbara Latto,

**From *The British Vegetarian*, Sep/Oct 1967:**

> VEGETARIAN NUTRITIONAL RESEARCH CENTRE - Nearly 200 members and supporters of the Research Centre attended the Seventh Annual General Meeting at the home of Doctors Barbara and Gordon Latto in Derby Road, Caversham, on Sunday, 18th June, 1967; . . . Drs. Barbara and Gordon Latto, . . . , were re-elected to the Committee. . . . . The Research Centre is deeply grateful to Drs. Barbara and Gordon Latto for allowing full use of their lovely home and garden.

**22nd World Vegetarian Congress 1973**,  **Ronneby Brunn, Sweden**

> *from the list of congress attendees* - Mrs Barbara Latto
>  . . . speakers included Julius . . . Dr. Barbara Latto (UK),
>
> ***![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc73/take-off.jpg)**
>  photo: Against a backdrop of a BEA Trident III, part of the large British delegation headed for Sweden - (left to right) Dr.Barbara Latto, Member of the SCIVU panel (the Scientific Council of IVU); . . .*

**23rd IVU World Vegetarian Congress 1975**,  **Orono, Maine, USA**

![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc75/photos/lecturer12t.jpg)
 above right: Dr. Barbara Latto (England) and Dr. Elisabeth Begoihn (Germany).

*from Julia Twigg's thesis, 1981*

> 'The Natural Therapist holds a central position, for his approach to health and disease is basic, and what he practises is not fringe medicine. He must however avoid dogmatism and fanaticism. No school of medicine can claim to be all sufficient. While it is correct to trust the self-healing power of nature, it is not correct to trust this power absolutely. If a patient fails to respond to natural treatment, or if his condition is such that no response to natural treatment can be expected, then the resources of scientific modern medicine must be made available." Quoted by Dr Barbara Latto in New Vegetarian, July 1977, p25, in her favourable review of G.K. Ledermann's Good Health Through Natural Therapy also recommended by Nina Hosali. Barbara Latto is a nature-Cure therapist and wife of [Dr Gordon Latto](https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html?view=article&id=4310:members-council-gordon-latto&catid=208), President of the Vegetarian Society \[and of IVU in 1981\].

**![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc79/dinner.jpg)25th World Vegetarian Congress 1979**,  **Loughborough, England**

> Owing to an unfortunate car accident, the translators were unable to reach Loughborough for the first few days, and although Dr. Barbara Latto kindly volunteered to tackle the German/English translations, the incident highlights the difficulties we have in communicating with people from other nationalities.
>
> *photo right: The celebration dinner at the Commodore. Left to right: Barbara Latto, The Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Gordon Latto (President VSUK & IVU), the Lady Mayoress.*

**26th World Vegetarian Congress 1982**,  **Neu-Ulm, West Germany**

**![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc82/trans.jpg)**
 *Barbara Latto translating into German for John le Grice*

**27th World Vegetarian Congress 1984**,  **Baltimore, USA**

> The Congress ended officially on Wednesday evening 8th August when farewell speeches were made by the President Dr Gordon Latto, Dr Barbara Latto and . . .

**[![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc86/Image2t.jpg)](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc86/Image2.jpg)28th IVU World Vegetarian Congress 1986**,  **Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia**

*photo right: Barbara Latto & Milan Maglaic click on picture for bigger photo*

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly.

Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value.

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