Timofei Moșneaga (; 6 March 1932 – 1 June 2014) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

n physician and politician who served as the Minister of Health of Moldova from 1994 to 1997. He was the Director of the Republican Clinical Hospital for over forty years (1960–2003). As of 2017, the hospital is named after him.

Early life

Timofei Moșneaga was born on 6 March 1932 in Corjova,

Dubăsari District The Dubăsari District () is a Administrative divisions of Moldova, district in the east of Moldova, with the administrative center at Cocieri. As of January 1, 2011, its population was 35,200. This does not include the 715 people that live in th ...

to Vasile and Eufrosenia Moșneaga. He was one of eight children, having four sisters and three brothers. He attended primary school in his home village, then secondary school in

Dubăsari Dubăsari (; mo-Cyrl, Дубэсарь) or Dubossary (; ; ) is a city in Transnistria, with a population of 23,650. Claimed by both the Republic of Moldova and the Transnistria, Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the city is under the latter's ad ...

. In the period 1947–1950 he attended the School of Medical Assistants in Bender and, after graduation, the Faculty of General Medicine of Chișinău State Institute of Medicine. In 1959, after he had obtained his medical diploma, Moșneaga was admitted to doctoral studies. Shortly after finishing his studies, he defended the thesis in medical sciences and afterwards was conferred the academic rank of

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Career

In early 1960, at the age of 27, he was appointed Director of the Republican Clinical Hospital. Moșneaga held the position for over four decades and made an essential contribution to the development of the institution. The old hospital in adapted buildings during the post-war period did not meet the standards of specialized assistance. Therefore, the new Director became interested in building a new hospital. Finally, after considerable efforts, the hospital was put into operation. Shortly, specialized departments for patients with somatic and surgical diseases endowed with up-to-date medical technologies, including equipment for the modern method of

lithotripsy Lithotripsy is a procedure involving the physical destruction of hardened masses like kidney stones, bezoars or gallstones, which may be done non-invasively. The term is derived from the Greek words meaning "breaking (or pulverizing) stones" ( lit ...

of kidney stones, opened at the RCH. Departments of gastric surgery,

proctology Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but this term is now used infrequently within medicine and is most often employed to identify practices relati ...

vascular surgery Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which vascular diseases involving the arteries, veins, or lymphatic vessels, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and surgical reconstruction. The specialty evolve ...

paediatric Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Prev ...

cardiac surgery and

endoscopic An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...

surgery were established in the surgical building. The Department of Medical Diagnosis was equipped with up-to-date equipment, thus, establishing offices of

magnetic resonance tomography Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

, the Laboratory of Clinical

Immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

, Bacteriological Laboratory, the Department of

Angiography Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is perfo ...

of Peripheral Vessels and Cardio angiography. Moșneaga made a great contribution to the creation of proper conditions for teaching, scientific and clinical activities carried out at 15 chairs of the Chișinău Institute of Medicine. He has published circa 150

scientific papers Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the Natural science, natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research an ...

, including 3

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

s, as well as educated 16 Doctors of Medicine. In 1980 Moldovan filmmaker

Anatol Codru Anatol Codru (1 May 1936 – 17 August 2010) was a writer and film director from Moldova. He was the head of the Union of Cinematographers of Moldova and a leader of the Democratic Forum of Romanians in Moldova. Biography Anatol Codru was born t ...

produced a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about Timofei Moșneaga titled My Life's Dream (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: ''Visul vieții mele''). The music for the film was composed by

Arkady Luxemburg Arkady Luxemburg (born 15 March 1939) is a Moldovan-United States, American composer.Steve Kokker, Kathryn Kemp, ''Romania and Moldova'' p. 34 He received a Master of Arts degree at the Academy of Music in Chișinău, Moldovan Soviet Socialist R ...

. For the design and construction of the new building of the Republican Clinical Hospital, Moșneaga was awarded the title of Laureate of the State Prize of the Moldavian SSR in literature, arts and architecture (1982). In 2002, in honour of Moșneaga's 70th birthday, Moldovan publicist Ion Stici wrote a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

titled Timofei Moșneaga – The People's Doctor (

: ''Medicul poporului Timofei Moșneaga''). For outstanding merits in his professional activity, Moșneaga was awarded the honorary titles of Merited Doctor of the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

, People's Doctor of the USSR and received high state distinctions, among which the Order of the Republic. In 2003, he was awarded the title of Honorary Director of the Republican Clinical Hospital.

Political career

In 1957, he was elected Member of the

Chișinău City Council Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

. In 1989, Moșneaga was elected People's Deputy of the Soviet Union and was a member of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

Committee on Foreign Affairs. He, alongside

Eugen Doga Eugen Doga (1 March 1937 – 3 June 2025) was a Moldovan composer. He made significant contributions to various forms of music during his career. He created ballets, ''Luceafărul'', ''Venancia'', and ''Queen Margot'', the opera ''Dialogues of ...

, were the only members of the Moldavian faction that penned an open letter to

Soviet President The president of the Soviet Union (), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was the executive head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March 1 ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, condemning the separatist movement brewing in

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

at the time. Following Moldova's proclamation of independence, he was appointed leader of the Moldovan group of special observers in the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1994, he was elected Member of the

Moldovan Parliament The parliament of the Republic of Moldova () is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature of ...

, being a member of the Committee for Social Protection, Healthcare and Ecology. In the period 1994–1997, Moșneaga served as the Minister of Health of Moldova. During his term as minister, he advocated for the preservation of the national medical heritage, strengthening the efficiency of the country's medical personnel and health institutions. He worked with the

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

to attract investments into the national healthcare system and as a result, a large part of hospitals across Moldova were equipped with Siemens' state-of-the-art medical equipment. In 1995, the Health Ministry headed by Moșneaga elaborated the National Healthcare Law, which, to this day, regulates the activity of the Moldovan healthcare system. During his mandate, he established relations with the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, whose regional office was opened in

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

Personal life

Timofei Moșneaga was married to Maria Moșneaga (née Burlacu) an

obstetrician-gynaecologist Obstetrics and gynaecology (also spelled as obstetrics and gynecology; abbreviated as Obst and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and t ...

, Doctor of Medicine, recipient of the

Order of Work Glory The Order of Work Glory ( Romanian: ''Ordinul „Gloria Muncii”'') is a Moldovan official order conferred for outstanding achievements in an individual's field of work, esteemed public activity during their career, and great contributions to the ...

. They had two sons.

Legacy

Moșneaga passed away on 1 June 2014 in Chișinău. His bust stands among 41 other distinguished doctors on the Alley of Brilliant Scientists and Doctors in Chișinău, near the

Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy The Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (USMF; ) is a medical university located in Chișinău, Moldova. The institution began its activity in 1945. It is named after Nicolae Testemițanu. History The Chişinău Sta ...

. As of 19 July 2017, per the Moldovan Government's decision, the Republican Clinical Hospital bears the name of Timofei Moșneaga. On 6 October 2017, in honour of the RCH's 200th anniversary, a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

commemorating Timofei Moșneaga was installed at the hospital's main entrance.

Honours and awards