Eustachy Tyszkiewicz is considered the ‘father of archaeology’ in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was the creator of the Vilnius Archaeological Commission (which included Count (1836-1909) - owner of Švėkšna Manor - as a member) and of the Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius. The initial Museum of Antiquities collection consisted of about 6,000 items gifted by Eustachy Tyszkiewicz from his personal collection - more than half of the items were books, while other items were coins, medals, portraits, engravings and historical artefacts.  It was the first public museum in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is considered a predecessor of the National Museum of Lithuania even though only a handful of items from the Museum of Antiquities ended up at the National Museum. Tyszkiewicz chaired the commission and curated the museum until it was nationalized and reorganized after the failed Polish Uprising of 1863. Almost all items related to the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow.