John Hans Stroh
Encyclopedia
John Hans Stroh was an Australian health advocate, businessman and researcher. He had a varied career that ranged from fighter aircraft fatigue testing at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
(CAC), and scientific research at the CSIRO, to running a swimming pool business and a fish canning business. Stroh also had an innovative approach to health, which manifested itself in the formation of a health training organisation (ACNEM).
.
, Austria
. Stroh arrived in Melbourne
, Australia
in January 1939 as a sponsored refugee, having left Vienna with one of his brothers, George Stroh just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
From there, he started a swimming pool construction business (Aqua Pools Pty Ltd) in the early 1960s. This company was responsible for the construction of many of the first in-ground concrete swimming pools in Australia, including pools at large hotels such as the Parkroyal in Royal Parade Parkville, and the Palm Lake Motel in Queens Road.
In the late 1960s, he sold the swimming pool business and embarked upon another venture (Victorian Canning Company Pty Ltd), whose business was canning fish. He built a factory in Arthur Street Fairfield, canning scallops and tuna initially, and eventually specialising in canning abalone
. He earned the name "Mr Abalone", because he was the first person in Australia to actually create a market overseas for Australian abalone. This market still exists today. Stroh was an expert in liaising with both the abalone divers who supplied the company and the Asian and Californian markets that required this product.
The supply chain he created enabled him to sell off most of the canning business by the mid 1970s and purchase a large sheep station, called Tallering Station, near Mullewa, Western Australia. He sold the business to the U.S. company Beatrice Foods
, which was then one of the largest corporations in the USA.
In the late 1970s, he then ventured into the financial markets, concentrating on financial consulting to merchant banks. About this time he also became interested in holistic medicine, particularly concerning the use of nutrition and vitamins to fight disease. During this time he also acted as a consultant to the Australian Wheat Board, where he helped to organise the first Australian wheat exports to India.
.
" was almost unknown in Australia, having been coined by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling
to describe the treatment of disease through optimal nutrition. For the next seventeen years, Stroh pursued his commitment to these ideas as the Honorary Secretary of this organization.
In 1985, the OMAA was renamed the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine(ACNEM).
.
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines.-History:...
(CAC), and scientific research at the CSIRO, to running a swimming pool business and a fish canning business. Stroh also had an innovative approach to health, which manifested itself in the formation of a health training organisation (ACNEM).
.
Early years
Originally Hans Stroh, he was born and educated in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Stroh arrived in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in January 1939 as a sponsored refugee, having left Vienna with one of his brothers, George Stroh just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Name change
Soon after arriving in Australia, on 27 January 1939 he changed his name to John Hans Straw. Then on 25 September 1953 he changed it to John Hans Stroh, due in part to the encouragement of his new wife, Ann Roberts. They were married on 28 September 1953.Life in Australia
Stroh commenced work as an automobile mechanic in Melbourne soon after he arrived in 1939, having trained as a mechanic at the Lancia Factory in Vienna. After having worked for the CAC and the CSIRO, he decided to start his own business importing and exporting steel with his brother Oscar Stroh in New York, USA. He called the company, Straw Brothers (Exports) Pty Ltd.From there, he started a swimming pool construction business (Aqua Pools Pty Ltd) in the early 1960s. This company was responsible for the construction of many of the first in-ground concrete swimming pools in Australia, including pools at large hotels such as the Parkroyal in Royal Parade Parkville, and the Palm Lake Motel in Queens Road.
In the late 1960s, he sold the swimming pool business and embarked upon another venture (Victorian Canning Company Pty Ltd), whose business was canning fish. He built a factory in Arthur Street Fairfield, canning scallops and tuna initially, and eventually specialising in canning abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
. He earned the name "Mr Abalone", because he was the first person in Australia to actually create a market overseas for Australian abalone. This market still exists today. Stroh was an expert in liaising with both the abalone divers who supplied the company and the Asian and Californian markets that required this product.
The supply chain he created enabled him to sell off most of the canning business by the mid 1970s and purchase a large sheep station, called Tallering Station, near Mullewa, Western Australia. He sold the business to the U.S. company Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods
Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company. In 1987, its smaller international food operations were sold to Reginald Lewis, a corporate attorney creating TLC Beatrice International, after which the majority of its domestic brands and assets were acquired by Kohlberg,...
, which was then one of the largest corporations in the USA.
In the late 1970s, he then ventured into the financial markets, concentrating on financial consulting to merchant banks. About this time he also became interested in holistic medicine, particularly concerning the use of nutrition and vitamins to fight disease. During this time he also acted as a consultant to the Australian Wheat Board, where he helped to organise the first Australian wheat exports to India.
.
Nutritional medicine
Prompted by his interest in holistic medicine, in 1979 Stroh founded the Orthomolecular Medical Association of Australia (OMAA) with Dr John Piesse and Mr Hainsworth Cock. At that time the term "orthomolecular medicineOrthomolecular medicine
Orthomolecular medicine is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that seeks to maintain health and prevent or treat diseases by optimizing nutritional intake and/or prescribing supplements...
" was almost unknown in Australia, having been coined by Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
to describe the treatment of disease through optimal nutrition. For the next seventeen years, Stroh pursued his commitment to these ideas as the Honorary Secretary of this organization.
In 1985, the OMAA was renamed the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine(ACNEM).
.