The most important work of Dimitri Cantemir: Description of Moldova.

So here we have the Moldavian leu, nominal – 50. The year of issue of this coin is 2003. The coin is dedicated to the 330th anniversary of the birth of Dimitrie Cantemir.

In 1714, the Berlin Academy of Sciences invited D. Cantemir to write a paper on Moldova. He accepted this proposal and in 1715 wrote in Latin «Descriptio Moldaviae» with the application of his own geographical map.

The book consists of three parts. The first part consists of seven chapters describing the ethnogenesis of the Moldovans people, the ancient and modern name of Moldova and its borders. The second part pays attention to the political status of Moldova, its state structure and administration, elevation to the throne and deposition of masters, the mutual relationship of boyars and state leaders. The third part of the book is devoted to the church, monasteries and church hierarchy, writing of Moldovans and their language.

The first «Description of Moldova» was published in German in 1769 in Hamburg. The book was translated into Russian by Vasily Levshin and published in Moscow in 1789 under the title: «Dmitry Cantemir, former Prince in Moldova, «Historical, geographical and political description of Moldova». In 1825 this work was translated by Vasily Vyranov from German into Moldovan and published in the monastery «Nyamts». In 1851 K. Negrutzi was reprinted in Iasi. In 1872, a Latin version of the book was published in Bucharest.