Armenian Journalism Since 15 12
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By Karlen Mooradian The Press and the Sword: Armenian Journalism Since 1512 Among the first to use the press Persians, Alexander and Caesar, the to fight for nationalism, these Byzantines and Arabians, Genghis freedom-loving pioneers founded Khan and Tamerlane, and the Turks and Tsars. They founded printing and printing in the Near East; journalism in the Near East, influenced influenced Soviet journalism; Soviet journalism, and quite possibly and despite war, genocide, and were the first to use the printing press persecution, operated an effective as a purely nationalistic vehicle. international communications net Though the Armenoid Sumerians in 3500 B.C. invented writing, the earliest across five continents. school, and the cylinder seal which might rank as the initial form of print- *The Armenians have set up in the ing, the Armenians adopted these 1500 world's four quarters perhaps more years later at a time when other journals per capita than any other Armenoid relatives (Subarians, Ela- people. Their press network numbers mites, Minoans, Kassites, Hurrians, in the thousands and extends from the Mitanni, Urartians, Hittites, Phrygians, Far East to North and South America Lycians, Lydians, Etruscans) had either and from Europe and the Near East to begun writing or were about to. Dis- Africa and Oceania. It has been operat- tinct stages of Armenian proto- ing for 459 years. journalism led to the dawn of the Mysterious Armenia-land of the Armenian printing age. Tigris and Euphrates, Mount Ararat The Beverugir, or cuneiform record- and Lakes Van, Seven and Urmia, the ing era (2000-6OO B.C.) , systematized biblical Eden-is the only country recording and education and created an which helped create both Near Eastern alliance between scribes and empire. civilization and the U.S.S.R. The The Hinagir, or old alphabet recording Armenians were international pioneers era (600 B.C.-A.D. 396) perpetuated of journalism wirh a strong desire for the alliance, heightened nationalism, freedom: they fought 2,000 wars, one and saw the emergence of the Armenian for every two years of their domestic- Apostolic Church, earliest in Christen- ally recorded history, and outlasted 30 dom. The Noragir, or new alphabet empires including those of the recording era (396-15 12), witnessed Pharaohs, Babylonians, Assyrians, advanced literacy and an alliance be- tween recording and church. Karlen Mooradian is associate professor of journalism at the University of Oklahoma. He The Armenians entered the press era has taught at American University and Ball in 1512 when they founded the first State University. This article derives from his printing press of any Near Eastern doctoral dissertation at Northwestern Univer- nationality and introduced presses to sity in 1963 and a recent visit to Armenia. The dissertation is entitled, Artneninn Jour- the Ottoman Empire in 1567, Persia in nnlisin: A History and liiterpretotioti. 1639, Asia Minor in 1676, and Armenia 746 Downloaded from jmq.sagepub.com at UNIV OF OKLAHOMA LIBRARIES on January 20, 2016 Armenian Journalism 747 and the Caucasus in 1771. In 1794 the 16th Century Presses Armenians founded the first newspaper ~~~i~~ this period the Gautahd of any Near Eastern people. established six printing presses in Italy About a century later in lgo2 they and the Ottoman Empire. Venice, Rome became the Near Easterners and Constantinople had been ancient enter communism by Bolshe- Gautahai centers especially since early vik journalism in the Caucasus through Christian times when Armenian dy- such revolutionaries as Stepan Shau- nasties (~~~~~li~~,~~~~~i~~,M~~~- mian, Sum SPandarian, Kame der donian) ruled the Byzantine Empire Bedrossian and Anastas Mikoyan* for centuries, and Armenian soldiers, Stalin, a fellow Caucasian, himself artisans and traders settled the Empire a disciple of Shaumian and Spandarian, in great numbers. and the Caucasian mountaineering background they shared ruled Com- The father of Armenian printing and thereby the father of Near Eastern munism for decades. Since the late 18th century, Armen- printing was the Gautahai merchant of ian journalism has been mainly revolu- Venice Hakop Meghabardian who tionary. It survived the genocide policy printed, 1512-1513, five Armenian of the Turks who massacred almost books illustrated in black and red: the entire nation in World War I. In Barzadumar (Calendar), 118 pages; Badarak (Mass Ritual), 88 pages; 1920 East Armenia became Soviet; Urpatagirk (Friday Book), 108 pages; West Armenia, now largely populated Aghtark (Astrology Horoscope), Turkified and Kurdified 384 by pages; and Yerkngjrk (Song Book), remains under Turkish and Iranian rule. 160 pages.’ The deacon Abgar Tokatian Gautahai Presses also printed in Venice, 1564-1565,two Those remaining in Armenia are more Armenian Church books.* called Haik (Armenian) and form the An engraver named Hotorian became majority of the world’s seven million father of Ottoman or Turkish printing Armenians, but there is a tradition of when he set up an Armenian press in migration as forced exiles, missionaries 1567 in Constantinople, 56 years before and adventurers. These latter are termed the Greeks. But the Turks, fearing an Gautahai, literally Outside Armenians, Armenian revival, soon shut it down or colonists. They have played a key for its emphasis on freed~m.~Italy’s role in journalism since, with the fall greater hospitality encouraged HOV- of the Crusading Kingdom of Lesser hanes Derzenian to set up Armenian Armenia on the Mediterranean in 1375, presses in 1584 in Venice and Rome.4 the country’s independence ceased However the daring Tokatian, who had until 1918. Often living in lands freer set up the 1564 Venice press, moved to than their tragic homeland the Gautahai Constantinople where he established were able to keep Armenia abreast of another Armenian press in 1587.5 foreign developments long after the Because most Armenian books was no longer the hub printed on these six Gautahai presses of world civilization. were religious, their underlying theme remained patriotism: the Armenian Garegin Levonian, Haii~ofzBarperagerl Marnula (Yerevan, Armenia: HSKhH Lusavorudyan Apostolic Church was a national insti- Zhoghovurdagan Gomisaryat, 1934), p. xvii, col. 1. tution geared toward preserving Armen- 2 Ibid, p. xvii, col. 2. 3 H. Kurdian, “A History of Armenian Printing,” ian consciousness. Armenian Revfew (Boston: Summer 1955)__ D. 115.. col. 1. * G. W. Abgarian, The Matenadman (Yerevan, 17th Century Presses Armenia: Armenian State Publishing House, 1962), ~1~~ Gautdai during this era estab- p. 28. ’Levonian, op. cif, p. xvii, col. 2. lished 17 presses in Poland, Italy, Downloaded from jmq.sagepub.com at UNIV OF OKLAHOMA LIBRARIES on January 20, 2016 748 JOURNALISM QUARTERLY France, Persia, Holland, the Ottoman presses were born in the Austrian Empire and Germany. capital in 1774 and two years later in The first Armenian presses in Poland Trieste, then under Austria.14 When were set up in Lvov in 1616 and 1640 Lord Byron in 1816 decided to learn for the nearly half-million Gautahai the Armenian language, then considered living in the region as forced exiles by fundamentalists to have been the from the great Armenian medieval tongue of Adam, he studied under the capital Ani, destroyed by the Turks in Mekhitarians on their Venetian island.15 the 11th century. Jesuit suppression of Today the artistic qualities of the the Apostolic Church created further Mekhitarian presses are among the migrations to western Europe and the finest in Venice and Vienna. They are need for more presses.6 Italy, the oldest also the third largest of the Armenian center of Armenian printing, witnessed religious presses of the world, ranking new presses in Rome in 1623, Milan in after the Armenian Apostolic Throne 1624, Leghorn in 1640 and 1643, and of Ejmiadzin in Armenia and the Padua in 1690.7 In France the Gautahai Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of established presses in Paris in 1633 and Jerusalem.lG 1653 and Marseilles in 1640 and 1673.8 England's first Armenian press was More Armenian presses saw light in established in London in 1736 as a Amsterdam, Holland, in 1655 and Gautahai conduit but proved insignifi- 1660,9 and in Leipzig, Germany in cant since the Teutonic countries 1680.10 Books dealt with Armenian seldom attracted the people of Ararat.17 patriotic history, Apostolic theology, However in 1772 wealthy Hakop Armenian-Latin dictionaries, rhetoric Shahamirian founded an Armenian and freedom from Turkish oppression press in British-ruled Madras, India, for Armenia. where Gautahai had lived since the 8th But Gautahai pioneering proved century. Shahamirian, who blamed most significant in the Near East. The much of Armenia's historic woes on its first press in the history of Persia (Iran) selfish monarchies, published works was established in 1639 in the Armen- calling for creation of a democratic ian language by the priest Khatcha- Armenian republic centered first in durian in Nor Jougha (New Julfa) , the East Armenia, then gradually emanci- city founded near Ispahan by forced pating West Armenia from Turkish rule Armenian exiles. Khatchadurian there- "because there is nothing sweeter by became the father of Persian or among the sayings of men than the Iranian printing.ll Further west in word freedom."ls A second Armenian Smyrna (Izmir) , Ottoman Empire, press was set up in the Indian city in Armenians set up in 1676 the first press in Asia Minor or Anatolia,12 and in 6 Ibid. 1677 another Armenian press was born 7 Zbid. 8 0. Schutz, "Nicholas Misztotfalusi Kis and the in Con~tantinople.1~ Armenian Book Printing," Nor Ashkhar (New York: Sept. 17, 1960). p. 4, col. 2. I8th Century Presses 9Vahan Kurkjian, A History of Armenia (New York: Vantage, 1958), p. 454. The 13 Gautahai printing presses of 'OLevonian, op. cit, p. xvii, col. 2. this period were set up in Italy, Eng- 11 Kurdian, op. cit. p. 115, col.