The First Local Periodicals and The Dissemination of Literacy in Eritrea (1891-1919)

The last half of the 19th century saw the arrival of the press in many African countries. In Eritrea, the Catholic Mission and the Evangeliska Fosterlands Stiftelsen, also known as the Swedish Evangelical Mission (SEM), were at the forefront of the print revolution. In 1863, Bishop Lorenzo Biancheri brought the first printing press with Amharic types to Massawa, while the Swedish Evangelical Mission in Ǝmkullu printed its first book in 1885. This paper presents the first periodicals published in Eritrea, and then focuses in particular on two of them: Mäl’əkti Sälam [Peace Message, 1909-1915] and Nay Həzbə Itiopya Unätäyna Fätawi [The True Friend of the Ethiopian People, 1916-1919]. Published by the Swedish Mission and Catholic Mission respectively, these are the first two periodicals in Tigrinya language. The complete series of these two very rare periodicals has only recently been recovered and digitized, and are used for the first time in this paper. After the analysis of the history of the two periodicals, the paper will consider the cultural and political context that led to the appearance of the two magazines and discuss their historical relevance.