A cultural center in memory of Grigore Vieru will be created in Chisinau with the assistance of partners from Romania. The draft project was presented recently, being discussed with members of the poet’s family, mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban announced in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services. Today, February 14, Grigore Vieru would have turned 87, IPN reports.

The mayor said the new cultural center will emphasize the works of poet Grigore Vieru. It will host exhibitions of the poet’s manuscripts, translations of the bard’s works in a number of languages and literary criticism works, and also thematic evenings and lectures.

The building of “Grigore Vieru” Museum is situated at the intersection of the streets Mihai Eminescu and Alexei Mateevici and is an architectural monument of local importance. It was introduced into the Register of Monuments of History and Culture of the municipality of Chisinau in 1995.

Grigore Vieru was born on February 14, 1935 in Pererita village of Briceni district. He is valued by people of all ages. He wrote multiple poems for children and was given the most prestigious international children’s literature award – Andersen Diploma of Honor. He was also conferred the honorific title of People’s Writer and the Order of the Republic. He is a national renaissance poet. A boulevard in Chisinau and a number of national education institutions bear the name of Grigore Vieru. The poet died on January 18, 2009 as a result of a road accident not far from Chisinau that occurred on January 16, one month before he would have turned 74.