#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

Roundtable “Stalinist deportations – a form of political repression”

June 13th, 2016

Monday, June 13, at the National Museum of History of Moldova was organized roundtable "Stalinist deportations - a form of political repressions". The event was dedicated to the commemoration of 75 years since the first wave of soviet deportations from Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. The meeting was held in the Conference Room on the first floor from 10.00.

At the meeting were discussed various aspects of the way in which the three waves of deportations of Bassarabians were conducted, the categories of people subject to repression, ways of survival in the GULAG, the destiny of Bessarabians after returning to homeland. Based on case studies was described the repression mechanism of Bessarabian peasants in 1946-1947. Special attention was paid to the rehabilitation of victims of deportations and restitution of properties to the families of political prisoners. Intense debates were made around the paper reflecting deportation issues in Moldovan history textbooks.

The round table was attended by dr. Marius Tărîță, Institute of History of the ASM, dr. Nicolae Fuștei, Institute of History of the ASM, researcher Ana Grițco, National Museum of History of Moldova, researcher Vera Serjant, National Museum of History of Moldova, ass. prof. dr. Mariana Ţăranu, National Museum of History of Moldova, ass. prof. dr. Aurelia Felea, State University of Tiraspol from Chișinău, Alexandru Postică, Promo-Lex, lecturer Sergiu Cataraga, State Pedagogical University of Moldova „Ion Creangă".