Carol Schmidt (Karl-Ferdinand Alexander Schmidt) (1846 – 1928)
The longest-serving mayor of Chisinau (1877-1903) was born into a German-Polish family. One of his sons, Alexander Schmidt, was also mayor of Chisinau during the turbulent years 1917-1918. With Carol Schmidt’s contribution, many streets were paved, an asylum for the homeless was opened (1899), the People’s Amphitheatre with a performance...
Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni (1746-1821)
Metropolitan of Moldavia, Poltava, Kiev and later of Bessarabia. He was a teacher of Greek, a hieromonk and a preacher at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi. In 1808 he was appointed exarch of the Church of Moldavia and Wallachia, when both principalities were under the administration of the Russian Empire....
Miron Costin (1633 -1691)
A great representative of Romanian culture in the 17th century, Miron Costin was born on March 30, 1633 and was the son of the hatter Iancu Costin and Saftei from the well-known family of Movileștilor noblemen from Moldova. In his adult life, Miron Costin was a man of distinguished culture,...
Alexandru Hâjdeu (Hasdeu) (1811-1872)
Descended from the lineage of intellectual boyars, Romanian writer from Bessarabia, son of the lawyer Tadeu Hâjdeu and father of the writer Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu. Philosopher, writer, academician, fluent in 10 languages (including Persian), Hâjdeu made an important contribution to the unification of the Romanian principalities. His speech in 1837...
Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (1838 – 1907)
Name given at birth – Tadeu Hîjdeu. Writer, philologist, academician, encyclopaedist, jurist, linguist, folklorist, publicist, historian and an important political personality, descended from noble intellectual lineage. Hasdeu was one of the greatest personalities of Romanian culture of all times. He attended the Regional Gymnasium in Chisinau (now the building houses...
Alexandru Bernardazzi (1831 – 1907)
He belongs to the dynasty of famous architects of Italian-Swiss origin. He was an active member of the St Petersburg Architects’ Association. His professional career began in 1850, when he was appointed to the position of assistant architect at the Bessarabian Road Construction Agency. A few years later, in 1856,...
Toma Ciorbă (1864-1936)
Toma Ciorba (1864-1936). Illustrious humanist doctor from Bessarabia. Graduate of the Medical Faculty of the University “St. Vladimir” in Kiev. Medical doctor of Chisinau. The initiator of the construction and designer of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, which he led for more than 30 years. It was imposed by a sensitive...
Moisey Slutsky (1851 -1934)
A renowned doctor, social activist and memoirist from Chisinau, who worked for 57 years in the same place – in the Jewish Hospital. Having lost his father at an early age, he was raised by his grandfather, Leib Efrusi, in Berdicev. His grandfather was wealthy, had his own truck, four...
Alexe (Alexei) Mateevici (1888 – 1917)
Teacher, priest, writer and poet. In 1897 his parents enrolled him in the theological school in Chisinau, which he completed in 1902 “with privileges”. He attended the theological seminary. He became friends with the future sculptor Alexandru Plămădeală, who was also studying at the seminary at the same time. Thirty...
Alexandru Plămădeală (1888 -1940)
Sculptor, painter, graphic artist, author of several works of art. He studied at the Higher School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow. In 1916-1918 he worked at the mint in Petrograd. After 1918 he returned to Chisinau, where in 1929 he was appointed director of the School of Drawing....
Alecu (Alexandru) Donici (1806 – 1865)
Lawyer, judge, writer, translator (especially from Russian), fabulist, descendant of a line of noble Moldovans. He began his activity in Chisinau, then in Iasi, holding an important position in the Epitropia of Schools. Later, he became an assessor at the Court of Appeal, and in 1846 he was elected president...
Constantin (Costache) Negruzzi (1808 -1868)
Translator, writer, theatre director and mayor of Iasi. He spent several years in Chisinau, where, in 1821, he also met the poet A.S.Pushkin, who was in exile. The Russian poet awakened his early interest in world literature. His first literary essays date from this period: “My Stanzas from Bessarabia in...
Maria Cebotari (1910- 1949)
Opera singer, the famous “Nightingale of Bessarabia” – one of the greatest sopranos in the world in the 1930s and 1940s. She studied at the normal school for girls Florica Niță and at the Metropolitan Chapel in Chisinau, directed by Mihail Berezovschi, after which she attended the “Unirea” Conservatory in...
Constantin Stere (1865 – 1936)
Romanian politician, jurist, professor, scholar and writer. In his youth, for his participation in the Narodnic revolutionary movement, he was sentenced by the Russian Tsarist authorities to imprisonment and exile in Siberia for 6 years (1886-1892). For 30 years he carried out remarkable publishing activity, being the founder and editor...
Nicolae Donici (1874 -1956)
Romanian astronomer originally from Bessarabia. Descended from the famous Donici family of noblemen, great-grandson of the fabulist Alecu Donici and great-great-grandson of the legislator Andronache Donici. Author of nearly 80 scientific publications (most of them in French), and several articles written in Romanian, Russian and German, many published in the...
Manuc Bey – Armenian Prince
Historians have found that one of the less developed actors in the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, involved in political-diplomatic actions, who had influence over the Russo-Ottoman negotiations was the influential and wealthy Manuc (Emanuel) Mirzaianț (there are different spellings of his name: Mirzaian, Mârzaian, Manuc bey etc.),...
Natalia Dadiani (Godlevschi) (1865 – 1903)
Teacher, politician, princess. She became a Dadiani through her marriage to Prince Beglari Giorgi Davit, a descendant of a noble family from Abkhazia, and became a promoter of girls’ secondary education in Bessarabia. She graduated with a gold medal from the Narodavskaya Girls’ Gymnasium (School No. 1 for Girls), and...
Elena Alistar (Balan) (1873 – 1955)
Medic, publicist and politician, who was a member of the Council of the Country in Basarabia. She was the aunt of the writer Magda Isanos. She studies at the Eparchial School in Chisinau. Here she met the young theologian Dumitru Alistar, whom she married. After the death of her husband,...
Nadia Russo (Brjozovskaya) (1901 – 1988)
Pioneer of Romanian aviation. A Russian refugee from the Bolshevik revolution, married to a Bessarabian nobleman, she took her pilot’s licence at the age of 35 and began a remarkable career as a sports pilot. In 1938 she was the only woman to take part in the Prague-Bucharest-Belgrade-Bratislava rally, and...
Alexei Shchusev (Șciusev) (1873–1949)
Architect, art historian and theorist, member of the Academy of Arts of the Russian Empire, member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He studied at Gymnasium No. 2 in Chisinau (1883-1891). He designed the Kazan Railway Station in Moscow, the Sergei Radonevsky Memorial Church on the Kulikovo Plain, the iconostasis...
Robert Kurtz
Robert Kurtz is a famous local architect. He was born on December 17, 1911 in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia. He graduated in 1940 from the Institute of Architecture in Bucharest. In 1944-1951 he was the chief architect of Kishinev, and in 1951-1971 – the chief architect of the design institute “Moldgiprostroy”....
Ion și Doina Aldea-Teodorovici (1954-1992, 1958-1992)
“Two twin hearts” – teachers, musicians, singers, Ion is also a brilliant composer. He has written symphonic music, chamber music, children’s songs, songs for films, for dramatic performances, including sacred music. Together with his wife he campaigned for the reunification of Moldova with Romania. They opted for a return to...
Constantin Constantinov (1915 -2003)
On July 7, 1915 in the family of the peasant Timofte from the village of Sucleia, district of Slobozia, the thirteenth child was born and named Costica. In time everyone called him so – Uncle Costea… Constantin Constantinov, famous theatre and film actor, artist of the people (1953). He graduated...
Emil Loteanu (1936- 2003)
Moldavian actor, director, screenwriter, poet and writer. He has directed more than 20 films, including “The Red Meadows” (1966), “The Milkmen” (1971), “The Shatra” (1975), “My Gentle and Tender Beast” (1978), “Anna Pavlova” (1983), “The Lighthouse” (1986). He has also made short films. He has been declared “the best director...
Domnica Darienco (1919 – 2010)
Domnica Darienco – renowned actress of theatre and cinema from the Republic of Moldova. She has been on stage for over 50 years, playing over 100 outstanding roles. She was born on January 15, 1919, in the Valley of the Thief (former Dolinscoie), Odessa region. He studied acting at the...
Glebus Sainciuc (1919 -2012)
The works of the art man Glebus Sainciuc (19.07.1919-16.10.2012) will hopefully survive in time and will endure in the era through their artistic power of persuasion. His talent was discovered early, still in his high school years, then cultivated through academic studies at the School of Fine Arts in Chisinau....
Grigore Vieru – (1935 – 2009)
The famous poet, whose verses have been translated into more than 30 world languages. He made his debut in 1957 (while still a student at the Pedagogical Institute “Ion Creanga” in Chisinau, Faculty of Philology and History) with his verses for children “Alarm”, highly appreciated by literary critics. He works...
Maria Bieșu (1935 – 2012)
Opera singer, soprano and lied from the Republic of Moldova. She debuted as a soloist in the folk music band “Fluieraș” with the song “Struguraș de pe colina” at a district competition, alongside the famous Tamara Ciobanu and Serghei Lunchevici. He gradually switched from folk music to opera, taking a...
Vladimir Curbet (1930 – 2017)
Vladimir Curbet is a renowned ballet master. He was born on 5 December 1930 in the village of Susleni, Orhei district. In 1981 he became a People’s Artist of the Soviet Union. Vladimir Сurbet graduated from the Stefan Neaga School of Music in Chisinau and was brought up from childhood...
Petre Teodorovici (1950-1997)
Petre Teodorovici was born on May 18, 1950, in the city of Leova, in the family of music teacher Cristofor Teodorovici, being the second child in the family. He graduated from the local secondary (music) school, where he studied the violin (1968), then studied at the Stefan Neaga College of...
Lidia Lipkovski (1884 -1958)
Lidia Lipkovski (1884 Babino village, Hotin county- 1958 Beirut, Lebanon) is the only Basarabian who has performed in Latin America, New Zealand, Jawa Island and the Philippine Islands and on the biggest stages of the world: Paris, Landra New York, Boston, Montreal, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Milan, Sydney, Hurbin, Tokyo, Melbourn,...
