Mans Lejuene, former Finat general secretary, passes away

Mike Fairley reports on the sad loss to the label industry of Mans Lejeune 

It is with great sadness that Labels & Labeling reports that Mans Lejeune, the secretary general of Finat from 1969-1997, passed away on Saturday February 12. 

Well known to label converters and industry suppliers throughout Europe and many other areas of the world, Mans Lejeune first signed a contract between Finat and Lejeune Association Management (then known as Bureau Le Jeune) in 1969. At that time, Finat had just 30 members and a modest budget. Taking the association to The Hague, Mans brought members together for committee meetings, seminars and study tours, as well as an annual congress, launched the Label Awards and rapidly grew membership to over the 200 mark just a few years later. Today, membership is over 500 in 54 countries. Quite an achievement, much of that due to the energy, persuasion and passion that Mans put into his 32 years as secretary general. 

In 1978, Finat also endorsed the launch of Labels & Labelling magazine, so beginning over 30 years of liaison and co-operation between the two bodies. Then in 1991, Finat, under the guidance of Mans, became the sponsor of the Labelexpo shows in Brussels, as well as the fledgling Labelexpo Asia shows in Singapore (now in China). This funding enabled Finat over the years to carry out various projects which otherwise might have had to wait. 

By the time that Mans retired in 2000 more than 20 national and international associations had chosen Lejeune Association Management (LAM) as their headquarters. In that same year the responsibility for running Finat was succeeded to his son Jules, who also took over as managing director of LAM. 

There can be little doubt that the worldwide label industry is richer for what Mans Lejeune achieved over his years as secretary general of Finat and that he will be sadly missed by all those that knew him during that time as a friend, colleague and associate. Labels & Labeling and Labelexpo extend their deepest sympathy at this time to Jules Lejeune and to all the Lejeune family.

Pictured: a young Mans Lejeune (left) with Andre Strauss, Finat president 1958-1971, at an association meeting in 1970