The Polish Embassy in Moldova named the winners of the contest “Past – Challenge for the Future”. The award ceremony took place at the Embassy, Info-Prim Neo reports. The jury composed of Polish diplomats selected three of the presented works. Young painter Veronica Iftodii took the first position with the painting "City Angels". The second position was offered to art critic Larisa Turea for the work "Life under Minus. Life and Work of Tadeusz Cantor", while the third position – to historian Mihai Tasca for the study "Polish in the first Parliament of Bessarabia, Country’s Council. 1917-1918". Polish Ambassador Krzysztof Suprowicz said that the contest was of a high value owing to the topics selected by the participants. "Mihai Tasca’s work shows that the Polish people participated in the public life in Bessarabia during 1917 - 1918. Mrs Larisa Turea spoke about the work and personality of the great Polish dramatist and director Tadeus Cantor. As regards Veronica Iftodii’s work, it illustrates the special particularities of the old architecture of Torun town, especially the gothic style,” the ambassador said. When receiving the awards, the winners said what inspired them to choose the topics with which they competed. Veronica Iftodii said that her work was inspired by the town itself. “I visited this old town. The first impression was decisive. The architecture and colors of the town are unique. The buildings are so old that they have all the range of colors on the exterior.” According to Larisa Turea, Tadeus Cantor is a personal example. “He is the man that showed to the West how to live in a dictatorial regime and remain a free man. I intend to bring the most famous play of Cantor, “The Dead House”, to the Actor’s House in Chisinau. Mihai Tasca said that his hero voted for Bessarabia’s union with Romania. “Thirty-five of the 126 deputies in the Country’s Council were representatives of minorities. Only three of them had the courage to vote for the union - Ukrainian Stefan Botnariuc, Russian Nicolae Cernov and Polish Felix Dutchievicz. I know the Polish unionist’s fate from after 1940. I hope I will be able to cover this gap." The contest was initiated by the Polish Embassy in Moldova with the aim of promoting the history, cultural patrimony and knowledge about Poland among students and scientists of Moldovan universities.