Sculeni
Commune in Ungheni District, Moldova
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sculeni (Yiddish: סקולען, Skulen) is a commune in Ungheni District, Moldova. It is composed of four villages: Blindești, Floreni, Gherman and Sculeni.[2]
It is also a border checkpoint to Romania.
History
The Romanian boyar and heir apparent to the Moldavian throne Grigore Mihail Sturdza was born in Sculeni in 1821. He was the son of Prince Mihail Sturdza, a scion of Wallachian and Moldavian nobility.
The town had an important Jewish community before World War II.[3] In June 1941, hundreds of Jews from the area were murdered in mass executions perpetrated by a death squad of Romanian troops.[4][5][6]
The town is the namesake of the Skulen Hasidic dynasty, as its founder, Eliezer Zusia Portugal, initially served as the town's rabbi.
Natives
- Mircea Chistruga, film director
- Grigore Sturdza, boyar (noble), soldier, politician and adventurer
- Olga Bogdanova, actress
- Andrei Eșanu, historian
- Wincenty (Morari), metropolitan
- Eliezer Zusia Portugal, rabbi
- Yisroel Avrohom Portugal, rabbi
Gallery
On 22 February 1821 (O.S.), accompanied by several other Greek officers in Russian service, Ypsilantis crossed the Prut into the Principalities.
Literature
Sculeni (battle of Sculeni) is mentioned by Alexander Pushkin in his short story The Shot.
