#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

Opening of the exhibition “Emil Racoviță. Photographic Journal”

14 November 2025

On 14 November 2025 at 11:00, the opening of the exhibition "Emil Racoviță. Photographic Journal" took place in the ground-floor lobby of the National Museum of History of Moldova. The exhibition was organized in partnership with the County Museum "Ștefan cel Mare" in Vaslui. During the vernissage the roundtable "The Legacy of Emil Racoviță. Contemporary Explorations" was inaugurated.

The exhibition presents a selection of rare stereoscopic (3D) images made by Emil Racoviță during the Belgica Expedition to Antarctica and in the course of his research in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea. The collection offers a visual and scientific insight into the work and discoveries of one of the most important scientists of his era.

Speakers at the opening included Dr. hab. Eugen Sava, General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, who underscored the exhibition's importance for the revalorization of scientific heritage, Dr. Vladimir Vornic, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture, who spoke about cultural policies and the institutional support provided for heritage projects, Dr. Ramona-Maria Mocanu, Manager of the County Museum "Ștefan cel Mare" in Vaslui, who presented curatorial details concerning the selection of the stereoscopic images and emphasized the importance of inter-museum collaboration and Dr. Igor Nicoară, Director of the Institute of Geology and Seismology, who discussed the documentary value of the images, their relevance to polar research, and how these resources can inform contemporary environmental studies.

The exhibition "Emil Racoviță. Photographic Journal" can be visited between 14 November and 7 December 2025, in the first-floor lobby of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Chișinău, 31 August 1989 Street, no. 121 A.