An exhibition of documents from early 20th-century Iran is underway at the National Library of Iran in Tehran.
On display at the National Archives building of the library is a body of documents and images collected by Lambert Molitor (1875-1959), a Qajar-era Belgian counselor in the administration of customs and postal service.
The event was planned after the National Library’s deputy, Gholamreza Amirkhani, travelled to Belgium and met Mark Molitor, a grandson of Lambert, according to the website of the library.
During his years in Iran, Lambert gathered a unique collection of pictures and documents. He had also served as the superintendent of the customs houses in the cities of Kermanshah, Bushehr, Zahedan and Zabol.
Titled “Iran at the Beginning of the 20th Century,” the exhibition unveiled documents pertaining to the country and ranging from 1902 to 1928. It is “an opportunity to reacquire an understanding of Iran’s history within a period starting before the Constitutional Movement [1905-11, leading to the establishment of parliament in Iran] and ending in the early years of First Pahlavi Period [1925-41, reign of Reza Khan Pahlavi],” Ashraf Boroujerdi, the head of the National Library and Archives of Iran, said in the opening ceremony of the exhibit last week.
“These documents and pictures give an account of a special chapter of Iran’s contemporary history. And representation of history is among the missions of the National Library,” she said.
“On public show here are what belonged to a man who played a key role in improving and modernizing the post and customs services in Iran.”
Boroujerdi thanked Molitor’s family for letting the documents be displayed in Iran.
Speaking at the same ceremony, Amrikhani said, “Historical documents indicate virtue and honesty among Belgian experts and specialists. Belgium is among the countries with no background of colonialism while Iran has no fond memory of foreign interference.”
Belgian Officials in Iran
From 1898 until the eve of World War II, Belgium lent to Persia a relatively large number of officials whose task was to organize or reorganize various administrative departments.
The initial task of Belgian officials was to reorganize the customs service of Iran on the modern European administrative pattern, including elimination of tax farming, revision of tariffs to reflect the economic interests of the country and the gradual abolition of internal taxes and tolls that hampered commerce.
Other duties included the training of qualified Persian personnel, keeping rigorous accounts and rooting out the usual fraudulent and corrupt practices that infested the civil service at the time, Iranicaonline.org. Besides the customs service, the Iranian government also asked the Belgians to reorganize the postal service, the treasury, the cadastral survey, the supply services (especially during the first years of World War I) and, after the epidemics of plague and cholera in 1904, 1905 and 1908, the sanitation services.
The exhibition of “Iran at the Beginning of the 20th Century” admits visitors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and runs through June 18.
The National Library and Archives of Iran is located on Haqqani Highway, near Haqqani subway station.
The documentation system of the national archives is 48 years old, and now holds over 3 million files. Last May, Boroujerdi, said, “There are documents in other countries that surely are of significance to Iran. We need to make arrangements to make them accessible.”
