Paper short abstract:

The presentation analyses the museological activities of the Estonian ethnologist Ferdinand Linnus (1895–1942) in the 1930s and in the beginning of the 1940s. I will focus on the question of his collaboration with Soviet authorities in 1940–1941 in reorganizing Estonian museum network.

Paper long abstract:

My presentation focuses on the museological activities of Ferdinand Linnus (1895–1942), the long-time director of the Estonian National Museum (ENM). I analyse his thoughts on museology in the 1930s independent Estonia and during the Soviet occupation, 1940-1941. I am interested in how his ideas were dependent on the ruling powers and ideologies.

By the 1930s, Linnus had become one of the leaders of Estonian ethnology and the promoter of local museum life. He was familiar with contemporary ethnological and museological approaches in Northern Europe. He spoke about those issues in the press and at public events.

The Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940. Museums had to start working on the right ideological foundation. They faced nationalization and redistribution of collections, the morale of staff was checked. While in most museums the directors were replaced, Linnus stayed put. Even more so, he became one of the leaders of the reorganization of the Estonian museum network. The Soviet authorities probably took advantage of his extensive expertise. But could it be the other way around, that Linnus used the opportunity offered by the new regime to implement his earlier ideas? In order to answer this question, I will mainly analyse the archival material of F. Linnus that has recently come into ENM`s possession.

The hypocrisy of the Soviet power is shown by the fact that already in the summer of 1941 several museum workers were arrested and taken to the prison camps, among them F. Linnus, who died already in the following year.