Antonio Damirón (1794–1875) was a French-Venezuelan printer. Damirón was born in
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and established a printing business in
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, where he lived the rest of his life.
He is considered to be one of the leading printers in Venezuela in the 19th century, and is attributed with creating the first color prints in Venezuela.
Career
Damirón moved with his family from
Saint Thomas to
Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
in 1827, where he quickly received a letter of security to reside in Venezuela.
In 1830, he acquired from Colonel Francisco Avendaño a
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
workshop located in the port of
La Guaira
La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan Vargas (state), state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port, founded in 1577 as an outlet for nearby Caracas.
The city hosts its own professional baseball team i ...
where he began printing colored decks or cards on wooden planks.
These were considered as the first colored prints made in Venezuela.
By 1831 he acted as representative in charge of the G.F. Devisme printing press, which was selected to print the ''Gaceta de Venezuela''. In 1832 he moved his lithograph printshop to Caracas where he continued to print colored cards which were sold domestically as merchandise imported from Spain.
He also published the newspaper ''El Nacional'' (1833–1841),
and other Venezuelan newspapers, including ''El Censor'', (1836-?)
Worldcat
/ref> ''Un Militar Retirado'' (1833), and ''El Republicano'' (1834–1835).
Retirement
In 1843 he sold his business to the German publisher Muller and Stapler, and retired to his estates in Miranda.
References
1794 births
1875 deaths
French emigrants
People from Gran Colombia
Venezuelan businesspeople
French publishers (people)
{{France-business-bio-stub