History of the Museum of local lore

The Tyumen regional museum of local lore, history and economy, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest in Siberia. A prominent researcher and professor, a member of the Russian Geographical Society, Ivan Yakovlevich Slovtsov (1844-1907) was at the cradle of the museum. A couple of private collections of Siberian ancient items laid the foundation for the museum exposition. One of them had been gathered by I. Slovtsov, the other was given by the well-known Tyumen merchant and Maecenas Nikolai Chukmaldin. Initially, the Museum was located in the building of the Alexandrovski vocational college, of which Slovtsov was Director at that time. Since 1922 it is located in the building of the former municipal administration office. Since 1920 till 1930 Pavel Rossomakhin, an archeologist, artist and public figure, was Director of the museum..

During the World War II the building of the museum was turned into a hospital. In the following decades the museum became an important cultural center of varied activities, i.e. exhibitions, researches, enlightenment, and collecting.

The year 1980 witnessed a new mark in the history of the museum. At this period some historical buildings in the center of Tyumen were turned into museum’s subsidiaries. In 1989 an annual research conference ‘ Slovtsov’s reading’ was launched, attracting leading ethnographers, museum experts, and historians from many parts of Siberia. In 2002 the conference was given the all-Russian status. In 1990 publishing activities of the museum were initiated, focused upon ‘Annual report of the museum’, materials of conferences, illustrated albums, and exhibition catalogues. It 1994 the museum was named after its founder I. Slovtsov. In 1996 construction of new premises was started up, since the project was specially designed for the museum and had to meet all the up-to-date requirements. At present the major exposition is located in the building of the city Duma. Apart from it there are some subsidiaries: the Museum of the History of House, the House of Masharov, the Geological and Oil& Gas museum, and the Archeological entailed museum on the bank of the Andreevskoye lake.