ESTABLISHMENT OF ICOM NATIONAL COMMITTEE POLAND AND THE ROLE IT PLAYED IN 1947–1958

International Committee Poland (PKN) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) was founded in 1947 as a result of Poland having joined the United Nations, and subsequently the International Council on Monuments and Sites (UNESCO). Throughout the 72 years of its activity, ICOM Poland (PKN ICOM) has transformed from a smallsized group of museum directors and experts (21 individuals in 1947) into a team of professionals amounting to over 300 individuals (either professionally active or retired). Their contribution to shaping Polish museology will likely become the topic of an extensive monograph. In 1947-2018, ICOM Poland was presided by 8 individuals (see Table 1.); their operation mode was specified by subsequent ICOM Statues, modified by the General Assembly, as well as the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums. It is the first decade of the ICOM Poland operations that is discussed in the paper; the names of the illustrious museologists of that period are given; they were the ones who in 1947-58 worked out the principles of cooperation, and despite the challenging political situation, were able to gradually introduce the rules of creating museums and of managing them as institutions of heritage protection and active learning, open to a broad exchange of ideas and international cooperation; furthermore, they worked out the assumptions and models for museum exhibits’ conservation and documentation.