Michel Caza, one of the ‘founding fathers’ of FESPA, passed away on 23 May 2026 at the age of 90. In 1961, Michel Caza was one of eight founding members of FESPA and remained a member of the FESPA Board until his retirement in 2014, serving as FESPA President from 1996 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2002.
FESPA President Daniel Sunderland expressed his condolences: “Michel was a tireless innovator who was passionate about the craft and creativity of screen printing. He firmly believed in the power of driving the printing industry forward by encouraging printers to generously share their knowledge and ideas with one another. His unwavering 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 our events over seven decades. More than 60 years later, these principles still form the foundation of FESPA, as our slogan illustrates: Connect. Inspire. Support. The global FESPA ‘family’ will never forget his contribution.”
Michel Caza first came into contact with the world of screen printing in the mid-1950s whilst working a student job in Stockholm. He was the owner of a printing company, the author of specialist and art books, and received more than 350 prestigious industry awards over the course of his career. When the advent of digital inkjet processes at the turn of the millennium was perceived by the screen printing industry as an existential threat, Caza recognised that the technologies were complementary and championed investment in digital printing, which was reflected in the launch of the ‘FESPA Digital’ event in 2006. His technical expertise and determination to overcome production challenges are well known in the screen printing industry and are credited to him, alongside many other innovations.
