IN TRIBUTE TO JUAN PALAU FRANCAS – A MAN OF HONOUR

Juan Palau Francas, a member of the IWAS Executive Board, departed the mortal world on the 26th April at the age of 81 years.  He had been seriously ill for several months and quickly deteriorated in recent days.  May he now rest in peace.

IWAS Executive Board, and we are sure others within the Family of Nations and Sports, want to make tribute to a man of integrity and a life dedicated to the support of others.  We therefore ask you to join us in celebrating the part of his life he shared with the IWAS Family and the Paralympic Movement.

Juan Palau began his involvement with sport for persons with a disability in Spain in 1958 through his support for young children suffering from poliomyelitis.  Inspired by the philosophy of Sir Ludwig Guttmann and the International Stoke Mandeville sports movement and alongside the then Spanish National Delegate for Sport, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Spanish Sports Federation for Persons with a Disability was founded in 1968.

In 1971, Juan Palau became the Vice President of the Spanish Sports Federation for Persons with a Disability, becoming President in 1988; a position he then held until his death, being re-elected as recently as July 2010.

With the creation of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (SPC) in 1995, Juan Palau became a member of the Executive Board of the SPC from the beginning until 2001 when he was elected as one of the two Vice Presidents of SPC; a position he also held until his death.

At International level, he also gained the admiration, respect and support of other nations for his commitment and activity in the wider field of the International Organisations of Sport for Disabled (IOSDs), when he worked with Guillermo Cabezas, then President of ISOD, one of the 4 different IOSDs (CP-ISRA, IBSA, ISMGF and ISOD), the founding members of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games were a triumphant accolade to the strength of Spain in the Paralympic movement, made achievable by men and women from that country with philosophies similar to that of Juan Palau.  Juan Palau took over from Guillermo Cabezas as President of ISOD in the mid-1990s.

In 2004, Juan Palau was instrumental in bringing together the two organisations of ISOD and ISMWSF (previously ISMGF), a long held desire of the two different Federations to create an amalgamated body, which is known today as the International Wheelchair & Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), serving the interests of wheelchair and amputee sports and the athletes that participate in them.  He therefore became at that time the new IWAS President General alongside President Executive Paul DePace in this new venture.

Since 2004, Juan Palau continued to contribute and play an active part in the Board of IWAS, sharing friendship, dedication and commitment.  He was a man of passion, strong in his beliefs, but with a humility that engendered loyalty and friendship in return.  Part of his strength was to seek out and embrace the goals and values of IWAS and give his utmost to work with others in establishing their continuing realisation.

It is through his own merit that he was awarded both the Olympic and Paralympic Order, one of very few people in the movement to have achieved this.

We will miss him, but we have been privileged to share our time and experiences with this wonderful and good person, especially the fun and happy times of sharing laughter and positive emotions.  What a great person to have had in the IWAS Family.

Our heartfelt thoughts and support are with his family in Spain at this sad time.