#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

The opening of the exhibition "Dacia. The last frontier of Romanianness"

October 27, 2022

On October 27, at the National History Museum of Romania, took place the opening of the exhibition "Dacia. The last frontier of Romanianness".

The event took place in the presence of Mr. Sergiu Nistor, Presidential Advisor, Mr. Lucian Romașcanu, Minister of Culture, Mr. Dr. Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu, General Director of the National History Museum of Romania, Mr. Andrés Carretero Pérez, General Director of the National Museum of Archeology from Madrid, who received the distinction of the Order of Cultural Merit in Officer Rank, cat. F - Promotion of Culture, Stéphane Verger, General Director of the National Roman Museum, in Rome and Carlos Barrot, the architect who designed the exhibition.

There were also representatives of partner institutions, members of the Friends of the Museum of Romanian History Foundation, journalists, close collaborators, members of the Terra Dacica Aeterna Association - Bucharest Branch, as well as the history and culture loving public. During the opening, the Minister of Culture of Romania, Mr. Lucian Romașcanu highly appreciated the exhibition "Dacia. The last frontier of Romanianness" pointing out that in 2023, this exhibition will also reach Rome!

The National Museum of History of Moldova contributed to the exhibition "Dacia. The last frontier of Romanity" through 68 pieces from the museum's heritage and we are honored to be part of this grandiose exhibition, which we urge you to visit.

We remind you that the exhibition "Dacia. The last frontier of Romanianness" can be seen at MNIR between October 2022 and March 2023.