#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.

Virtual Tour

Events Archive

Launch of the book „History, truth and myths”

June 16th, 2015

On June 16th, The National Museum of History of Moldova hosted the book launch „History, truth and myths", Editura Enciclopedică, București, 2014, 400 p., signed by academician univ. prof. dr. Ioan-Aurel Pop, rector of University „Babeș-Bolyai" from Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The event, which was organized by the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, was attended by over 100 persons - academicians, historians, university professors, students of History Department - among whom: vice-president of ASM acad. Ion Tighineanu, vice-president of ASM associate Ion Guceac, acad. Andrei Eșanu, univ. prof. dr. hab. Alexandru Moșanu; director of the Romanian Cultural Institute „Mihai Eminescu" from Chișinău Valeriu Matei, H.E. Ambassador of Romania in the Republic of Moldova Marius Lazurcă, vice-rector of University „Babeș-Bolyai" from Cluj univ. prof. dr. Ioan Bolovan, univ. prof. dr. Sorin Șipoș from the University of Oradea ș.a.

The book „History, truth and myths" is an analysis of Lucian Boia's work „History and myth in Romanian consciousness", it is a scientific answer to the attempts of falsifying the history of Romanians.

The need for these reading notes on "demystification" of Romanian history, as stated by the author himself "... raises from professional solidarity, as Mr. Boia and those who follow him, create the belief that historical research has no sense, is false, misleading and full of myths". Another reason for the publication of an "over-sized" review is the spread of Mr. Boia's ideas abroad where we are presented in a distorted way with damaging propaganda results.
About the notorious historian from Cluj and the scientific value of his book spoke the director of the Institute of History dr. hab. Gheorghe Cojocaru, associate of ASM univ. prof. dr. hab. Demir Dragnev, univ. prof. dr. hab. Alexandru Moșanu, univ. prof. dr. hab. Anatol Petrencu, historian dr. Marius Tărâță, director of the Romanian Cultural Institute „Mihai Eminescu" Valeriu Matei, chief editor of weekly „Literatura și Arta" associate of ASM Nicolae Dabija, univ. prof. dr. Ioan Bolovan, univ. prof. dr. Sorin Șipoș.

On the occasion of his arrival in Chișinău, Ioan Aurel Pop was conferred the title of Honorary Member of ASM.
Professor Ioan-Aurel Pop is author of over 50 books, publications of historic resources, university treaties and textbooks and collective works and over 300 studies, articles, reviews, reports, chronicles, prefaces etc. in separate volumes and special journals and cultural publications.

Ioan-Aurel Pop is rector of the University Babeș-Bolyai, member of the Romanian Academy, director of the center of Transilvanian Studies of the Romanian Academy, being specialized in medieval history, medieval institutions and Latin paleography.

Before becoming rector of the University Babeș-Bolyai in Cluj, Ioan-Aurel Pop was director of the Romanian Cultural Center in New York (1994-1995) and director of the Romanian Cultural and Humanistic Research Institute in Venice (2003-2007).

From 1989, Ioan-Aurel Pop is a PhD in history with the thesis „Princely meetings in Transilvania in the 14th-16th centuries", he became the youngest associate of the Romanian Academy and from 2010 is member of the Romanian Academy.

Launch of the book: Ioan-Aurel Pop, „History, truth and myths” , București, Editura Enciclopedică, 2014. 402 p.

#Exhibit of the Month

Folding bellows camera, “Agfa Isolar Luxus”. AGFA Company, Munich, Germany, 1928

Launch of the book „History, truth and myths”

June 16th, 2015

#Exhibit of the Month