Writers, artists, readers of all ages that love the works of poet Grigore Vieru bewail the premature death of the bard, who was a real symbol of the national Bessarabian Renaissance, of the fright for the Romanian language and national Romanian identity, a joint statement signed by over 70 Moldovan persons of culture says. According to the statement, the public and literary work of the poet contributed significantly to the acknowledgment of the unity of the Romanian culture through participation in the most important cultural events on both banks of the Prut. The signatories say that Grigore Vieru was a people’s teacher who created the spirit of the good and the beauty for the whole generation of children and adolescents. Through the agency of his works, the poet significantly contributed to the renewal of the mentality and position on the historic destiny of our people and its place in the contemporary civilization, the statement, says, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Writers consider Grigore Vieru’s demise an irrecoverable loss for the whole Romanian literature and culture. “His works inspired by such sacred values as mother, love, the Romanian language, the historic truth and the Romanian people remain eternal.” The place of the great poet that died on the day of Saint Gregory the Great is in “the sacred pantheon of the Romanian people,” the signatories say. Among the signatories are Mihai Cimpoi, Arcadie Suceveanu, Spiridon Vangheli, Petru Soltan, Andrei Strambeanu, Nicolae Dabija, Ion Hadarca, Valeriu Matei, Igor Cretu, Anatol Codru, Anatol Gujel, Leonida Lari, Teo Chiriac, Nicolae Rusu, Marcela Benea and others. The funeral will take place on January 20, which was announced a day of national mourning. Grigore Vieru’s body will be placed in the hall of the National Opera House on Tuesday, after 9.00. Until then, he will lie in the Saint Teodora of Sihla Church.