FAMILY
My Roots
My Mother, Sofia: The Heart of our Home
My mother was an anchor of light for me and a model of balance between mind, heart, and vocation. She was an exemplary, hardworking, and dedicated student, graduating with highest honors. Her initial dream was medicine, yet she chose physics — not as a renunciation, but as part of a greater journey that opened paths toward research and a brilliant academic career.
She continued her studies with a PhD and became a researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Science was her profession, but music was her space to breathe. For many years, she sang in the choir of the Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of conductor Victor Creangă, finding there a harmony between family, career, and passion.
A mother of two daughters - Diana and Victoria - she was the heart of our home: warm, creative, always with a song on her lips and a table full of lovingly prepared dishes. She inspired through her gentle strength, her generosity, and the devotion with which she kept our family united. She was, and remains, my strongest example of courage, femininity, and unconditional love.
My Father, Victor: Discipline and Direction
My father was always the solar energy of our family: a charismatic, intelligent, and extraordinarily hard working man. Originally from a village in northern Moldova, he arrived in Chișinău after graduating with excellence, determined to carve his own path. He studied physics, where he met my mother - the beginning of a beautiful life together.
With a natural inclination toward leadership, he pursued a PhD and quickly advanced into leadership roles within Moldova’s specialized institutions. He was a man of strong intellect, a respected presence, and a rare ability to guide and inspire those around him.
For me, my father has been a symbol of perseverance and positive ambition. He passed on to me the strength to follow my dreams, the discipline to work for them, and the confidence that I can reinvent myself anywhere in the world. He was, and remains, the paternal figure who kept our family anchored in courage.
My Sister, Diana: The Smile That Lasts
Diana was a calm, disciplined, and extraordinarily luminous presence from early childhood. She grew at a beautiful pace: a straight A student, a gold-medal graduate of Secondary School No. 39, and a high-performance athlete. Artistic gymnastics earned her the title of Master of Sport of the USSR and many years as a member of the national team.
She later pursued medical studies, where she excelled just as she had at every stage of her life. She built a family, became the mother of Gheorghe, and later continued her calling in research at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, defending a PhD thesis in the field of social medicine.
For me, however, Diana was more than a sister - she was my friend. The 15-years age difference between us shaped a relationship filled with care and patience. She took me with her to school, protected me, and was the warmest presence in my life. Her optimism, her gentle energy, and the way she remained strong in the face of life were my inspiration for many years. Losing her at the age of 37 was a deep wound for our family, but also a reminder that a person’s light does not disappear - it lives on in everything we have become.
A Family That Gave Me Wings
With a 15-year age difference from my sister Diana, I was born into the Donu family at a time when both of my parents had already completed their PhDs and were in the midst of a strong professional ascent as physicists.
My mother, Sofia, beyond being the soprano of the Academy of Sciences choir and a gifted scientist, was above all a caring mother and an adventurer in the very best sense of the word. Her personality can be perfectly captured by a small story that still brings a smile to my face.
In the ninth month of her pregnancy with me, she suddenly craved cherries. Without much hesitation, she climbed the cherry tree in my grandparents’ garden. My father, moved and worried by the sight, asked her to come down, but my mother, calm and fully present, continued to enjoy that moment of simple joy.
What a beautiful lesson in living the moment - here and now, when the heart calls.
I had a happy childhood, one in which I was given the freedom to discover my talents and explore the world at my own pace. From the little we had, my mother moved me to School No. 56 (today “Spiru Haret” High School) so I could benefit from dedicated teachers and quality education. She also enrolled me in Music School No. 5 (now “Eugen Doga”), in the piano department - a decision that opened my artistic path.
Alongside music school, I attended folk dance classes, an activity close to my soul, which I continued until the moment I left for the Czech Republic to pursue my master’s degree. I remember with great fondness my first trip abroad with the “Miorița” ensemble, led by maestro Valentina Cocea. The festival took place in Georgia, and the travel costs were beyond our means. Yet my mother went to the trade union committee of the Academy of Sciences and secured the necessary support, simply so I could go. From very little, she always found solutions for our happiness - a strength of character beyond words, in a being so delicate and full of light. I will be forever grateful to her.
In everyday life, my mother was an exceptional homemaker, who loved welcoming guests and was always the soul of the gathering. She charmed everyone with her pies and lovingly prepared dishes. Most ingredients were homemade - she truly believed that real flavor comes from simplicity, care, and tradition. Even after discovering sophisticated tastes from cuisines around the world, I always longed for her food, made with heart.
I remember that every year, my mother’s colleagues from the physics laboratory eagerly awaited January 25 - her birthday. She always invited them to our home, and to this day they say that although they loved the winter holidays, they looked forward most to Sofica’s birthday, because her dishes were simply extraordinary. Everything was made with so much love. At her core, my mother was someone who radiated love in everything she did.
Looking back, I can say with certainty that my mother was an exceptional woman - not only because she was my mother, but because within such natural simplicity lived an entire world: a successful scientist, a woman beautiful in both soul and body, a talented singer, and an unparalleled homemaker.
I inherited the best and most beautiful qualities from both my parents, yet my mother stood out through the ease with which she moved through life. She saw beauty where others saw shadows and smiled even when life was difficult.
My gratitude for her knows no boundaries. Every achievement of mine feels like hers as well. I decided long ago that my mother, my father, and my sister Diana would continue to live through me - through my dreams and the steps I take forward. This thought gives me strength and keeps my path steady.
The period when we lost Diana, taken by an incurable illness, was one of the hardest in our lives. In that same year, I received a scholarship in the Czech Republic and was unsure whether it was right to leave my parents alone. My mother insisted that I go - because she knew it was important for my future. She gave me the courage I needed at the very moment when she herself needed my support the most.
She tried to move forward, even though the pain of losing her daughter was undoubtedly the heaviest burden she ever carried.
I have lost three deeply important people from my family, and yet I feel them close to me. I carry them with me in everything I do. Whenever I climb a mountain - literally or figuratively - I do it for them as well. They live through me, and this helps me move forward with confidence and gentleness.
I carry our name with honor and promise to remain a guardian of our family’s values.
With the soul in my palms, Vica
In Memoriam: Sofia Donu
Life does not infrequently bring people to our threshold with whom, at first glance, we seem to have very little in common - but this was not the case with Sofia Donu. And not only because we came from the same lands and shared the same roots. What was not meant to be, however, was the chance to know her for longer.
Our meeting came through Eleonora Ciumacov, herself a doctoral candidate — a noble soul, always open to dialogue. Through a series of fortunate circumstances, we also came to know Valeriu Canțer, Ilie Fiștic, and others, far from home, in Moscow, at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR - more precisely, in the dormitories where we lived. I mention these names from our former group because, sadly, all four have since passed into the world beyond longing, and nothing can replace their absence - only the memories that remain with those of us still here. Memories that take us back to the passionate discussions of those days, from research to cultural matters, to the exchange of ideas, and to the deep longing for the places and loved ones awaiting us back home. It was a time when each of us tried to grow beyond what was permitted, as the opportunities in the metropolis far exceeded those in Chișinău, including access to Romanian books.
Dr. Sofia Donu impressed me with the firmness and delicacy she embodied. Among all of us, she was the one most torn between the demands of research and the longing of a mother to return home as soon as possible, where her daughter Diana was waiting for her. We later met again in Chișinău, our doctorates completed. In the meantime, Sofia had defended another doctoral thesis and given birth to her second child - her daughter Victoria. A gift that helped her withstand the hardships and losses that later befell her family, including the loss of her eldest daughter, Diana, at the age of 37. Though small in stature, she proved to be a strong presence within her family and in the promotion of scientific research and national culture alike. She took part in organizing and carrying out thematic events in her capacity as scientific secretary of the journal Moldavian Journal of the Physical Sciences, including presenting communications on results obtained within research projects. Equally remarkable was her quality as a vocalist in the Academy Choir, founded in the early 1980s within the Academy of Sciences. Throughout her career, she sought to remain close to the people she worked with and to those who, at one time or another, asked for her help - never expecting help in return.
Perhaps most of all, she was herself during the winter holidays, even though other celebrations were never overlooked. I highlight the winter holidays because, during them, selected carols of high moral stature intertwined with the culture of dishes prepared according to tradition. And not without those memorable exceptions - Sofia’s pies, which will forever bear her name and which I hope will continue to be offered in her honor. Linked to Sofia’s name are chains of personal searches - attempts to give meaning to a life marked by too many losses.
The departure of loved ones inevitably leaves behind a void and a pain for which words sound empty. My dear friend was a fighter and tried to keep the misfortunes she faced at bay, but this time she did not succeed. I remain hopeful that her image will continue to live on in the memory of all who knew her - and even of those who never had the chance to tell her so. Let this be a reminder to rejoice in the successes of those around us, to encourage them while they are still alive, and not only after they are gone. It is certain that it is we who need their memory, in order to remain human and humane.
Dr. Habil., Associate Professor, Ana Pascaru