#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.

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Events Archive

Inauguration of the “Enemies of the People” exhibition

April 2, 2024

On April 2, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, the inauguration of the "Enemies of the People" exhibition was held, organized by the Civic Academy Foundation Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Resistance in Romania in cooperation with the National Museum of History of Moldova, and with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation - Romania and Hanns Seidel Foundation - Moldova.

The Minister of Culture, Sergiu Prodan, present at the event, emphasized the importance of the exhibition in highlighting the fate of 71 Romanian women represented within the exhibition, detained during the communist regime, later declared "enemies of the people".

"The exhibition brings to the fore the destinies of these women who suffered because of the communist regime, highlighting that totalitarianism does not take into account the age, sex or social status of its victims," said Minister Prodan. He emphasized the importance of being aware of this reality and valuing freedom, urging the public to visit the exhibition and reflect on the sufferings of these women.

The curator of the exhibition, Virginia Ion, presented the concept of developing the exhibition, evoking the female dimension of the anti-communist resistance in Romania, including the impact of communist atrocities on children born in the communist prisons and spaces of reclusion.

The exhibition will be open to the large audience until April 30, 2024 (str. 31 August 1989, nr. 121 A).