Hagopdjan de Deritchan

Hagopdjan de Deritchan (in French sources; Acoljean de Richtan; b. ?, New Julfa – d. 25 August 1726, Marseille) born as Hakobjan Arhitchanents, was the first Safavid consul in Marseille, from 1715 until his death. He replaced the ambassador Mohammad Reza Beg (in French sources; Méhémet Riza Beg) as the principal Safavid diplomat in France during the reign of king Sultan Husayn.

Hagopdjan is a form derived from the name Hagop, commonly used at that time among Armenians from Persia. Regarding the preposition "di", which indicates affiliation, he adopted it from Italian, as was done frequently among Armenian merchants of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The French struggled to write his name, and therefore called him Acoljean of Ritchan, Agop Jean or Agobian. On a document stored at the Chamber of Commerce of Marseilles, his signature is kept: Hagopdjan di Deritchan, which means Hagopdjan son of Deritchan. The name of his father, Deritchan, is rare.

In 1714, the then incumbent king (shah) of Safavid Iran, Sultan Husayn, decided to send to Louis XIV an embassy for the purpose of signing a diplomatic and trade treaty between the two nations. He chose to represent Mohammad Reza Beg, mayor of Yerevan as the new Safavid ambassador to France, and to lead the mission. The journey of the ambassador to France would prove to be difficult, because he had to cross territory of the neighboring Ottoman Empire - Safavid Iran's arch rival, which was therefore hostile territory. The mayor of Yerevan chose Hagopdjan, of Armenian origin, who was the richest merchant of the city, to accompany as well as to protect him.

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