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March 1888 – Rev. poet Alexei Mateevici was born in Căinări, county of
Tighina. Studies at the Theological Seminary of Chișinău (1910) and at
the Spiritual Academy of Kiev (1914). From 1914 – 1915 he was a priest
and substitute professor at the Seminary of Chișinău. From 1911, he was a
military priest on the battle-front in Galiția. He published poems with
religious, patriotic, social content. The best known is “Our language”,
considered the most beautiful poem in the Romanian literature dedicated
to the language (at present the state anthem of the Republic of
Moldova). He also published theological historical studies, translated
short stories and poems from the Russian classic authors, and
collaborated with several church and lay periodicals of Chișinău. He
died on 13 August 1917 of typhus on the battle-front and was buried in
the Armenian cemetery, in Chișinău.