Etchmiadzin Paper Factory

The Etchmiadzin Paper Factory was built in the 1780s by Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan in Etchmiadzin. The factory was operational for approximately 6 years but was shut down after the death of Catholicos Simeon. Before its complete shutdown, the factory was destroyed three times. The destruction took place twice during the invasion of Mamad Khan at the end of 18th century and at the beginning of 19th century, the third took place during a Russo-Persian war. After the final destruction, the factory was never re-built.

History

In August 1770, a publishing house was constructed in Etchmiadzin for the publication of religious literature. The publishing house was in operation for some time but the work soon stopped due to the lack of paper. At that time, the paper was imported from Europe but it wasn’t sufficient to fulfill the needs of the publishing house. Therefore, Simeon Erevantsi decided to construct a paper factory in the area.

Erevantsi went to Constantinople and India to bring expert paper producers to Etchmiadzin to build his factory. However, he constantly failed for three years in bringing the experts to the city. Finally, he was successful in bringing two experts from Paris – Monsieur Beysiaunie and Monsieur Dessiaurie. The construction of the factory began in March, 1775.

The two experts from Paris, along with their translator Stepan, decided to keep the skill of paper products, a secret from the public. For this reason, they purposely delayed the construction work of the factory.

On January 4, 1776, the first paper was produced in the Etchmiadzin Paper Factory. The quality of the paper, however, was very low. Disappointed with the low-quality paper production, Erevantsi declared that the Parisian experts will be punished. After the threat, the Parisians agreed on preparing a new sieve to produce higher quality of paper in the factory.

Simeon Erevantsi had also approached the experts from Persia before approaching the Parisian experts. It was on June 28, 1775 that the experts from Persia arrived at Etchmiadzin and built a new paper factory in a very short span of time. The Persian experts also taught two students – Nigoghayos and Markar, the skill of producing the paper that could have been higher in quality than the paper produced by their Parisian counterparts. By April 16, 1776, the Persia paper experts wound up their work and went back home.

Thus, within a year (1775-1776), two paper factories were built in the city of Etchmiadzin – one by French experts and the other by Persian experts.

The factory built by the French experts was 2240m long and 1008m wide. The dimensions of the Persian factory, however, are unknown. The expenses incurred in the construction of these factories were bourne by Krikor Agha of Tchakig.

The factory built by the Persian experts was later directed by Nigoghayos, who learnt from these experts and also had the idea about how the French experts worked.

Construction Expenses

The cost of constructing and furnishing the two paper factories in Etchmiadzin summed up to approximately 18,000 Ghroush (Turkish currency unit). This approximated cost excludes the cost of payments to the experts and laborers and the cost of food given to them.

The construction work required every day labor from 1235 rock sorters (20-25 para^{[Ն 1]}paid to each), 279 turners (12-15 para each), some smiths (25 para each), 4217 tiller (6 para each), and 318 constructors (15 para each).

Instruments Used In the Factory

The instruments used in the paper factory were made of wood, stone, and different kinds of metals.

The most important wooden instrument was the presser or ‘manguiana’, which was similar to constringents used for oil-pressing in Armenia. It was made up of two or four beams of 12-15 meters. Other instruments used were ‘bourghou’, ‘gakhkar’ etc.

Manguiana was used to press the paper. Mortars were made to mince and chop the paper's composition.

Ponds and boats, which were used to move the liquid paper substance from one place to another, were made of stone. Special water mills were made to mince the substance. Different sizes of plates, faucets, mixers, and other objects were made of copper.

The sieves were used in high-quality paper production.

Some small instruments, which were essential for carrying out different kinds of measurements, were bought by a French expert.

Materials

The main material used for the production of paper was canvas palace. To fetch canvas, Simeon Erevantsi has asked to bring experts from Bayazed, Kars,^[1] Karin,^[2] and also from vartabed Hovsep Arghoutian of Astrakhan.

The experts from Astrakhan were able to collect the palaces from Russian cities and sent them to Etchmiadzin.^[3]

Other than the canvas, cotton, hemp, and linseed stem were also used for paper production. Alkali, torton, borax, alum, and glue were used as auxiliary substances. All these substances were imported from Turkey.

Use of paper

The paper produced in the Etchmiadzin Paper Factory was mostly used locally. Some samples of the paper were also sent to Heraguel king of Georgia, Armenian Church prelates of Constantinople and Russia, and others. The local use of the paper was mainly for the publishing house where some of the prominent writings like "The Solvent" of Simeon Catholicos have been written. The paper produced in the factory was also used for secretaryship.

The paper was coarse and was produced in light hay or gray colors. It wasn’t white and on one side, it bore a watermark by the monogram of "St. Etchmiadzin". Beneath the watermark were the initials of Simeon Catholicos’ name. The next page bore the words "թուին ՌՄԻԷ (1776)” along with the initials of Krikor Mikaelian's (Tchakikian) as he provided for the expenses incurred in the construction of the factory and publishing house. Tchakikian's name was also mentioned on the frontispieces of the published books.

Other attempts for construction

Etchmiadzin's factory operated for 5–6 years until the death of Simeon Catholicos's. Attempts to build a new factory did not succeed. In 1837 bishop Sahag sent editors to the synod of Etchmiadzin, in order to build a factory that produced paper, drawing pencils, and other materials. The bishop's factory construction petition was rejected in the Synod's session of March 1, 1837.

See also

• Simeon I Erevantsi

References

Links

External links