A Catholic born on the border between Belarus and Lithuania, Kostsiushko-Valiuzhinich moved his family to Sevastopol in 1881 and fell in love with Crimea. Also a banker and newspaper editor in the city, his passion for Khersones overwhelmed all other interests. He joined the Odessa Society of the History of Antiquities, and despite fights with Count Bobrinskii over authority over the digs, the latter appointed this fanatic to the Archeological Commission. Kostsiushko-Valiuzhinich turned the Warehouse of Local Antiquities into the Khersones Museum, circa 1888.