Nicolae Sulac

Sulac was born in September 1936 in Sadîc, a village in what was then the Romanian county of Cahul, in the south of today's Republic of Moldova. His artistic career began in 1959 in the Doina choir. In 1965 he became the soloist of the Fluieraș folk orchestra, and in the 1970s and early 1980s he was the regular singer of the Lăutarii ensemble.

He sang of the joys and sorrows of his people and left behind hundreds of songs that he wrote or performed, along with filmed concerts. His interpretation of Miorița, the old ballad about a shepherd who foresees his own death, became his best-known song. He was given the title of People's Artist and, after independence, in 1992, the Order of the Republic. In 2002 he set up a foundation to support folk music. He died in Chișinău in April 2003 after a stroke; the posthumous album La o margine de drum came out in 2007.

The link with Moldova

Sulac worked in Moldova all his life and became a symbol of Moldovan folk music. Marking his seventieth birthday, the news agency IPN called him "the golden voice" and "the conscience of Bessarabia".

Where you will find him

He is buried in the Central Cemetery on Strada Armenească in Chișinău, where a bust was unveiled on 9 October 2004. The National Palace, the capital's large concert hall, was named after him. A lyceum in Chișinău, a music school in Florești and a national festival for young folk singers also bear his name.