Nicolae Costin (7 April 1936 in Pecişte, Orhei County,

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

today in

Rezina District Rezina is a district ( ro, raion) in the east of Moldova, with the administrative center at Rezina. Rezina is situated on the western bank of the Nistru river. As of 1 January 2011, its population was 52,600. History The first human settlement ...

Republic of Moldova A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

– 16 February 1995 in Chişinău) was a

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

n politician and one of the leaders of the national emancipation movement from

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...

. He was a professor, executive chairman of the

Popular Front of Moldova The Popular Front of Moldova ( ro, Frontul Popular din Moldova) was a political movement in the Moldavian SSR, one of the 15 union republics of the former Soviet Union, and in the newly independent Republic of Moldova. Formally, the Front existe ...

, deputy in the first elected Parliament (1990-1994) of the

, co-author of the

Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova __NOTOC__ The Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Declarația de independență a Republicii Moldova) was a document adopted on 27 August 1991 by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova following the failure of the Augu ...

(27 August 1991), president of the Municipal Council and Mayor of the municipality Chişinău (1990-1994).

Biography

Nicolae Costin was born on 7 April 1936 in Pecişte,

. After completing the primary school in his native village, he attended the Pedagogical School in the town of

Orhei Orhei (; Yiddish ''Uriv'' – אוריװ), also formerly known as Orgeev (russian: Орге́ев), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is appro ...

(1952-1956) and later the Faculty of History of the

Moldova State University The Moldova State University (Romanian: ''Universitatea de Stat din Moldova'') is a university located in Chișinău, Moldova. History The university was founded on 1 October 1946. Initially, it had 320 students enrolled in 5 faculties, Physi ...

(1960-1965). He began his professional activity as a teacher at the school in Pecişte commune (1958-1960). After graduating from the Faculty, he worked as a lecturer at the Political Science Department of the Alecu Russo Pedagogical Institute in

Bălți Bălți (; russian: Бельцы, , uk, Бєльці, , yi, בעלץ ) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipalit ...

(1965-1974). At the same time, he is also pursuing PhD courses in the field of Political Science at the "M.V. Lomonosov" University of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

(1970-1973). He then works as a professor at the

(1974-1990).

Mayor of Chișinău

In 1990 he was elected President of the Chișinău City Council and deputy in the first democratic parliament (1990-1994) of the

. During the period 1990-1994 he was

mayor of Chișinău The Mayor of Chișinău, officially the General Mayor of the Municipality of Chișinău ( ro, Primar general al municipiul Chișinău), is the head of the executive branch of Chișinău's government and a member of the city's Municipal Counci ...

, during which he manifested himself as the leader of the

. Nicolae Costin was the co-author the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

of the

(27 August 1991). He supported the problems of the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...

and the return to the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern I ...

, participating in the elaboration of the law on the state language. He is considered the first mayor of Chișinău municipality who promoted more reforms in the development of the capital. On his proposal, the streets of Chișinău have received national names (

Traian Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presid ...

Ștefan cel Mare Stephen III of Moldavia, most commonly known as Stephen the Great ( ro, Ștefan cel Mare; ; died on 2 July 1504), was Voivode (or Prince) of Moldavia from 1457 to 1504. He was the son of and co-ruler with Bogdan II, who was murdered in 1451 ...

, Nicolae Milescu-Spataru,

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active memb ...

, Ion Creangă, Metropolitan Bănulescu-Bodoni, București, Calea Ieşilor, etc.), causing the dissatisfaction of anti-Romanian political organizations, which have demanded, in every electoral campaign, to return to the old Soviet names of the streets of Chișinău. Nicolae Costin contributed, together with the ministries of the Republic of Moldova, to the opening of the high schools, as follows: Romanian-English ''"Mircea Eliade"'', Romanian-Italian ''"Dante Alighieri"'', Romanian-French ''"Gheorghe Asache"'' and Romanian-German ''"Mihail Kogălniceanu"'', libraries, including the ''"Onisifor Ghibu"'' Library, at the reopening of the churches, including the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

in the center of Chișinău, at the restoration of the monument of Stephen the Great from Chișinău. The busts of the classics of the Romanian language were installed and uncovered on the Alley of Classics from the "Ștefan cel Mare" Central Park.

Honours

A street in Iaşi and another in Chişinău were named after him.

Versions about his death

His death was shrouded in mystery, with different versions. The most vehement of these would be the one who claims that Mayor Costin was killed by representatives of hostile anti-national / pro-Russian political forces. It is assumed that the mayor was poisoned with radioactive caesium, brought from Russia, which was infiltrated in the armchair of the service car. The main evidence supporting this hypothesis is the almost simultaneous death of Nicolae Costin's service driver, who came from the same disease -

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

. Mayor Nicolae Costin's disease was very rapid, caesium being a radioactive element with a long disintegration. In the absence of a judicial inquiry, the causes of the tragic death of Nicolae Costin cannot be elucidated.

References

External links

Banca Naţională a Moldovei - Nicolae Costin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costin, Nicolae 1936 births 1995 deaths People from Rezina District Moldova State University alumni Mayors of Chișinău Moldovan MPs 1990–1994 Popular Front of Moldova MPs Romanian people of Moldovan descent