Moldova National Anthem
Limba noastră
Our Language
1917
1994
Alexei Mateevici
Alexandru Cristea
🏛 Identity 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage ❤ Love of homeland 🌿 Nature 💪 Resilience |
Key Facts
- 1. The anthem's words never name the language or the country: they praise 'our language' as a treasure, a burning fire, a green leaf and a holy language
- 2. Mateevici, an Orthodox priest, wrote the poem in 1917 while serving as a military chaplain in the Russian army on the Romanian front of World War I; it was first read out at a course for Moldovan teachers in Chișinău that June, and he died of typhus in August, aged 29
- 3. It replaced 'Deșteaptă-te, române!', which is also Romania's national anthem and which Moldova had adopted on 27 August 1991, the day it declared independence
- 4. The anthem uses five of the poem's twelve stanzas: the first, second, fifth, eighth and twelfth
Moldova National Anthem Lyrics
Limba noastră-i o comoară
În adîncuri înfundată,
Un șirag de piatră rară
Pe moșie revărsată.
Limba noastră-i foc, ce arde
Într-un neam, ce fără veste
S-a trezit din somn de moarte,
Ca viteazul din poveste.
Limba noastră-i frunză verde,
Zbuciumul din codrii veșnici,
Nistrul lin, ce-n valuri pierde
Ai luceferilor sfeșnici.
Limba noastră-i limbă sfîntă,
Limba vechilor cazanii,
Care-o plîng și care-o cîntă
Pe la vatra lor țăranii.
Răsări-va o comoară
În adîncuri înfundată,
Un șirag de piatră rară
Pe moșie revărsată.
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Analysis
EditorialBased on a poem written by Alexei Mateevici in 1917, with music by Alexandru Cristea. After independence from the Soviet Union, Moldova's parliament made it the national anthem provisionally in June 1994, and a law of 22 July 1995 confirmed it as the official state anthem. Rather than the country itself, the anthem celebrates the Romanian language as the core of national identity.
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Sources & References
- Legea nr. 571-XIII din 22.07.1995 cu privire la Imnul de Stat al Republicii Moldova, anexa nr. 1 . Președinția Republicii Moldova (Monitorul Oficial nr. 45-46/555 din 17.08.1995) (1995)
Source & Review
- Source status
- Legal source verified
- Translation
- AI-assisted working translation
- Rights status
- Third-party rights may apply
- Last reviewed
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- Editorial owner
- Nationalia
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