Alexei (or Alexie) Mateevici (; 27 March 1888 â 24 August 1917) was one of the most prominent Romanian poets in Bessarabia.
He was born in the town CÃÂinari, in Eastern Bessarabia, which was part of the Russian Empire, now in the Republic of Moldova. He grew up in Zaim, CÃÂuÃÂeni. He studied at the theological school of ChiÃÂinÃÂu, and published his first poems (ÃÂÃÂranii (Peasants), Eu cânt (I sing), ÃÂara (The Country)) in the newspaper Basarabia, where he also published two articles on Moldavian folklore. Mateevici later published several articles on religion in Moldavia.
Mateevici went on to study at the Theological Academy of Kyiv, from which he graduated in 1914. In that year he married Teodora Borisovna Novitski. He returned to ChiÃÂinÃÂu, and became a Greek language teacher at the theological school. In the summer of 1917 he wrote the lyrics for Limba noastrÃÂ (Our Language), which has been the national anthem of Moldova since 1994. He also volunteered as a World War One Romanian front priest, at the battle of MÃÂrÃÂÃÂeÃÂti.
He died a month later of epidemic typhus, and was buried at the ChiÃÂinÃÂu Central Cemetery. The street leading to the cemetery now bears his name.