#Exhibit of the Month

The Chișinău Diocesan Girls' School opened its doors on May 3, 1864, addressing a pressing need: in Bessarabia there were no institutions dedicated to the education of clergy's daughters. According to the 1864 circular, teaching was conducted in the Romanian language, a provision applied throughout the diocese. The school's first headmistress was Anastasia Rizo, of noble origin, invited by Archbishop Antonie.

The curriculum, approved by the Ministry of Public Education and the Chișinău Diocese, combined theoretical subjects with practical training. Students studied religion, reading and writing in Romanian, Slavonic, and Russian, arithmetic and exercises in calculation, world history and geography. The program was complemented by church singing and practical skills such as sewing, embroidery, knitting, as well as household management - baking bread and prosphora, preparing meals and preserves, caring for livestock, and cultivating gardens.

The composite, taken in 1911 at the studio of Z. N. Sumovski in Chișinău, depicts 29 graduates and 13 teachers. At the center are portraits of Bishop Serafim (Ciciagov), headmistress N. R. Mihelson, teacher V. E. Bejerian, and priests F. Ghiliarov and P. Jurikas. Among the teaching staff was Paraskovia Vasilievna Cuciurenko, a calligraphy teacher for 37 years, who in 1911 became senior educator and assistant headmistress. For her dedication, she was awarded the gold medal "For Long Service."

On the reverse of the vignette is a label from the store and workshop of frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass owned by A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, near the State Bank.

This graduation composite was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

„Centenary of Great Romania”

March 27 - June 30, 2018

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Great Union, the National Museum of History of Moldova (Chişinău), the Museum of Bucovina (Suceava) and the National Museum of the Union (Alba Iulia) organized on March 27, 2018, at 18.30, a triplex event made between Chişinău, Suceava and Alba Iulia broadcasted live by TVR, which included a simultaneous opening in the three locations of the anniversary exhibition "The Centenary of Greater Romania". The exhibition brings together photographic documents and images from the collections of the three museums and reconstructs the main stages of the Great Union.

At the opening of the exhibition at the National Museum of History of Moldova hosted by the general director Eugen Sava, participated men of culture, researchers, museographers, students, and media representatives. Several speakers highlighted the importance of celebrating the Centenary of the Great Union and the remembrance of the generation of the union, among them: Igor Şarov, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research; Nicolae Brânzea, Director of the "Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi" Institute for Romanians everywhere from Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; historians Anatol Petrencu and Ion Negrei; Elena Postică, deputy director of NMHM. Sandu-Aristin Cupcea, artist of the people, offered the audience an exceptional recital of patriotic verses.

"The Centenary of Greater Romania" exhibition will be open in the lobby of the National Museum of History of Moldova until June 30, 2018.