Dr. Frank (Franz) Spaeth was born on October 4, 1863, in Vienna, Austria.

He was an Austrian entomologist and author. For nearly half a century, he specialized almost exclusively on the cassids, building up his fine private collection by purchasing material from other collections/collectors and maintaining voucher specimens which he kept after identifying them for other museums and institutions. The collection was housed in Spaeth’s apartment in Vienna, Austria, in 80 large cabinet drawers. During World War II, it was condensed into 40 drawers and was kept safe in the basement of the Natural History Museum in Vienna. Spaeth’s collection survived the war, but the first copy of a new manuscript on the Cassidinae beetles was destroyed by bombing in Vienna. In 1898, Dr. Spaeth published the first of his many papers dealing with cassidine taxonomy. By 1943, the date of his last publication, one hundred and twenty papers, many large and consisting of several parts, had appeared. In 1950, Dr. Spaeth’s Cassidinae Collection (23,094 specimens of 2,211 species), manuscripts, cassid literature, card-index, notes, and unfinished works was acquired and moved to the Manchester Museum, England. His Chrysomedinae-Cassidinae collection is among the finest collections of tortoise-beetles. The new genus Spaethaspis was named in honour of Dr. Spaeth.

He died on July 29, 1946, in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Kenneth Anthony (Tony) Sowden was Professor Emeritus, Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Toronto and former Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sunnybrook Medical Centre, Toronto. Previously, he was Professor, Clinical Medicine, and Professor, School of Physical and Occupational Medicine, McGill University and Physiatrist in Charge and Director of Rehabilitation, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal. He died on January 16, 2010 at the age of 89. From The Guelph Mercury Jan. 21, 2011

Al Souza was born in 1944 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

He is an American artist, painter, and educator. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (B.Sc. in Civil Engineering, 1967; M.F.A. in painting, 1972) and Art Students League, New York (1967-1970). After graduation, he taught at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1973-1979) and Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts (1974-1977). His other teaching jobs included the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas (1979-80); Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island (1980-1981); Clark University, Worchester, Massachusetts (1982-1987); East Texas State University, Commerce, Texas (1987-1988); University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (1987); San Diego State University, San Diego, California (1988-1992); University of California at San Diego, California (1991); and University of Houston, Houston, Texas (1992-2013.) Souza has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. His work is part of numerous collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, El Paso Museum of Art, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Tyler Museum of Art, University of Houston, Houston Airport System, City of Houston, New Orleans Museum of Art, Mississippi Museum of Art, Montgomery Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Parrish Art Museum, DeCordova Museum, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and the University of Massachusetts. Souza was awarded an International Association of Art Critics/USA Award in 2007 for Best Show in a Commercial Gallery Nationally, 1st Place, for the exhibition David Ireland, Jess Collins, and Al Souza at Moody Gallery (December 3, 2005 - January 14, 2006). He is the recipient of numerous other grants, awards, and residencies.