#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

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Events Archive

International Scientific Conference “Polish-Moldovan relations to the centenary of the regaining of independence by Poland”

22 October 2018

The National Museum of History of Moldova hosted on Monday, October 22, 2018, starting at 10:00, the international scientific conference „Polish-Moldovan relations to the centenary of the regaining of independence by Poland".

The conference was organised at the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Moldova, in collaboration with the National Museum of History of Moldova, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova.

The purpose of the conference was to analyze the content of Polish-Moldovan relations in their multilateral dimension. The reason for reflection is the 100th anniversary of the regaining of independence by Poland. The celebrated anniversary allows us to reflect on the influence exerted and to be exercised by the existence of the independent and modern Polish statehood on the Polish-Moldovan relations, on their ampitude, sphere and dynamics. It is also worth noting the role played by Poland and Poles in the political, social, cultural and economic transformations that take place in the lands of the former Principality of Moldova. The presence of Polish culture and language as well as the Polish-Moldovan collaboration in regional or continental aspect (Eastern Partnership, European integration, creation of international security structures) are also of great importance.

More than 50 scholars and researchers from different scientific institutions from Moldova, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Israel participated in the scientific event (National Museum of History of Moldova, State University of Moldova, State Pedagogical University of Moldova, Institute of Cultural Heritage, Institute of History, University of Warsaw, „Adam Mickiewicz" University of Poznań, Jagiellon University, University of Silesia, University of Bucharest, Catholic University of Lublin, Polish Institute of International Affairs, National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad, "Maria Curie-Skłodowskia" University and representatives of the Polish community in Moldova (Polish organizations: Liga Polskich Kobiet, Polska Wiosna w Moldawii, Krakowianka etc.), journalists, politologists, writers, students, and so on.

The event was moderated by Dr. Hab. Prof. Eugen Sava, Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova. Wlcoming messages are expected from E.S. Bartłomiej Zdaniuk, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Moldova; Monica Babuc, Minister of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova; Acad. Gheorghe Duca, President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova; Anton Coşa, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Chişinău.

In the plenary session were presented 4 reports: Lilia Zabolotnaia (National Museum of History of Moldova, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova) - The Poles in Moldova; Svetlana Cebotari, Violeta Cotilevici (State University of Moldova, Department of International Relations, Political and Administrative Sciences, Chair of International Relations) - The Moldovan-Polish Relations in the Context of the New Geopolitical Metamorphoses; Kamil Całus (Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia w Warszawie) - Republika Mołdawii w polityce zagranicznej Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej / Bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Republic Poland: political and economic dimensions; Igor Caşu (State University of Moldova) - Poles as victims of the Communist Terror in MASSR and MSSR, 1924-40, 1940-41.

The conference continued in four sections: Section 1 - Archeology. Middle Age and Modern History; Section 2 - Art. Culture. Church. Personalities; Section 3 - Modern History; Section 4 - Contemporary History. Political Section.

The reports included studies on the history of the Poles in Moldova and the Moldovan-Polish secular relations (political, economic, cultural, military, dynastic), important personalities of Polish origin, activity of the Polish public organizations in Moldova, spiritual life, etc. The issue of contemporary Moldovan-Polish relations was addressed in particular in a geopolitical and international context.

As part of the conference there was opened the exhibition „Polish-Moldovan relations to the centenary of the regaining of independence by Poland". The opening took place in the hall of the National Library between 11.00 and 12.00.