#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

International Collaboration

2015

Dr. hab. Elena Ploșnița, scientific secretary of the museum, participated between 22 and 27 February, 2015 at training on museum documentation in Warsaw and Gdańsk, Poland, organized and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

National Museum of History of Moldova in cooperation with the Department Europe-Asia of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin continued in 2015 (between May 29 and July 5) field archaeological research in the surroundings of v. Sofia, Drochia at the Eneolithic settlement "Petreni" (Cucuteni-Trypillian culture), dated with the 5th millennia BC.

MNIM was partner in project "Early urbanism in prehistoric Europe: the case of Trypillian mega-sites" initiated by the University of Durham, England and the Institute of Archaeology in Kiev, Ukraine. The project had final goal the organization of an international exhibition about the history of Cucuteni-Trypillian proto-cities, which was presented in all project countries. In Chișinău, the exhibition "Trypillian Mega-sites" was on display from September 9 to November 6, 2015.

Based on the agreement with the National Museum Complex "Moldova" from Iași, Romania, the exhibition "Heritage values from the collection of the Museum of Science and Technique Ştefan Procopiu, Iași" was organized at MNIM in the period from September 23 to October 26, 2015.

The National Museum of History of Moldova in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology „Vasile Pârvan" from Bucharest, Romania, organized the 25th edition of the Symposium of Numismatics on October 29-30, 2015. The event was attended by numismatists researchers from Romania, Ukraine and Moldova.

MNIM has participated in the exhibition "Krieg - Eine Archaeologishe Spuresuche" (War - decoding archaeological traces), open for visiting from November 5, 2015 - May 22, 2016 at the Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle, Germany. An international team of museums from Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Moldova participated at the organization of the exhibition. Our museum was present with 14 archaeological pieces from the Eneolithic period unearthed during research on the tumulus of Giurgiulești.

Mariana Sîrbu, researcher in the sector Archaeology and Ancient History, participated at the Autumn School for PhD students in ancient history and archaeology in Valea Alunului, com. Boșorod, jud. Hunedoara, România on October 3-11, 2015. The school was organized by the Educational Center of „Dacica" Foundation.

Dr. Natalia Mateevici, researcher in the sector Archaeology and Ancient History obtained a research fellowship for archaeological documentation at the Archaeological School in Athens in the period November 1 - December 1, 2015.

Mariana Vasilache, researcher in the sector of Archaeology and Ancient History, had an archaeological documentation visit at the Prehistoric Museum from Halle, Germany, part of project „Krieg - Eine Archaeologishe Spuresuche", November 1-10, 2015.

#Exhibit of the Month

Vignette of Graduates and Teachers of the Chișinău Diocesan Girls’ School, 1911

2015

#Exhibit of the Month