Book presentation: (Im)perfect Memories: How I Forgave My Mother

Ann Altman was born in 1947 and raised in Bristol, England. She is the second child of Jewish refugees who fled the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939. While her parents survived, all four of her grandparents perished in the Holocaust.

After completing her undergraduate studies at Cambridge, Ann earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 1974. She married chemist Sidney Altman, who co-received the 1989 Nobel Prize for discovering the catalytic properties of RNA. While raising two children, Ann continued her research at Yale, identifying a novel reaction in melanin biosynthesis while working on melanoma cells. Hitting the academic "glass ceiling," she pivoted to found an editorial firm, authoring four books for Japanese scientists and translating major historical works on Easter Island from French.

In 1999, Ann was elected to the Hamden Town Council in Connecticut, later becoming the first female chair of the town's Planning and Zoning Commission. Her public service expanded internationally to Mongolia, where she delivered country-wide lectures on civic engagement in democratic processes. Among her honors is a presidential medal from Mongolia for helping repatriate a stolen Tyrannosaurus bataar fossil.

In retirement, Ann has dedicated herself to researching her Moravian roots and plays an active role in establishing Mehrin—the Moravian Jewish Museum in Brno, Czech Republic.

Entry: 60 CZK

Organizer: ŽMP