The underappreciated figure of the 18th century: Simeon I, Patriarch of Yerevan

The Ottoman Empire conquered Eastern Armenia in 1724-1731. The Persian Shah Nadir managed to push them back, and the situation of the Armenians improved. After his death, the situation worsened again. Armenia was attacked by Dagestan tribes in the 1750s. Part of the Armenian population was forced to leave their native settlements. Catholicos Simeon of Yerevan organized a census of Armenian households (families living under one roof) and estates in all settlements, then expelled the foreign element and returned the Armenian population to about ten villages. He also took the greatest step of modernization in his time: he founded a printing house in Holy Etchmiadzin, thanks to which Armenian knowledge could be widely disseminated.

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