Alexei Mateevici
Alexei 'Mateevici' was one of the most prominent Romanian poets in Bessarabia.
Biography
He was born in the town Căinari, in Eastern Bessarabia, which was part of the Russian Empire, now in the Republic of Moldova. He grew up in Zaim, Căușeni. He studied at the theological school of Chișinău, and published his first poems, Eu cânt, Țara ) in the newspaper Basarabia, where he also published two articles on Moldavian folklore. Mateevici later published several articles on religion in Moldavia.Mateevici went on to study at the Theological Academy of Kyiv, from which he graduated in 1914. In that year he married Teodora Borisovna Novitski. He returned to Chișinău, and became a Greek language teacher at the theological school. In the summer of 1917 he wrote the lyrics for Limba noastră, which has been the national anthem of Moldova since 1994. He also volunteered as a World War One Romanian front priest, at the battle of Mărășești.
He died a month later of epidemic typhus, and was buried at the Chișinău Central Cemetery. The street leading to the cemetery now bears his name.