Grigor Artzruny Library. Library :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Grigor Artzruny Library. Library

Iran / Western Atrpatakan / Salmast / Ghalasar

Historical Introduction

In 1898 “attempts were made for opening libraries in the villages of Payajouk, Ghalasar and Mahlam. Some unions were founded for this purpose, but the local young men were not able to properly devote themselves to this work as they always had to go to foreign countries to earn their living.”

Ararat, no. 9 (1898), p. 404.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

Anyway, apparently, a library had already opened in Ghalasar by the end of 1898, as it was mentioned as receiving its first gifts (such as the Mshak paper, for instance) at that time.
In 1899 the library of Ghalasar started functioning regularly thanks to Samson Tadevossian’s efforts: “G. [Grigor] Artzruny Library of Ghalasar is the richest in Salmast although it was founded only in April 1899, on the initiative of the young men of the village.”
The library was named after the founding editor of the renowned Mshak paper, Grigor Artzruny.

Mshak, no. 3, 9 January 1899, p. 3.
Frangian, p. 171.
Ա., Նամակ Պարսկաստանից [A., “A Letter from Persia”], «Մշակ» [Mshak], no. 25, 10 February 1899, p. 3.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

According to a letter of 30 April 1899, Hasrat Hasratian and Tadevos Zakarian called on the Armenians to provide books and make other donations for the library which “aims at disseminating love of books and written speech in a remote and backward corner of Persia as it is so important for anyone who cares for his nation.”

Mshak, no. 101, 5 June 1899, p. 3.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

In 1899 the library acquired more than 300 books.
On 6 December of the same year, the Library Administration expressed its deep gratitude to the donors, and particularly, to Bishop Khoren Stepane, Tzotsikian, Berberian, Hovsep Mirzoyan and Doctor Simon Shahnazarian, who “sent us a copy of each of their works or those by others, wishing to enrich our modest library in the difficult period of its establishment in this isolated, backward and miserable corner of Persia.”
Three years later, in 1902, “Ghalasar’s Library-Reading Hall was already the main gathering place for the [local] young men.”

Man. Armen, “A Letter from Persia,” Armenia, no. 61, 10 March 1900, p. 2.
Mshak, no. 241, 24 December 1899, p. 2.
Hanguyts, “Samson’s Memoirs,” Hayrenik, no. 7, May 1924, p. 139.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

In 1903 the village had a regularly working library which received the newspaper Mshak as a gift in the same year.
During this period, Grigor Artzruny Library “is considered the richest in Salmast and even in Atrpatakan, not to count only Tabriz. At present it has... about 1,000 types of books or 1,200 pieces—quite a large, even a very large number for a small village like Ghalasar.”

Karo, “The Libraries in Salmast District,” p. 2.
Mshak, no. 66, 27 March 1903, p. 3.
Frangian, “A Letter from Persia,” Mshak, no. 177, 16 August 1903, p. 3.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

In 1905 the library belonged to the mixed-sex school of Ghalasar and had a collection of over 1,300 books.
A record of 1906 stated the following regarding the role of Grigor Artzruny Library in the social and public life of the village: “Many of the inhabitants of Ghalasar, that centre of bourgeois landowners, used to receive newspapers before the establishment of the local Library-Reading Hall, which was named after Artzruny to make it more attractive and remarkable. Now everyone reads the papers received by the library, but of course, the disdained poor inhabitants will not dare to sit in the reading hall and read anything in the presence of Kirakos Agha or Mr. Markos, although they do have the right of attending the library.”

Materials for the History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party, vol. 4, p. 267.
Frangian, p. 171. Also see Atayan, p. 38.
Aso, “From the Western Shores of Kaputan,” Yeritasard Hayastan, no. 6, 1 August 1906, p. 45.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

Thanks to the activities of the educational establishments (the mixed-sex school, library and theatrical hall) in Ghalasar, in 1905 about half of the local inhabitants were literate, putting it far ahead of the other villages in Salmast as far as the literacy rate was concerned.

Աթայեան Ա., Սալմաստ [A. Atayan, Salmast] (New Jugha, 1906), p. 38.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

In 1908 the rich library of Ghalasar also served as an assembly place for the teachers (its walls were decorated with maps and large-size photos of Armenian writers).

A. A., “With the Eagles,” Alik, no. 180, 13 August 1950, p. 2.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 140.

In 1915 Grigor Artzruny Library was entirely destroyed, but in the 1920s, parallel with the reopening of the local school, it was restored and started receiving various publications and periodicals.
In June 1917 the renovated Library-Reading Hall had a collection of about 500 books and received a number of periodicals such as the Ayg, Ararat, Arev, Horizon and Nor Serund (all in Armenian). However, regretful as it is, “the villagers do not attend the library. Generally speaking, it works for the younger generation, although unfortunately, it has very few books for children. We hope such works will be acquired [in the future].”

Shavan, “Our Life,” p. 3.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 141.

In 1937 Karapet Ter-Abrahamian’s widow donated a one-year edition of the Alik paper to the community of Ghalasar in memory of her husband and daughter.
Grigor Artzruny Library, which kept enriching its collection and fully carrying out its mission until World War I, was unsurpassed throughout Salmast. Thanks to its fruitful activities, its great importance was still highlighted even about three decades after it had stopped working.

Alik, no. 390, 5 October 1937, p. 3; no. 392, 10 October 1937, p. 3.
Ստեփանեան Մ., Մեր Սամսոնը [M. Stepanian, “Our Samson”], «Ալիք» [Alik], no. 71, 8 April 1945, p. 2.
Karapetian. Samvel, History of Armenia, Salmast, vol. 2, Yerevan, 2019, p. 141.