The British Museum received an unprecedented gift of £25 million

London - The British Museum has received an extraordinary financial gift, described as the most generous support for a British cultural institution in the past 20 years. Lord John Davan Sainsbury from the family of the same name that owns department stores has donated 25 million pounds (745 million crowns) to the museum.
    The museum's spokesperson called it a "remarkably generous gift, from which future generations will benefit".
    The eighty-two-year-old Lord Sainsbury has previously served on the boards of Sainsbury's department stores and represents the Conservative Party in the House of Lords.
    The Sunday Times referred to his act as the most significant donation to a British cultural institution since 1985, when American industrialist and philanthropist Jean Paul Getty, who spent the end of his life in Britain, donated 50 million pounds to the National Gallery and 40 million to the British Film Institute.
    The museum plans to use Sainsbury's donation to construct new exhibition space and storage for exhibits. The new pavilion, which will be built next to the historical building of the museum, was designed by architect Richard Rogers. The budget for it is set at 135 million pounds, of which 22.5 million is to be covered by the government. Private donors are expected to help with the remaining expenses.
    Sainsbury is among the patrons of the arts. His family contributed to the funding of the new wing of the National Gallery in London, which was opened 19 years ago.
    The British Museum was founded in 1753. It holds the largest collection of antiquities in the world, and in the last season, it attracted 5.7 million visitors.