Literature

Alexei Mateevici

Poet și preot · 1888 – 1917

A Bessarabian poet and priest, author of the poem „Limba noastră" (Our Language), which became the national anthem of the Republic of Moldova. Although he lived only 29 years, his work left a deep mark on the cultural identity of Bessarabia.

Alexei Mateevici (b. 27 March 1888, Căinari, Bender district – d. 13/24 August 1917, Chișinău) was a Bessarabian poet, priest and publicist, author of the poem „Limba noastră” (Our Language), which became the state anthem of the Republic of Moldova. He was born into a priest's family and from his youth showed a remarkable literary and spiritual vocation, which made him one of the most cherished „poet-martyrs” of Bessarabia.

Education

After primary school, from 1897 he attended the Theological School of Chișinău, from which he graduated with distinction. Between 1902 and 1910 he studied at the Theological Seminary in Chișinău, and until 1914 he continued his studies at the Theological Academy in Kiev. On returning to Bessarabia, he worked as a teacher of Greek at the Theological Seminary in Chișinău, carrying out intense research and journalistic work focused on folklore, church history and the Romanian language.

„Limba noastră”

In 1916 he was enlisted as a military priest in the 41st Infantry Regiment, being sent to the Galician front and then to the Romanian front. On 17 June 1917, nearly two months before his death, he wrote in Chișinău the poem „Limba noastră”, a genuine ode dedicated to the Romanian language, one of the most beautiful in our literature. The famous lines — „Limba noastră-i o comoară / În adâncuri înfundată” (Our language is a treasure / Buried deep in the depths) — established the author's name in the national consciousness.

Alexei Mateevici died at only 29 years of age, struck down by typhus, in Chișinău. Although the work he left behind is limited, „Limba noastră” secured him an enduring place in the cultural pantheon of the Romanian lands, becoming, after 1991, the anthem of the Republic of Moldova.

Posthumous recognition

Besides poetry, Alexei Mateevici carried out extensive research into folklore, religious traditions and the history of Bessarabia, publishing studies and articles in the press of the time. He was a supporter of the introduction of the Romanian language and the Latin alphabet in the church and in schools. The verses of the poem „Limba noastră” were set to music by the composer Alexandru Cristea, and in 1994 the poem was officially adopted as the state anthem of the Republic of Moldova. Numerous schools, lyceums and streets in Moldova bear his name today, and the memory of the poet-priest is honoured as that of one of the most cherished creators of Bessarabia.