Garber Igor Vilievich, (b. 29 October 1944, Baku) – engineer. Son of Viliy Borisovich Garber (b. 1921, Odessa) and Sicilia Borisovna Garber (née Barmak, b. 1926, Odessa).
Until 1951 Igor Garber lived in Odessa, then, moved to Kaunas, and in 1957 relocated to Riga.
In 1961, he graduated from Riga Secondary School No. 17. From 1961 to 1963, he studied at the Moscow Correspondence Polytechnic Institute of Printing. In 1961–1962, he worked as a typesetter in the road department of Transzheldorizdat in Riga. In 1962–1963, he worked as a technician at the Riga Electromechanical Construction Plant. In 1963, he was employed as a labourer with the LatElectroStroy trust.
In the 1960s, Igor Garber completed five years of study at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute of Communications. From 1966 to 1967, he worked as an engineer at a classified facility in Riga (P.O. Box 93). From 1967 to 1970, he served as an engineer at the Leninets plant in Leningrad. Between 1971 and 1972, he was head of auxiliary production at the Leninsky Luch state farm in Leningrad Oblast, and from 1972 to 1974, he headed a workshop at the Romanovka state farm in the same region.
In 1976, Igor Garber was convicted under Article 93, Part 15 of the RSFSR Criminal Code and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He served his sentence in Jēkabpils and was released early in 1986. From 1985 to 1986, he worked as a concrete worker, assembler, fitter, and stoker at the Jēkabpils PМК (Construction and Installation Department). Between 1986 and 1987, he worked as a glass painter at the Gulbene kolkhoz, and in 1987–1988 as a display artist at the Rīgas Apavi production association.
He married Tamara Garber (née Kucherova, b. 1945, Leningrad – d. 1973, Leningrad). Their daughter, Karina Levina (née Garber, b. 1969, Leningrad), received permission to emigrate to Israel in 1987. Garber’s second marriage, to Diana Garber (née Rubinstein, b. 1946, Dnipropetrovsk), was dissolved in 1978. She later lived and worked in the United States. In the 1980s, Garber was in a de facto relationship with Svetlana Chelushkina (b. 1959, Lviv).
In 1988, Igor Garber received permission to emigrate to Israel at the invitation of his maternal aunt, Galina Zaltsman (née Barmak, b. 1946, Israel).
Family:
Tamara Garber (née Kucherova, 1945–1973) – first wife
Karina Levina (née Garber, b. 1969, Leningrad) – daughter
Diana Garber (née Rubinstein, b. 1946, Dnipropetrovsk) – second wife
Svetlana Chelushkina (b. 1959, Lviv) – partner in civil union
Viliy Borisovich Garber (b. 1921, Odessa) – father
Sicilia Borisovna Garber (née Barmak, b. 1926, Odessa) – mother
Galina Zaltsman (née Barmak, b. 1946, Israel) – maternal aunt