#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

The 16th Heraldry Symposium

April 27, 2022

On April 27, 2022, when the Republic of Moldova celebrates the Day of its State Flag and the State Emblem, the 16^th Heraldry Symposium was held at the National Museum of History of Moldova, in which about 30 people took part on-site and online. This time, the symposium, traditionally organized by the Paul Gore Genealogical, Heraldry and Archival Society in partnership with the National Heraldry Commission under the President of the Republic of Moldova and the National Museum of History of Moldova, was dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the creation of the national system of state insignia of the Republic of Moldova.

The participants were welcomed by Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Mariana Șlapac, President of the National Heraldry Commission and Dr. habil. Eugen Sava, General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova.

Seven scientific communications were made, four speakers representing the Republic of Moldova and three were from Romania. The first two speakers, in accordance with the scientific theme of this year's symposium, addressed phaleristics, and the others touched upon the issues of heraldry, sigillography and biographies of figures in the field of science and art of heraldry.

The following communications were presented:

1. Dr. Silviu TABAC (Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova), Ordinele Republicii Moldova instituite în anii 1994-2004: „Gloria Muncii”, „Recunoștința Patriei”, „Ordinul de Onoare”, „Credință Patriei” [Orders of the Republic of Moldova established in 1994-2004: “Labor Glory”, “Gratitude of the Motherland”, “Order of Honor”, “Loyalty to the Motherland”];

2. Dr. SZEKERES Attila István (Heraldry and Vexillology Association of Transylvania, Sfântu Gheorghe), Ornatul Ordinului „Sfântul Ștefan” al Ungariei la Sibiu [Ornament of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary in Sibiu];

3. Dr. Ana BOLDUREANU (National Museum of History of Moldova), Plumburi medievale din secolele XV-XVI descoperite recent la Orheiul Vechi [Medieval lead objects of the 15^th-16^th centuries recently found in Old Orhei];

4. Drăgan-George BASARABĂ (December 1, 1918 University of Alba Iulia), Un vlăstar ilegitim al familiei de Saxa-Coburg-Saalfeld născut pe pământ românesc – baronul Friedrich de Rohmann [An illegitimate offspring of the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld family born on Romanian soil – Baron Friedrich de Rohmann];

5. Alexandru MOLCOSEAN (Institute of History, Chișinău), Sigilii ale instituțiilor de partid din RASS Moldovenească (1926-1934) [Seals of party institutions of the Moldavian ASSR (1926-1934)];

6. Dr. Tudor-Radu TIRON (National Commission of Heraldry, Genealogy and Sigillography of the Romanian Academy), Academicianul Dan Berindei (1923-2021) – un genealogist în slujba heraldicii românești [Academician Dan Berindei (1923-2021) – a genealogist in the service of Romanian heraldry];

7. Angela FURTUNĂ (Office of the President of the Republic of Moldova), Iurie Caminschi (1961-2020) – primul pictor-heraldist oficial al Republicii Moldova [Iurie Caminschi (1961-2020) – the first official heraldry artist of the Republic of Moldova].

Then the writer and translator Emilian GALAICU-PĂUN presented two books on the history of symbols recently published by the Cartier Publishing House in Chișinău:

- Michel Pastoureau, O istorie simbolică a Evului Mediu Occidental, 2nd edition, revised; translated from French by Em. Galaicu-Păun, Chișinău, Cartier Publ., 2022, 429 pp. (Cartier istoric series);

- Michel Pastoureau, Regele ucis de-un porc. O moarte infamă la originea emblemelor Franței, translated from French by Em. Galaicu-Păun, Chișinău, Cartier Publ., 2022, 207 pp. (Cartier istoric series).

At the end of the proceedings, under the guidance of Mrs. Ana Boldureanu, the participants present in the conference room had the opportunity to visit the exhibition “The Tricolor – Symbol of Dignity” organized by the host museum on the occasion of the commemorative day of April 27.

The papers of the symposium will be published in the “Heraldica Moldaviae” yearbook.