Description of the attraction
The African Museum, located in Verona, is an anthropological museum dedicated to the peoples and cultures of the Black Continent. It was founded by missionaries from the Sons of the Sacred Heart of Christ organization, which to this day manages the museum. His collections consist of artifacts collected in Africa by members of the mission. The building also houses a library and film library, and regularly hosts events related to African history and culture.
The initiator of the creation of the museum was Francesco Sogaro, the first successor to the founder of the mission, Daniele Comboni. In 1882, Sogaro approached Giuseppe Sembianti, rector of the Institute for African Studies, with a request to establish a museum in Verona in order to exhibit interesting gizmos, scientific exhibits and other curious objects collected during the missionaries' stay in Africa.
Already in 1892, the first small collection was assembled, which was initially exhibited in the missionary house, and then was moved to a separate building. In the second half of the 20th century, the importance of the museum and its collections has steadily increased. Today, many anthropology students from Verona and other cities of Italy conduct their scientific research here, who can use not only the direct exhibits of the various collections of the museum, but also its library, which contains about 20 thousand thematic books.
Over the years of its history, the museum has undergone a number of restorations and changes. The first restoration work was carried out from 1978 to 1981, and the last - in 1996 on the occasion of the beatification (canonization) of Daniele Comboni, the founder of the mission "Sons of the Sacred Heart of Christ".
