Grigore Vieru

Grigore Vieru (Romanian pronunciation: [ɡriˈɡore viˈeru]; 14 February 1935 – 18 January 2009) was a Moldovan poet, writer and unionist advocate,[1] known for his poems and books for children.

His first publishing debut was in 1957, a booklet of poems for children, «Alarma» («Alarm»), appreciated by literary critics.The following year, Vieru graduated from the Ion Creangă Pedagogical State University in Chișinău with a degree in history and philology.

Many moldavian composers were inspired by the poetry of Grigore Vieru (songbook «Poftim de intrați», «Cine crede» etc.

1968 was turning point for the poet's destiny; this year became remarkable by the volume of lyrical «Numele Tău» («Your name»), with an introductory written by Ion Druță.

Three poems in the volume are entitled: Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Brâncuși, and another two are dedicated to Nicolae Labiș and Marin Sorescu.

He participated in the meeting with the editors of the «20th Century» magazine: Dan Haulică, Ștefan Augustin Doinaș, Ioanichie Olteanu, Geo Șerban, Tatiana Nicolescu.

[5] At the driver’s seat was Gheorghe Munteanu, emeritus artist of the Republic of Moldova and deputy director of the "Joc" folk dance troop of Chișinău, who being in an easier state.

The funeral was attended by tens of thousands of people, the divisions of Grigore Vieru, as professor Dan Dungaciu called them in his article.

The Romanian president Traian Băsescu has posthumously awarded Grigore Vieru with the Order of the Star of Romania, Grand Cross.

In 1988, in the newspaper Literatura şi Arta (Literature and Art) in Chișinău, the first Latin-written text from post-war Bessarabia has appeared.

[14] In June 1989, Vieru has got the approval of the Soviet authorities to publish the weekly Literatura si Arta in Latin writing, the editors of the newspaper mentioned that in all Soviet Moldova there were no typewriter of Latin letters, except the one from the Academy of Sciences of the MSSR and of professor Iulius Popa from Bălți.

Under these conditions, Grigore Vieru and the editor-in-chief of Literatura și Arta, Nicolae Dabija, went to Bucharest to get the typewriter for the newspaper.

The Romanian authorities were delaying the answer, and the antiquarian shop from which they could buy such a device was closed these days because of some technical issues.

However, Vieru and Dabija were helped by the priest Vasile Țepordei, who brought to the station a bag containing the 31 metallic signs of the Latin alphabet, cut by him from his own typewriter.

Grigore Vieru wrote in the Literatura și Arta magazine the following: "Historical justice will blame the poets and composers who will dare to raise their hands on the National Hymn "Deșteaptă-te, române!"

Grigore Vieru, Ion Vatamanu and Serafim Saka in '70.
The plaque on Grigore Vieru Boulevard in Chișinău
Grigore Vieru, picture by Paul Mecet