The Moscow Kremlin Museums, Russia

The Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum and Heritage Site is a unique museum complex, which includes the Armoury Chamber, Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation Cathedrals, the Ivan the Great Bell-Tower ensemble, Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the Patriarch's Palace. Armoury Chamber is the oldest Russian museum, which was opened to the public in 1806. The Kremlin Museums are the treasury consisting of exceptional objects –State regalia, ceremonial royal garments and coronation dresses, vestments of the Russian Orthodox Church Hierarchs, the largest collection of gold- and silverware made by Russian craftsmen, Western European silver, ceremonial arms and armour, carriages and horse ceremonial harness. The museum takes care of more than four thousand exquisite samples of applied and decorative art made in Russia, Europe and Orient in the 4th - early 20th centuries. The total number of the exhibits comes to more than 160 thousand pieces. Buildings, in which the museums are located, are great architectural monuments of different schools and epochs, with the interiors dating back to the 16th – 17th centuries as well as to the mid-19th century. The Moscow Kremlin is included into the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Dr. ELENA YURIEVNA GAGARINAGeneral Director

Born on 17 April 1959 in the Murmansk region of Russia. Graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1981 (Department of Art History) getting PhD in History of Art in l990.

From 1981 to 2001, worked at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, first as Curator and latterly as Deputy Head of the Graphics Department. Appointed General Director of the Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum and Heritage Site (The Moscow Kremlin Museums) in spring 2001.

Elena Gagarina's tenure at the Moscow Kremlin Museums has seen the museum recognised as one of the most actively developing museums of the world. Under her leadership, new permanent displays have been installed in the Kremlin Cathedrals; a new exhibition spaces with modern climate control systems has been created within the XVII c. buildings inside the Kremlin. A rich versatile program of international temporary exhibitions has become a feature of the Kremlin Museums, with partnerships established among many of the world's leading museums.

In recognition of her work in developing and supporting the professional status of museums, as well as her work in promoting culture and international cultural relations, Elena Gagarina has been honored with a number of awards including Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2012), Order pro Merito Melitensi, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (2015), National Order of the Legion of Honour, French Republic (2015). In 2018 Elena Gagarina received acknowledgement of the Mayor of Moscow for the cultural impact in Moscow and long-term dedicated work as well as the Ministry of Culture’s certificate of honor for a major contribution to cultural development and lasting personal contribution. Most recently, in 2019 Elena Gagarina was awarded the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (IV class).