Ion Ciocanu (18 January 1940 – 2 July 2021) was a Moldovan literary critic.

[1] Ion Ciocanu was born on January 18, 1940, in Tabani, Briceni, then in Romania.

Ion Ciocanu graduated from Moldova State University in 1962 and got his PhD in 1965.

He worked for Moldova State University, "Cartea Moldovenească", "Literatura artistică", "Hyperion", Glasul Naţiunii, Editura Litera.

[2] Between 1993 and 1994, Ion Ciocanu served as Director General of the State Department of Languages (Romanian: Departamentul de Stat al Limbilor)[3] and between 1998 and 2001 he served as the head of the Division of the Promotion of Official Language (Romanian: Direcţia Promovare a Limbii Oficiale).