On 14 April 1906, Semita Kushul, a researcher of Karaite culture, was born in Yevpatoriia.

Semita Kushul is known for assembling a large collection of household items, manuscripts, and materials, which later became the foundation of the Museum of History and Ethnography of the Crimean Karaites in Yevpatoriia.

The Karaites are one of the Indigenous peoples of Ukraine. They have their own language, culture, and religion, which have been formed over centuries.

In the 1950s, Kushul began collecting and researching Karaite culture. She collected Karaite household items, planning to open a museum.

Her collection included antique dishes, national clothing, embroidery, manuscripts, and other items. She always systematised everything: to each item she added brief information about the donor and the inscription “For the future museum”.

Later, Karaites from other cities joined this work — they handed over family heirlooms and household items. In 1967, Kushul received a significant part of the collection of the researcher of Karaite culture and folklore Borys Kokenai, which became the foundation of the future museum. In the same year, she exhibited part of the collection at her home for the first time.

The Museum of History and Ethnography of the Crimean Karaites in Yevpatoriia was opened on 10 August 1996 on the territory of the kenasa complex (Karaite prayer buildings). Its funds were based on materials collected by Semita Kushul and Borys Kokenai. In the spring of 1996, she transferred this collection to the Karaite society “Kardashlar”.

Kushul personally cut the ribbon at the opening of the museum, which was named in her honour.

The researcher passed away on 11 December 1996 in Yevpatoriia. The research to which Semita Kushul dedicated her life should remind us how multifaceted and at the same time endangered the culture of the Indigenous peoples of Ukraine is.