Vasile Cijevschi

Vasile Cijevschi (also credited as Cijevski or Tchizhevsky; October 17, 1881 – July 14, 1931) was a Bessarabian and Romanian politician, administrator and writer. Originally a career officer in the Russian Empire, he was active within the ethnic Romanian political movement during the Russian Revolution, and later within the Moldavian Democratic Republic. Cijevschi helped organize the Republic's defense against leftist insurrection, and contributed to the Bessarabian–Romanian union of 1918. He is chiefly remembered as a supporter of Bessarabian identity within Romania and as an early critic of Romanian centralism.

Biography
Cijevschi was a native of Zaim village, at the geographical center of the Bessarabian Governorate. His early career was in the Russian Cavalry, where he reached the rank of Rotmistr (Captain). He was involved in the Russo-Japanese War, when he also received academic training in Oriental studies and prepared for a career in Russian diplomacy.

He was no longer in active service after the February Revolution of 1917, by which time he had become interested in political matters. In April, Cijevschi was registered as one of six Bessarabian envoys to the Congress of Russian Peoples of the Ukrainian People's Republic, where he prospected the emancipation of Romanians living under nominal Ukrainian rule. The National Moldavian Party elected him as one of the chief delegates.

By September 1917, Cijevschi was also involved with the Moldavian Congress of Chişinău, which called for Bessarabian autonomy within the Russian Republic. This institution elected Cijevschi as Commissar for Bessarabia, but, despite the efforts of Bessarabian lobbyists, his appointment was never sanctioned by the Russian Army Command in Mogilev. Shortly after the October Revolution, Cijevschi helped establish the All-Russian Congress of Moldavian Soldiers, functioning as the first legislative and executive body of Bessarabian autonomists. He was elected President of that Congress, with Ştefan Holban serving as his secretary. They both signed their names to a Congress proclamation on self-determination, which became legal precedent in the Moldavian Democratic Republic.

Following the legislative election of 1917, Cijevschi became a representative of Bender in the Bessarabian regional assembly (Sfatul Ţării). Within this legislature, he presided upon an all-Romanian faction, the "Moldavian Bloc", which rivaled other ethnic community parties. In November, the Republic appointed Cijevski Commissar of Bessarabian troops, which were enrolled against Bolshevik agitation. He applied his own philosophy in this respect: instead of creating an all-Romanian military structure, he gave a significant share to members of all ethnic communities. The undertrained republican army could not deal with the raids carried out by Russian deserters, and Cijevschi resigned his position on December 22. He returned to the legislative assembly, this time involved in debates with ethnic minority delegates over the adoption of Romanian as the Republic's official language.

His Sfatul Ţării campaigning helped swing the vote in favor of union with Romania, as proclaimed by the legislative body on April 9, 1918. Cijevski also initiated the election of Constantin Stere, the Bessarabian émigré, as honorary deputy for Soroca. However, once the Romanian administration took over, introducing centralizing legislation and De-Russification, Cijevschi supported a return to regional autonomy. With Nicolae Alexandri, Ion Păscăluţă, Vasile Ghenzul, and several other Sfatul members, he issued a formal protest against the state of siege and demanded the reintroduction of Russia's Civil Code. Their memorandum was welcomed by the White émigré communities, who took it as proof that Bessarabia was still loyal to the defunct Russian Empire.

Cijevschi's parliamentary mandate expired on November 27, 1918, after which he withdrew from national politics. Still involved with the Moldavian Veterans' Association, and employed for a while by the Chişinău Community Bank, he worked mainly as a civil servant for the Mayor of Chişinău, supervising the local schools. His activity was primarily focused on the Art Academy, which he helped refurbish. Under his watch, the school employed educators who were frowned upon in Romania for their alleged communist sympathies. He dabbled in fiction writing: the short story Unei prietene ("To a Lady Friend") was published by Viaţa Basarabiei magazine in 1934.

During the 1920s Cijevski rallied with the People's Party, and edited its regional Russian-language newspaper, Nashe Slovo ("Our Word"). He was later involved as head editor of two other publications, Gazeta-Lei, Bessarabskaya Mysl and Onisifor Ghibu's România Nouă.

He died on July 14, 1931, and was buried at the "Armenesc" Central Cemetery, Chişinău. Cijevschi was posthumously honored at the 20th anniversary of Bessarabian autonomy in 1937. His native village of Zaim is now home to a Vasile Cijevschi Public Library.