Grigore Vieru
Poet of children's verse and song lyrics, and a voice of the 1989 language movement
1935-2009
Photo: Visem, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Loraine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Grigore Vieru was a poet best known in Moldova for his children's poetry, his song lyrics and the Abecedar of 1970, the reading primer he wrote with Spiridon Vangheli. In 1989 he was one of the leaders of the movement that made Romanian the official language. He died in 2009 after a road accident.
Link with MoldovaGrigore Vieru was born in Pererîta in northern Moldova, wrote the primer from which generations of Moldovan children learned to read, and in 1989 was one of the leaders of the movement for Romanian and the Latin alphabet.
Vieru was born on 14 February 1935 in Pererîta, in what is now Briceni district. He studied history and philology at the Ion Creangă Pedagogical University in Chișinău, graduating in 1958. He made his debut in 1957 with the children's book Alarma. The collection Numele tău (Your name, 1968) appeared with an introduction by Ion Druță. The Abecedar of 1970, written with Spiridon Vangheli, was reissued in the Latin alphabet in 1989.
He wrote lyrics for many Moldovan composers. In 1989 he was elected a member of parliament. He was one of the organisers of the Great National Assembly of 27 August 1989 and a co-founder of the Popular Front. He took part in the debates in which Romanian became the official language and the Latin alphabet replaced Cyrillic. The Romanian Academy made him an honorary member in 1990 and a corresponding member in 1993.
On the night of 15 to 16 January 2009 he was seriously injured in a road accident; he died in Chișinău on 18 January. The day of his funeral, 20 January, was a day of national mourning.
Where you will find him
His grave is in the Central Cemetery on Strada Armeană. Since 11 February 2010 his bust has stood in the Aleea Clasicilor, and a boulevard in Chișinău bears his name. His family home in Pererîta has been turned into a house museum with manuscripts, photographs and translations.
Key facts
- Born in Pererîta on 14 February 1935
- Abecedar with Spiridon Vangheli in 1970
- Co-organiser of the Great National Assembly in 1989
- Died in Chișinău on 18 January 2009
- Bust in the Aleea Clasicilor since 2010
