National Museum of Natural History, France

The National Museum of Natural History, known by its French initials MNHN, is the national natural history museum of France and a grand établissement of higher education that is part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is in Paris within the Jardin des Plantes on the left bank of the Seine. It was formally founded in 1793 during the French Revolution but was begun earlier, in 1635, as the royal garden of medicinal plants. It now has 14 sites throughout France, a staff of about 2,350 including six hundred researchers, and membership in the national network of naturalist collections.