Literature

Grigore Vieru

Poet · 1935 – 2009

One of the most cherished poets of the Republic of Moldova, known both for his poetry for children and for his profound lyric verse. He became a symbol of the national revival and of the cultural rapprochement between the two banks of the Prut.

Grigore Vieru (b. 14 February 1935, Pererîta, Hotin county – d. 18 January 2009, Chișinău) was a poet, writer and campaigner for the Romanian language and for national identity, one of the most cherished voices of the literature of Bessarabia. Born in a village that at the time lay in Romania, today in the Briceni district, into a family of peasants, he became a symbol of the Moldovan national revival.

Literary career

He attended school in his native village, then the secondary school in Lipcani, in 1953. He made his publishing debut in 1957 with a slim volume of verse for children, „Alarma” (The Alarm), well received by literary critics. Grigore Vieru's poetry is characterised by the sacred image of the mother, by attachment to nature, to the native soil and to the Romanian language. Among his landmark works are the volumes „Mama” (Mother), „Numele tău” (Your Name), „Aproape” (Close By) and „Un verde ne vede” (A Green Sees Us), as well as the influential „Abecedar” (Primer), through which whole generations of children discovered writing in Romanian.

Legacy

Grigore Vieru was one of the leaders of the national revival movement in Bessarabia in the late 1980s and early 1990s, campaigning for the return to the Latin script and for the affirmation of Romanian identity. His verses, many of them set to music, became songs known on both banks of the Prut.

In January 2009 the poet was seriously injured in a road accident near Chișinău and died two days later, on 18 January. His death was felt as a national loss. Today Grigore Vieru is commemorated through festivals, statues and institutions bearing his name, remaining one of the most treasured poets of the Romanian nation.

A symbol of the national revival

Beyond his work, Grigore Vieru was a conscience of the nation, present at the great national assemblies in Chișinău in 1989–1990, which called for a return to the Latin alphabet and for the recognition of the Romanian language. He was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy and the recipient of numerous literary prizes on both banks of the Prut. His poems, translated into dozens of languages, continue to be studied in schools, and the songs composed to his verses remain part of the musical treasury of the Romanian lands.