MEMORIAL HOUSE OF CONSTANTIN STAMATI

Constantin Stamati (1786-1869) was born at Iaşi in Romania and died at Ocniţa, in the house that belonged to him. He was a writer, translator, journalist and politician who dedicated his life to writing and to the historical tradition of his people. He moved to Chişinău after the annexation of Bessarabia in 1812 at the end of the Russo-Turkish war where he became a civil servant and translator. He will be rewarded by the Emperor of Russia by receiving the medal of Saint Anne. An expert of the Enlightenment, he was a member of the Romanian Literary Society, the Society of Physicians and Naturalists, the Imperial Society of History and Antiquities of Odessa. He is one of the most important personalities of the time, including Constantin Negruzzi and Alexander Pushkin. He met the Russian poet during the latter's exile at Chişinău between 1820 and 1823, with whom he shared a close friendship and intellectual affinity. Among Stamati's most important works is Poveştilor povestea (The Tale of Tales), an idealized description of Moldova's origins. In 1866, he was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy.

This museum opened on October 28, 2005. In the restored house, the exhibition is dedicated to the life and work of the writer on the basis of family photos, photocopies of manuscripts, everyday objects, but also pottery, paintings and furniture. In the courtyard of the museum the bust of the writer is enthroned.