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.

Source: Financial Tribune