Fotografijos istorijos šaltiniai Lietuvos valstybės istorijos archyvo fonduose

ENThe Lithuanian State Historical Archives holds one of the oldest parts of the funds of the Lithuanian State Archives. The holdings are dated from the 15lh century to 1918. Most of the old photographs of the 19th century and early 20lh century are held in the funds of Count Mikhail Muravyov Museum (No. 439) and Vilnius Society of the Friends of Science (No. 1135). The setting up of the Muravyov Museum was started in 1898 at Vilnius Public Library. It contained not only materials about the repression of the uprising of 1863 (1863-1865) but also documents related to the political public movement in Lithuania and Belarus in the 19,h century and early 20lh century. Of special significance are collections of photographs that linked the events described in the documents with the participants of these particular events. The elaborate albums meant for exhibiting at the museum contained photographs of the Tsarist officials, members of their families (170 photographs) as well as pictures of the participants of the uprising and members of their families (288 photographs). These were mostly portraits dating to the latter half of the 19th century. Nearly all of them contained inscribed records. In early 20,h century Vilnius Society of the Friends of Science, founded in 1907 and active until 1941, stood out among the various scientific societies in Vilnius. Its section of the history of art studied the architectural styles of Vilnius of various epochs and individual architectural and artistic monuments, collected and published archival historical sources of which photography was among the most important. The Society’s holdings contained over 3000 photographs. The subject matter of the photographs ranged extremely widely from the Lithuanian and Belarusian cities and towns, estates and farmsteads of the turn of the century, to pictures of the exterior and the interior of churches, synagogues, chapels, images of Vilnius vaults, etc.