Grigore Vieru passed away

Grigore Vieru departed this life as a result of a cardiac arrest on Sunday night at 01.20. The poet suffered from cardiovascular, renal-hepatic and respiratory insufficiency, Minister of Health Larisa Catrinici has said. According to the minister, the poet had been in a critical condition during the 48 hours after the car accident. “We hoped in a miracle, but it did not come. The doctors held three councils and consulted their colleagues in Bucharest and Frankfurt, but the trauma was too serious and nothing could be done.” The death of the poet as a result of cardiac arrest was also confirmed by Aurel Grosu, the first vice director of the Institute of Cardiology. “A progressive cardiac insufficiency was ascertained at 1.00. Unfortunately, the resuscitation measures did not produce results and the poet died.” It is not yet known when and where the poet will be buried. Grigore Vieru was born in 1935 in a peasant family in Pererata village of Briceni district. In 1957, while a student, he made his editorial debut with a poetry book for children titled "Alarma" (“The Alarm”), which was appreciated by literary critics. The volume of lyric poems "Numele tau" (“Your Name”) with a preface by Ion Druta published in 1968 marked a turning point in the poet’s destiny. Literary critics described the books as the most original collection of poems. In the same year, it began to be studied at the national contemporary literature university courses. In 1973, Grigore Vieru crosses the Prut as part of a delegation of Soviet writers. He returned to Chisinau with a sack of books. Later, the poet confessed: “Some people dream of flying into the cosmos, but my dream was to cross the Prut.” In 1978, the poet became a laureate of Moldova’s State Prize for the collection of poems “Un verde ne vede” (“A Green Sees Us”). In 1980, he started to cooperate with Doina and Ion Aldea-Teodorovici. There is produced a film about Grigore Vieru “Aproape” (“Close”). In 1982, the musical film for children “Maria Mirabela” by the prominent director Ion Popescu Gopo was released. The music was written by Eugen Doga, while the texts for the songs by Grigore Vieru. In 1988, he was awarded the “Andersen” Diploma of Honor of the International Board on Books for Young People. In 1991, he was honored with the Top Prize “Hercules” for literature. For special contribution towards the assertion of the ideals of national unity, he was awarded the prize of “Romanul” publishing house for 1990. In 1992, he was conferred the honorary title “People’s Writer of Moldova” and awarded the prize of “Europa” journal for his realistic position on national unity. The Romanian Academy proposed him for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was honored with the international prize for poetry “Lucian Blaga”. In 1994, he won the Special Prize of the Writers Union of Moldova for “Albinuta” – the book for Romanian preschool children from everywhere. In 2000, he was awarded Romania’s Governmental Medal “Eminescu. 150 Years of the Birth” and the Diploma and Trophy of the “Romania — 2000” Foundation. In 2005, the Chisinau Teacher Training University “Ion Creanga” conferred on him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. On January 16, 2009, the poet was involved in a road accident. He was taken to the Emergency Hospital in Chisinau, where he died 48 hours later.