TEHRAN – An exhibition displaying historical documents about Iran’s customs collected by Lambert Molitor, Belgian co-founder of Iran’s customs in the early years of the 20th century, opened at the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) on Sunday.

Molitor (1875-1959) had accumulated the documents when he was in charge of customs offices in several Iranian cities, including Kermanshah and Tehran.

The collection belongs to Marc Molitor, the grandson of Lambert Molitor, NLAI deputy director Gholamreza Amirkhani had earlier said.

The opening ceremony was attended by NLAI director Ashraf Borujerdi, Belgian Ambassador François Delhoye and the Molitor family.

Borujerdi called the exhibit a chance to learn more about the history of Iran during the early years of the 20th century.

“What is of great importance is that wars come to an end with all their miseries imposed on mankind one day and what remains is the culture. These documents narrate a special chapter of Iran’s modern history,” she said.

“This collection belongs to a man who has had an active role in reviving Iran’s customs and it needs to be carefully preserved to pass on to the next generation,” she remarked.

In his brief words, Delhoye also said that Iran and Belgium have long had diplomatic relations over the past 130 years.

Moiltor’s grandson Michel, for his part, said that the collection gives a good description of their grandfather’s service to Iran during the years the world was facing turbulent times. 

The exhibit named “Iran at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century” will run until June 18.

Photo: A woman visits the exhibit “Iran at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century” at the National Library and Archives of Iran in Tehran on April 30, 2018. (Tasnim/Hamed Malekpur)

RM/MMS/YAW