Alexei Mateevici
Priest and poet of Limba noastră, Moldova's national anthem since 1994
1888-1917
Alexei Mateevici was a Bessarabian priest and poet who died at the age of 29, a few weeks after writing Limba noastră (Our language). That poem about the mother tongue has been the national anthem of the Republic of Moldova since 1994. His family home in Zaim is now a house museum.
Link with MoldovaAlexei Mateevici was born in Căinari, grew up in Zaim (Căușeni district) and in 1917 wrote the poem Limba noastră, which has been the national anthem of the Republic of Moldova since 1994.
Mateevici was born in March 1888 in Căinari, in what was then Russian Bessarabia, the son of a priest. He grew up in the village of Zaim, attended the theological school in Chișinău and graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy in 1914. Back in Chișinău he taught Greek at the seminary.
During the First World War he volunteered as a military chaplain and served at the front near Mărășești. In the summer of 1917 he wrote Limba noastră, a hymn of praise to the mother tongue, which he calls a treasure. He died of typhus in Chișinău on 24 August 1917. He is buried in Chișinău's Central Cemetery; the street that leads to it bears his name.
The link with Moldova
After independence the poem became a national symbol, and since 1994 it has been the national anthem. On 31 August Moldova also celebrates the Limba noastră public holiday, in honour of the national language.
Where you will find him
The house museum in Zaim opened on 26 March 1988 in the house his father had built. It has six rooms and more than 2,000 objects; a bronze statue from 1990 stands in the garden. In Chișinău his bust has stood in the Aleea Clasicilor since 1990, and since 2015 there has been a second bust in the alley of church figures.
Key facts
- Born in Căinari in March 1888
- Graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy in 1914
- Wrote Limba noastră in the summer of 1917
- Died in Chișinău on 24 August 1917
- House museum in Zaim since 1988
