#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 "Ukrainian Universe of Maria Prymachenko"

May 10, 2023

On May 10, in the courtyard of the National Museum of History of Moldova, took place the opening of the exhibition "Ukrainian Universe of Maria Prymachenko", organized by the Polish Institute in Bucharest.

The universe of Prymachenko's paintings is a fantastic one full of eccentric creatures and plants, a world broken from reality that requires from us a lot of attention and in-depth knowledge of plants, animals and people. The painter grew up in a family of artists and this had a strong impact on her art. The rich ornamentation of Prymachenko's work, similar to that used in Ukrainian embroideries, contains fantastical creatures that can be attributed to the illness and suffering the artist went through.

Maria Prymachenko spent the last eight years of her life confined to bed, but continued to paint, teach and entertain until the last moments of her life. She died on August 18, 1997, in the same village where she was born. In her memory, a small planet was named "14624 Prymachenko". After visiting an exhibition of Prymachenko's works in Paris, Pablo Picasso said: "I bow before the artistic wonders of this brilliant Ukrainian."

The "Ukrainian Universe of Maria Prymachenko" exhibition can be visited between May 10 and June 10, 2023, on the fence of the National Museum of History of Moldova, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.