The Musée de l'Homme (; literally "Museum of Mankind" or "Museum of Humanity") is an
anthropology museum in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It was established in 1937 by
Paul Rivet for the 1937 ''
''. It is the descendant of the
Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, founded in 1878. The Musée de l'Homme is a research center under the authority of various ministries, and it groups several entities from the
CNRS
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...
. The Musée de l'Homme is one of the seven departments of the
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...
. The Musée de l'Homme occupies most of the Passy wing of the
Palais de Chaillot
The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Design
The building was designed in classicising " moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques ...
in the 16th arrondissement. The vast majority of its collection was transferred to the
Quai Branly
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
museum.
History
Earlier Collections
The Musée de l'Homme has inherited items from historical collections created as early as the 16th century, from
cabinets of curiosities, and the Royal Cabinet. These collections were enriched during the 19th century, and are still added to today. The aim is to gather in one site everything which defines the
human being
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...
: in terms of
evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
(
prehistory
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
), of unity and diversity (
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
), and of cultural and social expression (
ethnology
Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology).
Sci ...
).
The majority of the "
ethnographic
Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
exhibition" from the
Musée de l'Armée
The Musée de l'Armée (; "Army Museum") is a national military museum of France located at Les Invalides in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is served by Paris Métro stations Invalides (Paris Métro and RER), Invalides, Varenne (Paris Métro ...
of the
Invalides
The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old sold ...
, as it was then called, is composed of dummies representing people from French
colonies
A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...
, along with weapons and equipment. This material was transferred to the museum in 1910 and 1917.
[Gilles Aubagnac, "En 1878, les "sauvages" entrent au musée de l'Armée" in ''Zoos humains. De la Vénus hottentote aux reality shows'', Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boëtsch, Eric Deroo, Sandrine Lemaire, edition La Découverte (2002), p.349-354 ] Photos of the
Moroccan population, taken by
Clérambault, were also displayed there.
As the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro (Trocadéro Museum of Ethnography) (1882–1928)
The Musée de l'Homme is the direct descendant of the
Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, which was founded in the
Trocadéro Palace in 1828.
Transformation into the Musée de l'Homme (1928–36)
In 1928,
Paul Rivet became the new director of the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro. He oversaw a major modernization and reorganization project, and had the museum linked to the
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...
.
In 1935, the Trocadéro Palace was demolished and replaced by the
Palais de Chaillot
The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Design
The building was designed in classicising " moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques ...
, built for the
1937 World's Fair. The museum reopened in the Palais as the Musée de l'Homme.
Disruption and Resistance (1937–1945)
Several members of the Musée de l'Homme, including its founder
Paul Rivet, formed a
resistance group during the
German occupation of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. When Nazi tanks rolled into the city on 14 June 1940, Rivet had a French translation of Rudyard's Kipling poem ''
If'' tacked to the museum's door in a gesture of defiance.
Refurbishment (1996–2015)
In 1996, French President Jacques Chirac announced plans to create a new museum that would combine key collections from the Musée de l'Homme and
Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. Curators at the Musée de l'Homme fought vigorously to retain the collections at their museum, but were unsuccessful. These collections went to the new museum, the
Musée du quai Branly, which opened in 2006.
In 2008, the French government committed to the refurbishment of the Musée de l’Homme. The museum was closed for renovations in 2009, and reopened in October 2015.The total amount of money appropriated for the renovation process was 52 million Euros.
Restitution of African Art (2025)
In March 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron committed to the return of three Sakalava skulls to Madagascar, previously housed at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, France.
Mission
The museum's original purpose was to gather in one place all that can define humanity: its evolution, its unity and its variety, and its cultural and social expression.
The removal of the Musée de l'Homme's ethnographic collections to the new Musée du quai Branly and
MUCEM broke with its original mission. This change aroused many debates concerning the curatorial choices of the new structure. The permanent exhibition of the Musée de l'Homme counted more than 15,000 artifacts, reflecting artistic, technical and cultural treasures from five continents. Quai Branly, however, holds only 3500 artifacts, presented without cultural contextualization, chosen for their aesthetic qualities and their "exotic" origins (Africa, Oceania, Americas) and not on educational value. European ethnographical collections are going to be exhibited at MUCEM, and critics believe it is creating an unjustified discontinuity between human cultures.
This situation led the Musée de l'Homme to review its mission. In 2015 it reaffirmed Paul Rivet's original vision for a laboratory museum.
Combining biological, social and cultural approaches, the museum today focuses on the evolution of humans and human societies in keeping with Rivet's view that "Humanity is one and indivisible, not only in space, but also in time."
Notable directors and staff scientists
*
René-Yves Creston
René-Yves Creston (25 October 1898 – 30 May 1964), born René Pierre Joseph Creston, was a Breton artist, designer and ethnographer who founded the Breton nationalist art movement Seiz Breur. During World War II he was active in the French R ...
, director of the Arctic section in the 1930s
*
Maurice Leenhardt
*
André Leroi-Gourhan
André Leroi-Gourhan (; ; 25 August 1911 – 19 February 1986) was a French archaeologist, paleontologist, paleoanthropologist, and anthropologist with an interest in technology and aesthetics and a penchant for philosophical reflection.
...
*
Paul Rivet
*
Jacques Soustelle (vice-president in 1938)
*
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...
(interim director 1949–1950)
*
Germaine Dieterlen
Germaine Dieterlen (15 May 1903 in Valleraugue – 13 November 1999 in Paris) was a French anthropologist.
She was a student of Marcel Mauss, worked with noted French anthropologists Marcel Griaule (1898-1956) and Jean ...
(
Comité du film ethnographique)
*
Jean Rouch
Jean Rouch (; 31 May 1917 – 18 February 2004) was a French Filmmaking, filmmaker and anthropologist.
He is considered one of the founders of cinéma vérité in France. Rouch's practice as a filmmaker, for over 60 years in Africa, was char ...
(Comité du film ethnographique)
*
Henri Victor Vallois
*
Zeev Gourarier (Director 2003–2007)
Notable holdings
*A
crystal skull
Crystal skulls are human skull hardstone carvings made of clear, milky white or other types of quartz (also called "rock crystal"), claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders; however, these claims have been refut ...
*The skull of
René Descartes
René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...
, scientist, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher
*The skull of
Suleiman al-Halabi
Suleiman al-Halabi (; – 17 June 1800) was a Syria (region), Syrian Islamic Theology (Aqidah), theology student best known for assassinating Jean-Baptiste Kléber, then serving as the commander of the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, in 1800 ...
(1777–1800), who, in 1800, assassinated
Jean-Baptiste Kléber in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
*
Mapa pintado en papel europeo y aforrado en el indiano, a Mesoamerican pictorial document
Former holdings
* The body of
Khoikhoi
Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...
woman
Saartjie Baartman (displayed until 1974;
repatriated in 2002)
*Skulls of 24 Algerian fighters who resisted
French rule in the 19th century and were beheaded (repatriated in 2020)
See also
*
List of museums in Paris
There are around 130 museums in Paris, France, within city limits. This list also includes suburban museums within the "Grand Paris" area, such as the Air and Space Museum.
The sixteen :fr: Musées de la Ville de Paris, museums of the City of Pari ...
*
Relocation of moai objects
References
External links
Museum's Official web siteBibliothèque du Musée de l'HommeThe Parisian Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee de l'Homme
Museums established in 1937
Anthropology museums in France
Museums in Paris
Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris
Ethnographic museums in France
World's fair architecture in Paris