Apkar Tebir

Apkar Tebir, also known as Abgar Dpir Tokhatesti, was the second known Armenian printer and the first to establish an Armenian press in the Ottoman capital.

He led a delegation sent by Coadjutor Catholicos Mikael I Sebastatsi (1567 – 1576) to Rome in 1564 whose purpose was to secure permission from Pope Pius IV (1555 – 1565) to set up a printing press for the publication of religious books. The mission was successful and Apkar opend a printing press in Venice in 1565. He obtained financial support of a few wealthy merchants from New Julfa, and printed a broadsheet calendar entitled Kharnapntiur tomari (Confusion of the calendar) and a Saghmosaran (Psalter). After these publications he transferred his press to Constantinople in 1567 for commercial reasons as this city had a large Armenian community. In two years he was active in Constantinople, Apkar printed half a dozen religious books. His work had an important cultural effect on Armenians in reviving Armenia’s social heritage through the medium of the printed page.