Făclia țării (1912)

Făclia Țării (The Torch of the Country) — an illegal newspaper (journal) in the Moldovan language. It was printed in 1912 (presumably in May or June), at the Chișinău diocesan printing house, in a run of 1,000 copies. The publishers of the newspaper were Constantin Costinovich and Georgy Todorov (Iorgu Tudor). It was assumed that Făclia Țării would be published 2–3 times a month in journal form, “if Mr. Governor gives permission”. The publishers, contrary to the registration rules in force at that time — which required notifying the governor — sent 2 copies of the publication to the Odessa Temporary Committee for Press Affairs. The contents of the leaflet attracted the attention of the Bessarabian Provincial Gendarme Directorate. The article “O sută de ani” (A Hundred Years), which reffered to the anniversary of Bessarabia annexation to Russian Empire and contained criticism of the government’s policy toward Moldovans and told of the protests of the transprutian Romanians against the “oppression” of the Moldovan language and school, provoked an investigation against the publishers under the article on public appeals and incitement to anti-state and unlawful acts. However, in the autumn of 1912 the case was closed for lack of corpus delicti. The publication never reached the readers, and its print run was destroyed. Only a few copies have survived.