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The museum which exclusively gathered archaeological finds from all periods in the Polish lands as well as comparative materials from Europe, was founded in Warszawa at the beginning of the 20th c. by Erazm Majewski (1858-1922), an industrialist, a representative of Warszawa positivism, an intellectualist with manifold interests, an editor and a writer. Apart from his assistants and co-operators, also young researchers with interest in archaeology gathered around E. Majewski and later on they became his disciples. Marian Himner, Stefan Krukowski, Leon Kozłowski and Ludwik Sawicki commenced their field and desk-based scholarly work under his supervision, making use of his knowledge, contacts, library, funds and an opportunity to publish their works. An especially favourable role in the history ofthis Museum was played by the wife of its founder - Lucyna Majewska nee Bieńkowska (1871-1953). E. Majewski is to be counted among the group of prominent Polish museum experts. He perfectly organised and furnished his own museum. He set up and kept the inventory book; he considered an inventory record as a register, without which a find would lose is scholarly value. He undertook three attempts at preparing and publishing a guide to the exhibition of his Museum. he set up collections of scholarly reference books which accompanied the museum collection. These books had their own catalogues, a stamp and an exlibris, which was also used to mark museum finds. E. Majewski organised a conservation laboratory of archaeological finds, where he made use of the then known ways to secure finds which were discovered in the ground, as well as recipes for agents which were necessary to glue and conserve them. he gathered an abun-dant photographic archive; he saw photographs as source material which documented conservation and reconstruc¬tion processes and research works. In 1899 he started to publish the “Światowit” journal, which was from the very beginning closely related to the collections and was the organ of the Erazm Majewski Museum (Muzeum Erazma Majewskiego - MEM). “Światowit” published reports from the activities and development of the Museum, registers of finds and views of museum interiors. E. Majewski’s fascination with archaeology and collecting of archaeological finds commenced in the early 1890s. In a short time he gathered a large collection of finds. It was from the very beginning that E. Majewski pro¬ceeded with them as a true museum professional: he inventoried, conserved and stored them in a way which matched standards of those days. Furthermore, he made them available not only to scholars, but also to the wider public. Initially, the collection was gathered and exhibited in the home of its owner at ul. Złota 61. Since 1905 E. Majewski started strenuous attempts at acquiring a separate premise. It became extremely inconvenient to hold the collection in his private home, bearing in mind that it counted more than 16,000 finds and was still growing. A consent to house the exhibition was given by Juliusz Herman, the President of the Society for the Encourage¬ment of Fine Arts (Towarzystwo Zachęty Sztuk Pięknych). On 27 September 1908 the MEM was ceremonially opened in the edifice of the Society at Plac Małachowskiego 3 (now ul. Królewska 17). At that time the edifice was called the Palace of Art and now - Zachęta. The exhibition was keenly visited and assessed in a very positive manner, especially in the archaeological milieu. The still growing collection exceeded the number of30,000 finds. Efforts to acquire a larger museum premise resulted in a consent to use 6 halls in the building of the National Museum at ul. Podwale 15 and in March 1916 E. Majewski decided to move there the exhibition from the Palace of Art. As it turned out later, it was an ill-considered decision. Although the museum was organised with great expenditures and in a very careful manner, it was never opened for visitors. E. Majewski made a mistake as he transferred the collections and invested in furnishing of the interiors without a fixed legal relation with the National Museum, a signed venue agreement and an approved budget. In April 1920 the halls in the edifice of the National Museum which were occupied by the MEM were given at the disposal of the Army Museum. E. Majewski received an immediate enforcement requisition writ to vacate them. Practically, it meant an eviction of the collections. He desperately searched for assistance and support from the supreme authorities of the state and in the scholarly milieu. He made appeals to military authorities and carried out a press campaign. All these activities prevented the eviction, but did not cause a withdrawal ofthe decision to leave the building at ul. Podwale 15. E. Majewski made unsuccessful attempts at trans¬ferring the collections under the care of the Government, later on to the emerging Museum of the State Group of Conservators of Prehistoric Monuments, and then as a donation to the Catholic University of Lublin. Eventually, the collection was taken over by the Warsaw Scientific Society (Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie - TNW) and its Board gave post-Orthodox church halls at the disposal ofthe MEM. These halls, located in the third floor of the Staszic Palace at ul. Nowy Świat 72, required a general overhaul. The act of donation was signed on 3 June 1921. Since then, the MEM was called the Erazm Majewski Prehistoric Museum of the Warsaw Scientific Society (Muzeum Przedhistoryczne im. Erazma Majewskiego Towarzystwa Naukowego Warszawskiego - MPEM). The lack of appropriate funds caused shifts in the date of completion of adaptation of the halls. E. Majewski did not live to see the opening of the exhibition at the Staszic Palace - he died on 14 November 1922. The Museum’s direction was taken by Włodzimierz Antoniewicz. The more than 10 years long overhaul came to an end and on 25 November 1932 Ignacy Mościcki the then President of the Republic of Poland ceremonially opened the Museum. During the Nazi occupation the collections of the MPEM were transported to a storage room in the National Museum, where the collections of the State Archaeological Museum were also kept. This way both collections were joint and since then the MPEM ceased to exist as an independent institution. This fact was sanctioned on 21 December 1948, during a meeting with participation of Ludwik Sawicki, the then Director of the State Archaeological Museum, Kazimierz Michałowski, the Curator of the Department of Ancient Art in the National Museum and Wacław Sierpiński, the President of the Warsaw Scientific Society.