Publish Date: 22.09.2021
Category: News from the University
This year the Natural History Museum of Slovenia is celebrating its bicentenary. The 200th anniversary was marked by an event at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana, at which the University of Ljubljana and University of Maribor were presented with the Natural History Museum’s Zois Awards. The awards were presented to the two universities by the Natural History Museum Director Breda Činč Juhant.
“The University of Ljubljana and University of Maribor were among the first academic institutions to lend public support for the normalisation of Slovenia’s museum work. In addition to the public support and years of collaboration, both universities are actively involved in the actual operation of the museum, with representatives in the expert council,” notes the citation for the award.
At the celebrations a short documentary film directed by Matej Vranič was screened, and this presented the activities of the Natural History Museum of Slovenia and exhibits which for the most part are stored in a repository so as not to be damaged. Among the main exhibits is the skeleton of a mammoth, found in 1938 near Kamnik. It is on display for visitors in the form of a precisely constructed replica.
The Natural History Museum was first established as the Carniolan Provincial Museum on 15 October 1821. The founding collections of the first museum in Slovenia were the Zois Minerals Collection and the Mollusc Shell Collection of Count Franc Hohenwart. After the First World War the Carniolan Provincial Museum was renamed the National Museum of Ljubljana, which by decree of the regional administration of Ljubljana in May 1944 was split into two independent institutions: The Cultural and Historical Museum of Ljubljana and the Natural History Museum of Ljubljana.
From left to right: Director of the Natural History Museum Breda Činč Juhant, Rector of the University of Maribor Prof. Dr. Zdravko Kačič, Vice Rector of the University of Ljubljana Prof. Dr. Tanja Dmitrović
Photo by: Natural History Museum