Grigore Vieru

Grigore Vieru (http://litere.md/2521-2/)

My hero is Grigore Vieru, a famous Moldovan writer. I believe he is more than a poet; he is the soul of my country. From childhood we grow with his poems for children, then we fall in love again with his poems dedicated to women and love and finally we grow old through his poems about mother, life and death.

Grigore Vieru was born on February 14, 1935 in the family of Pavel and Eudochia Vieru who were farmers. He graduated from the 7th grade school in his native village in 1950, after which he graduated the middle school from the town of Lipcani in 1953. In 1957, being a student, he published his first poems for children which were highly appreciated by critics. After he graduated the Faculty of Philology and History in 1959 he became the editor of a newspaper for children. In 1960 he married to Raisa Nacu, a Romanian and Latin teacher, and is engaged as the editor of a magazine. The year 1968 was the turning point of his career and destiny as he published a volume of lyrical poems, which was considered the most original book of the year. During his life Grigore Vieru wrote thousands of poems for children, lots of poems dedicated to mother, women, love and motherland. Many of his poems were turned into famous songs.

In 1988 he is awarded the most prestigious international distinction for children's book - Andersen's Award. He was elected Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy and in 1992 he was recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize. On January 16, 2009, Vieru suffered a serious traffic accident and died of severe injuries two days later. It is believed that his funeral was attended by about 10,000 people.

For the poet, physical disappearance did not mean death; he lives through his poetry, through the beautiful seeds he planted into the souls of his readers. Several schools in Moldova, a boulevard in Chisinau and a street in Iasi are named in honor of Grigore Vieru. On February 11, 2010, three days before his birthday, the bust of the poet was installed on the Classic Alley in Chisinau.

Grigore Vieru is my hero because he was able to reproduce the history of our nation in his poems; he was able to defend our country and its Latin origin through poetry. He knew the best how to put together words like Language, Mother, Love, Motherland and therefore he deserves the crown of our gratitude. He was the poet of Love, Love of the Country, and Love of the Truth. He brought back to Moldovan people their biggest treasure - the Latin alphabet and the Romanian language. He reminded them about their values. He urged them to preserve these treasures and pass them to the future generations. That is why Grigore Vieru is my hero.