Poet Grigore Vieru commemorated in Chişinău
Poet Grigore Vieru, who would have been 76 years old today, was commemorated in Chişinău. He died in a car accident in January 2009.
Articol de Lina Grâu, Chişinău, 15 Februarie 2011, 12:06
High officials, cultural figures and intellectuals laid wreaths at the bronze bust of Grigore Vieru on the Alley of Classics of Romanian Literature in the centre of Chişinău.
Moreover, books were released, poetry recitals and concerts were given, both in Chişinău and in other towns in the Republic of Moldova.
Grigore Vieru, considered one of the greatest poets of Bessarabia, passed away on 17 January 2009, after being involved in a car accident.
A few thousand people attended the funerals.
In 1993, the poet became a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy.
Grigore Vieru was born on 14 February 1935, in the Pererita village, on the bank of Siret, in the former Romanian Hotin county, presently the Briceni district in the Republic of Moldova
Barely accepted by the communist regime, Grigore Vieru took refuge in the lyric of love and poetry for children during the Soviet regime.
Entire generations of people grew up in Bessarabia listening to and reading the verses about mothers and childhood written by Grigore Vieru, and every family has his abecedary, called ‘The little bee’.
At the end of the ’80, Grigore Vieru had a leading role in inspiring the Bessarabians’ liberation movement.
Starting 1988, the poet led a political battle for the national identity of the Romanian people born in Bessarabia and supported the reunification of Romania and Bessarabia.
The critics named Grigore Vieru ‘the Eminescu of Bessarabia’.
Translated by: Raluca Mizdrea
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University
