Establishment of the Tyumen Provincial Museum

The history of the Tyumen Provincial Museum dates back to 1879, when the leading scientist, local historian I. Ya. Slovtsov opened the museum in the Alexandrovskoye Real School. Soon after establishing, the museum turned into a scientific and educational institution and hold interesting collections: archaeological, botanic, paleontological, ethnographic. A wide circle of the local intelligentsia, merchants, and leading public figures promoted the museum’s development. Merchant and philanthropist N. M. Chukmaldin contributed a lot to the creation of the museum's collection. He donated Slovtsov's and his own collections as well as the big library for the city. By end of the XIX century, the collections of the Tyumen Museum were compared with the greatest European museum collections.Now, it remains one of the largest regional museums.

In 1917-1919, the museum was closed. On July 16, 1920, it was decided to create a provincial museum in Tyumen. L. R. Schulz was appointed its director. Until 1922, collections were showcased in the building of the former Commercial School. In 1922, the exhibits moved to the building of the former City Council. Since 1923, the institution was entitled the Tyumen Local Lore Museum, since 1926 - the Tyumen District Local Lore Museum. In 1926, P. I. Rossomakhin, a student of I. Ya. Slovtsov, became the head of the museum. A large role in collecting of new exhibits in 1930-1940 played historical and ethnographic expeditions, mainly in Tyumen Region. At that time, the collection included a lot of new acquisitions, directions of scientific activity were elaborated, and active exhibition and propaganda work was conducted. In 1940, the Tyumen District Local Lore Museum received a collection from the Hermitage (200 items).

The museum building housed a military hospital during the Great Patriotic War. Several museum exhibits from precious metals were sent to the National Defence Fund. The remains of the museum's collection were moved to a warehouse and located in various places of the city. July 15, 1943, the museum was reopened to visitors - the "The Great Patriotic War" exposition was created.

In May 1945, the museum turned into the Tyumen Regional Local Lore Museum. In the post-war period, there was formed a new museum structure of 3 departments: Nature, Pre-revolutionary History of the Region, Soviet History. Archaeological, combined historical and ethnographic expeditions, as well as scientific tours, were the main sources of new acquisitions in the 1950s.

In 1960–1965, the Museum issued yearbooks. The publication featured articles about the local history written by scientific workers from the Tyumen Regional Local Lore Museum, universities, archives, museums of Tyumen Region, as well as teachers and lecturers. The managing editor was P. I. Roshchevsky. In the 1980s, there were created museum's branches, new expositions, developed directions of scientific activity and curator's work, scientific research. Since 1989, the Tyumen Museum has been holding annual scientific and practical conferences, entitled the "Slovtsov's Readings". Since 1995, the Museum has been issuing the yearbook again, as well as catalogues of collections, and methodological recommendations. In 1993, the museum became a member of the International Council of Museums.

At the beginning of the XXI century, the collections of the Tyumen Regional Local Lore Museum include more than 200 thousand items. The most interesting collections are: paleontological (skeletons of a mammoth, bison, woolly rhinoceros and bones (up to 50 pieces) of megaloceros); archaeological - unique objects from the ornamented birch bark of the middle of 1st century AD (archaeological excavations of S. G. Parkhimovich of 1983–1984 in Oktyabrsky district of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug), about 350 burial complexes of the late VIII – early X centuries (iron tools, weapons, funeral utensils, bronze and silver jewellery, figurines of water birds, bears, hares in a zoomorphic style, found by V. I. Semenova in 1982–1986 in the Ust-Balyk burial ground in Nefteyugansk district of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug); ethnographic - traditional everyday objects of Tatars and Russians of the XVI-XVII centuries. The book collection includes rare manuscript and early printed book - the Triodion, published in Krakow by S. Fiol around 1493, which is the first printed book in Slavic language. The museum complex is the exclusive owner of this book in the Urals and Siberia. There are a lot of unique publications, for example, the Bible by Francisk Skorina (Prague, 1519), books with bookplates from the library of N. M. Chukmaldin, as well as the archive of M. S. Znamensky - the Siberian public figure and artist.

In May 2008, the museum was reorganized. Two state museums - the Tyumen Regional Fine Arts Museum and the I. Ya. Slovtsov Tyumen Regional Local Lore Museum formed the State Institution of Culture of Tyumen Region "Museum Complex". In May 2009, the "Museum Complex" received the name of I. Ya. Slovtsov. The association of two cultural institutions developed two key directions: local history and art. In June 2010, by order of the governor of Tyumen Region, the State Autonomous Institution of Culture of Tyumen Region "I. Ya. Slovtsov Museum Complex" was created. The museum complex integrates several museums. Each of them is a unique centre for the preservation of regional historical and cultural heritage.

In 2016, the Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, I. Ya. Slovtsov Museum Complex and the Yalutorovsk Museum Complex were merged into the State Autonomous Institution of Culture of Tyumen Region "Tyumen Museum and Educational Association".

In 2017, the Museum Complex opened a new modern building. A total area of the exhibition halls of the new building is ​​6 thousand square meters. It houses the best exhibits from collections of Russian and Western European paintings of the XVII – early XX centuries. Besides, there are depositaries, restoration workshops, administrative premises. It is a popular venue for events of regional, national and international levels.

Now, Tyumen Museum and Educational Association includes four structural divisions: I. Ya. Slovtsov Museum Complex, Historical Park "Russia is My History", Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, Yalutorovsk Museum Complex.

The collections of Tyumen Museum and Educational Association includes about 841 thousand items, 556 thousand of which are in the main collection, and the rest - in the scientific and reserve collections. There are paintings, graphic works and sculptures, objects of applied art and ethnography, numismatics and archaeology items, rare books, weapons, documents, photographs and negatives, natural-scientific, mineralogical and polytechnic objects, printed materials.

Lit.: Аксюта В. Н. Тюменский областной краеведческий музей имени И. Я. Словцова // Большая Тюменская энциклопедия. Т. 3. Р — Я / редактор Г. Ф. Шафранов-Куцев. Тюмень, 2004 (с. 277); История Тюменского музейного-просветительского объединения // Тюменское музейно-просветительское объединение. [Электронный ресурс]. Раздел сайта «Об учреждении». Режим доступа: http://museum-72.ru/o-muzeynom-komplekse/#history; Карпухин В. И. У истоков Тюменского музея // Сибирский исторический журнал. 2002. № 1 (с. 119–125); Тишкина Т. В. Создание И. Я. Словцовым учебного музея при реальном училище в Тюмени // Словцовские чтения — 2000: тезисы докладов и сообщений научно-практической конференции / Тюменский областной краеведческий музей, Тюменский государственный университет.Тюмень, 2000 (с. 84–86); Тюменский областной краеведческий музей // Календарь знаменательных и памятных дат Тюменской области на 1999 год / Тюменская областная научная библиотека. Тюмень, 1998 (с. 45–47); 95 лет назад (1920) в Тюмени создан губернский музей на основе коллекций И. Я. Словцова // Тюменская областная научная библиотека имени Д. И. Менделеева. [Электронный ресурс]. Раздел сайта «Мероприятия и события». 16 июля 2015 г. Режим доступа: http://www.tonb.ru/activities_and_events/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=25825&SECTION_ID=323#start.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Каталог музея при Тюменском Александровском реальном училище. Тюмень, 1905

Чукмалдин Н. М. Тюменский музей // Записки о моей жизни / ред. С. Ф. Шарапов. М., 1902 (с. 134–140)