Exhibit 23.1





The Board of Directors
Horace Mann Educators Corporation:

We consent to incorporation  by reference in the registration  statement on Form
S-8 of Horace Mann Educators  Corporation and subsidiaries  (the Company) of our
report dated February 8, 2001,  relating to the  consolidated  balance sheets of
the Company as of December 31, 2000, 1999 and 1998, and the related consolidated
statements of operations,  changes in shareholders'  equity,  and cash flows for
each of the years in the  three-year  period ended  December  31, 2000,  and all
related financial statement schedules,  which report appears in the December 31,
2000 annual report on Form 10-K of the Company.


                                                  /s/ KPMG LLP




Chicago, Illinois
December 4, 2001