#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

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Events Archive

Launch of the volume “Poles in Moldova. History and present”

December 14th, 2015

The book POLONEZII ÎN MOLDOVA. ISTORIE ŞI CONTEMPORANIETATE. CULEGERE DE STUDII ŞI DOCUMENTE " (Poles in Moldova. History and Contemporaneity. Collection of studies and documents) (Chișinău - Poznań - Warszawa, 2015, 368 p.) was released on Monday, December 14^th, 2015 at the National Museum of History of Moldova.

Coordinators of volume: conf. dr. Lilia ZABOLOTNAIA (National Museum of History of Moldova, Academy of Sciences of Moldova); prof. dr. hab. Ilona CZAMAŃSKA (History Department of Adam Mickiewicz University from Poznań, President of Balkan Studies Committee of Academy of Sciences of Poland, chief editor of international journal „Balcanica Posnaniensia").

The event was attended by over 80 persons representing various institutions: Ministry of Culture, State University of Moldova, State Pedagogical University „Ion Creangă", Cultural Heritage Institute, History Institute, National Museum of History of Moldova, representatives of Polish community from Moldova (Polish organizations: Liga Polskich Kobiet, Polska Wiosna w Moldawii, Krakowianka etc.), writers, students etc.

At the event, moderated by dr. hab. prof. Eugen Sava, director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, several guests spoke: H.E. Artur Michalski, Ambassador of Poland in Moldova; dr. hab. prof. univ. Gheorghe Postică, deputy minister of culture of Moldova; dr. hab. prof. univ. Victor Ţvircun, academician-coordinator of Humanities and Arts Section of ASM; H.E. Anton Coșa, Roman-Catholic Bishop of Chișinău; H.E. Mátyás Szilágyi, Ambassador of Hungary in Moldova; dr. hab. prof. Anatol Petrencu, SUM; dr. conf. Ion Gumenîi, dean of History and Philosophy Department of SUM; Vera Petuhova, deputy director of Bureau of Inter-ethnic Relations; Valeria Martin, president of NGO ,,League of Polish Women".

The speakers mentioned the studies regarding the history of Poles in Moldova and secular Moldovan-Polish relations, remarkable people of Polish origin, activity of public organizations of Poles in Moldova etc. It was highlighted in particular the scientific value of the book released for national and international historiography.

Launch of the volume “Poles in Moldova. History and present”

Dr. Lilia Zabolotnaia mentioned this was the third book published with the financial support of the Embassy of Poland in Moldova. This volume is important because it was elaborated as part of a scientific project with the same title. For the first time, for project purpose was engaged an important scientific potential from academic and university environment from Moldova and Poland: Cultural Heritage Institute and History Institute of ASM, NMHM, SUM, Adam Mickiewicz University from Poznań, Katowice University and Krakow University, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Poland etc.

The collection is divided into 3 sections and 22 articles. The volume addresses problems of Polish community in Moldova's history, from Middle Ages to the present. The collection includes a wide range of studies covering different fields: medieval archaeology, numismatics, architecture, art, history, social and dynastic history, political and military history, spiritual life and history of personalities etc. The study is published in three languages: Romanian, Polish and Russian, each article having 4 abstracts.

The volume demonstrates clearly the importance of Poles in Moldovan history.

The publication is addressed to historians, politicians, diplomats, students and to all those interested in and passionate by history.