History and background

On May 15th of 1959 and after several preparatory meetings, the Association was founded. The first headquarter was established in a space yielded by the Argentine Tanner Industry Camera. Some of their founder associates took the positions of the first board of directors. Doctors Ernesto Mezei and Carlos Durlach became president and vice-president, respectively. In the seventh meeting, the board informed the acceptance of the association into the I.U.L.T.C.S. (International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies), within the framework of the Congress of Munich.

From the beginning and according to the established goals, the activities were led to the same direction we follow today: promotion of knowledge by means of our own publication, storing of technical bibliography in order to create a library, offering qualification and the creation of a propitious area to promote the comradeship among the technicians. Our magazine was published for the first time in June of 1960 and was sent to our partners and also to universities, academies and libraries.

For the first two years the institution consolidated and the number of partners increased. Moreover, the amount of activities also increased, such as the training courses, which had a very numerous attendance. At the same time, we established contact with foreign associations and promoted the participation in International Congresses.

In 1966, the Association organized in Argentina the first Latin American Congress of the Leather Industry Chemists and Technicians, which meant a stimulus for the creation of other associations in Iberoamerica. Since then, several countries have organized these meetings. In addition, Argentina was host of the Latin American Congresses of 1970, 1978 and 1992. Another important event was the organization of the I.U.L.T.C.S. Congress in Buenos Aires in 1981. Moreover, two "national technicians meetings" were organized in 1984 and 1994.

The institutional relationships were kept from the beginning, not only with the foreign organizations but also with those related to the national tannery: the Enterprise Cameras and the Leather Technology Research Center (C.I.T.E.C.), whose professionals have collaborated continuously.

Thanks to the contribution of friendly companies, in 1976 the association bought its present office. Counting on our own building to carry out the daily activities was a very important step, especially because of the availability of a great room with capacity for a significant number of contenders and a reading room in a library that has increased its patrimony until today.

Since the foundation and in spite of the complex ups and downs of history, the association that represents the Argentine technicians keeps strong in its institutional intentions: promoting knowledge and research, as well as organizing technical and social activities that result in benefit of their members. It's worth mentioning that at this moment, the association is honoured to preside the Latin American Federation of Chemists and Technicians of the Leather Industry (F.L.A.QT.I.C.) for the organization of the 2004 Latin American Congress that will take place in our country.