Mariupol Local Lore Museum

The history of the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore is very reminiscent of the history of its city, which was reflected in the museum exposition, fund collection, scientific and educational work. This history was filled with many bright creative moments, and sometimes, like now, sad and tragic ones.

 

Created in the turbulent revolutionary year of 1920, over its more than a century-old history, the Mariupol Museum of Local Lore has seen the burning enthusiasm of revolutionary transformations, being one of the active city centers of scientific and educational work, the spread of the ideological domination of the Soviet system, working, among other things, as one of the cogs of a large propaganda mechanism. The museum survived the occupation during World War II, preserving the vast majority of its exhibits. The museum building remained intact, which was a rarity for a city whose vast majority of buildings were burned by Hitler's troops during the retreat. But the pre-war staff of the institution was almost entirely lost for various reasons.

 

The museum grew and changed along with the city, creating new branches, collecting new exhibits and continuing its scientific work. Over the years of its activity, it changed its name and administrative affiliation several times - it was a county, district, regional, and municipal museum. At the same time, the museum was always not only a place where authentic objects are stored, but also tried to be a center for studying the region.

 

Its employees conducted and participated in archaeological excavations, natural and ethnographic research, and studied the climate of the region. The great merit of the museum employees, and above all I.P. Kovalenko, V.V. Rudevich and V.L. Golitsynsky, in the development of the environmental movement. Thanks to their initiative and perseverance, in 1926-1927 the first reserves in the region were founded: Khomutovsky Steppe, Kam'ani Mohyly, Belosarayskaya Spit. These territories became living open-air laboratories for studying the nature of the Nadazovye.

 

Museum workers studied the past and present of the city, opening new pages of Mariupol's chronicle, created exhibitions and expositions, gave lectures, and conducted numerous excursions and thematic events. In the first half of the 20th century, a taxidermy workshop and a meteorological station operated at the museum.

 

The 1950s and 1960s were both years of gains and losses for the Mariupol Museum. At that time, a significant number of museum items were transferred to the funds of the Donetsk Regional Museum. At the same time, the museum collection was replenished with original works by prominent artists, in particular A.I. Kuindzhi. And colleagues from the Odessa Historical Museum shared rarities significant for the Nadaz region: a portrait of Metropolitan Ignatius and Cossack weapons.