French Federation of Speleology French Federation of Speleology The French Federation of Speleology (, FFS), is a French organisation that represents all persons practicing or studying caving and canyoning and promotes the study and conservation of caves. It was formed in 1963 by the amalgamation of two organisations, the (CNS), or National Committee of Speleology, and the (SSF), or Speleological Society of France. Founded by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895, the was the first organisation of its kind in Europe. Between 1895 and 1900 the society published a journal entitled "Spelunca". The society folded in 1914 at the start of World War I. After the
French Federation of Speleology was particularly active, and saw the first Bulletin of the CNS take the name of "Spelunca" (4th series), under the double patronage CNS-SSF. After their respective general assemblies on 25 and 26 November 1961, the (CNS) and the (SSF), decided to create a joint commission covering all of caving and speleology. After a consultation of cavers on 1 June 1963, at the national convention of Millau, the CNS and SSF assembled to form the French Federation of Speleology (FFS). On 3 June 1963, the new board elected the first office of the federation, which was composed of: The FFS then