A History of the Museum

In 1920, a group of patriotic intellectuals took the initiative of founding a “Museum of Antiques and Ethnography” in Radauti, period in which they also started collecting the first object.

In 1926 husband and wife Samuil and Eugenia Ionet came to Radauti, bringing with them a great dowry of ethnographic objects and traditional art, which they had collected from the villages around Suceava; this represented the basis of their first exhibition housed in their home, then in the school where Samuil Ionet was principal between 1928 and 1933 (the current School no.4 from Radauti).

In April, 1934 the “Ethnographic Museum of Radauti” was officially opened. The headquarters of the museum was the building of the current Town Hall, and it also included objects donated by the Ionet family.

In 1944, the collection of the museum totalized around 10 000 objects, which were then lost during the war.

1948 was the year of the reopening of the “Ethnographic Museum of Radauti”, event promoted by Samul Ionet and Vasile Fundu (co-worker of the museum starting with 1937).

In 1970 the museum moves into the present location, situated in the centre of the town. The building which houses the museum was built in 1860 and it is declared an architectural monument.

The year 1976 marks the opening of the current exhibition, reorganized on the theme of traditional techniques from the North of Suceava. It contains very valuable exhibits, illustrating the creativity and the masterliness/craftsmanship of the population living in this region.

The exhibit totalizes a surface of aproximately 900 square meters, including 11 rooms, in which 1000 exhibits are presented. 

©  2007 www.muzeulradauti.ro

Colegiul Naţional “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi”