President Maia Sandu decreed June 24 as a day of national mourning to pay tribute to Spiridon Vangheli, who died Friday, aged 92.

Under the decree, as the beloved children’s book author will be buried with honors on Monday, the national flag shall be flown at half-mast across the country and at Moldova’s diplomatic missions abroad, and a moment of silence shall be kept nationwide at 12:00 PM.

“Spiridon Vangheli, the writer who throughout his life made great literature for the little ones, left the Blue Hut of his childhood and stepped into eternity. We are left behind by Guguță’s Father, but we will always have Guguță and the other heroes created by the master who gave us a place in world literature”, the president declared.

Sandu added about Vangheli’s best known character, a young boy wearing a signature sheepskin hat: “Guguță’s eyes saw the world as it should be: frank, wonderful and humane. We are trying to find the kindness and gentleness of Guguță’s world all our lives”.

On June 24, the day of the funeral, the national broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova will air programs celebrating Spiridon Vangheli’s life and work. Public institutions are asked to refrain from holding entertainment events, and media organizations are encouraged to consider the mourning mood in their programing and content-making.