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 noblewoman Anastasia Dmitrievna Rizo, 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 mental 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 vignette, created in 1911 at the photographic 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. A notable figure is Praskovia 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." By 1911, the school had 648 students across 17 classes. Its library contained 7,414 volumes, including 3,955 for students and 3,459 for teachers. Graduates, often becoming priests' wives or teachers in rural and urban schools, contributed to spreading faith and moral education, strengthening the cultural and spiritual role of the institution. On the reverse of the vignette is a label reading: "Store and workshop for frames, paintings, mirrors, and window glass, A. D. Kon'gova, Chișinău, Gogol Street no. 37, next to the State Bank." This unique vignette was donated at the end of 2025 to the National Museum of History of Moldova by the Dadiștian family from Drochia.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
This article presents some information regarding the relationship of Bessarabian nobleman Vasile Stroescu and Romanians of Bihor County (Romania). These relations are highlighted by a series of unpublished documentary evidences from the Oradea archives. Vasile Stroescu constantly supported cultural institutions on both sides of the Carpathians. Thanks to his donations for the Transylvanian Orthodox clergy between 1910 and 1913, in the amount of about one million crowns, there were saved from Magyarization about two hundred schools and over one hundred and thirty Romanian churches.
List of Annexes: Annex 1. List of the students from the town of Beiuș (Bihor County), who received Stroescu’s scholarships in 1912-1914. Annex 2/1a. The Bishop of Arad Ioan Ignatie Papp notifies the Orthodox Consistory of Oradea Mare, which was under his jurisdiction, about the donation offered by a Bessarabian nobleman Vasile Stroescu. Annex 2/1b. Of the amounts donated by Vasile Stroescu, the Diocese of Arad received 64, 945 crowns and 80 fillér. Of the funds allocated to the Diocese, the Orthodox Consistory of Oradea Mare obtained 25, 978 crowns and 32 fillér. Annex 2/2a. Metropolitan Ioan Mețianu informs the Orthodox Consistory of Oradea Mare about the results of the distribution of funds allocated for the Diocese of Arad. Annex 2/2b. The Metropolitanate of Transylvania, with the residence in Sibiu, requires from the Orthodox Consistory of Oradea Mare the report on the distribution and use of the amounts allocated from the fund of the Diocese of Arad. Annex 2/3. Archpriest of the village of Peșteș asks the Orthodox Consistory of Oradea Mare to allocate 1,000 crowns from the donation made by Bessarabian nobleman Vasile Stroescu to build a school in the village of Butan-Măgești.
Mihail Iliev
The Society for the Protection of War Orphans. The Chișinău Regional Committee (1918-1924)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], 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
