Days of Diaspora

Wednesday, August 22 2018

Days of Diaspora

On the 22^nd of August, the Public Regional Library of Ceadir Lunga held an interesting and important event to celebrate Days of the Diaspora of the Republic of Moldova, and to showcase the diversity of the people of Ceadir Lunga. We had interesting presentations about these topics.

First, we learned about the migration phenomenon in Moldova, and how Gagauzians travel to different countries for work, especially the young people. We discussed the benefits and disadvantages of this event. Then, we had a presentation about the history of Diaspora in Ceadir Lunga raion.

            During the 19^th to the 20^th centuries, Moldova, then known as Bessarabia, had people from multiple nationalities. In Gagauzia, Albanians, Jews, Roma people, Bulgarians, Aermenians, Germans, French, Russians, Ukrainians and more all lived together in many communities. For example, the village of Feropontievca has a lot of Ukrainians living in it. The village of Tarutino was once the center of German diaspora in Moldova, and the Germans left before the First World War began. There were also Polish families that lived in Ceadir Lunga and Gaidar. In addition, a big population of Jews and Roma people have also integrated into the Gagauz autonomy. Now there are only very few Jewish people in Ceadir Lunga.

            We also had an amazing presentation about one of the oldest families in Ceadir Lunga, beginning with the man named Grigori Fomichov, and the story of his children, and their children’s children, up to 6 generations of Fomichov and his descendants living in our community. It was very interesting to hear about him and the story of each of his family members and their descendants from the 19^th century to the present.

            Then, we had an interesting discussion about the Roma people in Gagauzia, and we talked about the songs and dances of the Roma, and what we can do in the future to show these beautiful traditions and celebrate them in our community.

            Overall, it was a wonderful event and we are glad that many people from our community such as the chairperson of the Raion of Ceadir Lunga, the chief of management of the culture of the Raion of Ceadir Lunga, and other members of the community who shared stories and spoke about the diaspora in Moldova and Ceadir Lunga. Thank you everyone who participated in this event!

To read in Russian:

ДНИ ДИАСПОРЫ