FESPA ‘founding father’ dies aged 90

One of FESPA’s ‘founding fathers’, Michel Caza has died aged 90.

The organisation announced the former board member had passed on May 23, exactly one day after the closing of this year’s event in Barcelona.

FESPA’s president, Daniel Sunderland, said: “Michel was an irrepressible innovator, passionate about the craft and creativity of screen printing.

“He believed wholeheartedly in the power to advance print by encouraging printers to share their knowledge and ideas generously with one another.”

In 1961, Mr Caza was one of eight founding board members of the FESPA federation, established with the objectives of ‘sharing of knowledge of screen printing, the establishment of close co-operation between screen printers and suppliers and promotion of screen-printing in Europe’.

He remained a Board Member of FESPA until his retirement from the role in 2014, and he occupied the position of FESPA President from 1996 to 1999 and 2000 to 2002.

Through FESPA, Mr Caza proudly witnessed the development of an active global community of speciality printers which now spans nearly 40 countries.

Mr Sunderland continued: “His unshakeable belief in the power of community, collaboration and education was one of the guiding principles on which FESPA was founded, and he played a fundamental role in the growth of our organisation and events over seven decades.

“Those principles are still the foundations of FESPA more than 60 years on, as expressed in our strapline – Connect. Inspire. Support. The global FESPA ‘family’ will never forget his contribution.”