The National Museum of the History of Ukraine traces its origins back to 1899, when the people of Kyiv raised funds themselves to build the city’s first public museum at 6 Hrushevskoho Street — the famous “museum with lions.” The building was designed by renowned Kyiv architect Vladislav Gorodetsky.
The museum’s first director was Mykola Biliashivsky, who transformed it from a municipal institution into a truly national museum. The collection was assembled through collective effort: the Tereshchenko family financed archaeological expeditions, while Bohdan Khanenko and Varvara Khanenko donated their personal collection of 3,145 objects — more than half the total value of all exhibits at the time.
During the Soviet era, the museum endured nationalization, eviction from its original building, and the tragic fate of many of its founders. Biliashivsky was removed from his post, while department head Danylo Shcherbakivsky, driven to despair by Bolshevik repression, took his own life in 1927.
During the World War II, the museum’s most valuable artifacts were evacuated to Ufa, though a significant part of the collection was taken to Germany and has never been returned.
In May 1944, the museum moved to its current building at 2 Volodymyrska Street — a former art school distinguished by its classical façade and Byzantine-inspired architectural details. After Ukraine regained independence in 1991, the institution received national status.
Today, its collections contain more than 800,000 artifacts — from Scythian gold to relics of the Ukrainian liberation movement. The name “MIST,” adopted during the museum’s rebranding in 2020, perfectly captures its essence: a place where the past meets the future.