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.
Abstract: In this article based on the study of archival sources and monographs the author considers some aspects of the influence of the tsarist legislation on the changes in the legal status of the Bessarabian nobility. After the annexation of the territory between the Dniester and the Prut to the Russian Empire, at first the tsarist government maintained the social categories existing in Bessarabia, and the relationships were regulated by the laws and customs of the Principality of Moldavia. Subsequently, Bessarabia was incorporated into the political and socio-economic system of the empire. Thus, the use of the tsarist laws on the territory of the region has led to changes in the status of the Bessarabian nobility. Despite the fact that the Bessarabian nobility had the same rights and have been included in the Russian nobility keeping the former privileges, in reality they, especially the indigenous nobility, were limited in their rights. Chief administrative positions in Bessarabia were given to foreign nobles and officials or those members of the local nobility, who were loyal to the tsarist policy. All this has led to dissociation (due to the introduction of foreign representatives into the ranks of the local gentry) and humiliation (because the nobles had to constantly prove their social status - a rather complicated process due to the lack of supporting documents for those who had the Moldavian noble rank or possessed property) of this social category.
Cristina Gherasim
L’identité sociale au milieu de la noblesse de la Bessarabie dans le XIX-ème siècle
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Valentin Tomuleț, Cristina Gherasim
Some considerations on factors that generated mentality shifts of the landlords in Bessarabia under tsarist domination (1812-1817)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Cristina Gherasim
Confirmation of the titles of nobility by Bessarabian nobles in the first half of the 19th century: The noble family of Frunzetti (Frunză)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Cristina Gherasim
Aspects of teaching children of the Bessarabian nobility within the educational system of the Russian Empire
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Cristina Gherasim
About changes in the mentality of the Bessarabian nobility during 1830-1840s
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
