Mihai Ghimpu was born on 19 November 1951 in the village of Colonița, Chișinău, Moldavian SSR.[6] His mother, Irina Ursu (daughter of Haralambie Ursu) died in 2003; she worked at the local kolkhoz. His father, Toader Ghimpu (deceased in 1980), was an elementary school teacher only a few years because he completed only seven years of schooling during the Romanian rule, then he worked at the local kolkhoz too. Mihai Ghimpu is the youngest brother of Gheorghe Ghimpu, Simion Ghimpu, Visarion, and Valentina (mother of Dorin Chirtoacă). He has been married, for more than 30 years, to Dina Ghimpu, an employee of Moldova's Culture Ministry; they have no children.[7]
Education and early career
After attending elementary school in his hometown, Mihai Ghimpu enrolled in School no.1 of Chișinău (now "Gheorghe Asachi" High School). After high school, he carried out the compulsory military service in the Soviet army until 1972. Then, Ghimpu studied law at Moldova State University (1974–1978), after which worked as legal counsel to state enterprises. In 1978–1990 years he worked as a lawyer, headed the legal departments of various companies and served as a judge in Sectorul Rîșcani of Chișinău.
In the late 1980s Ghimpu joined the democratic movement. He was one of the founders of the Popular Front of Moldova, a member of the executive committee of the movement, known as one of the leading political forces in Moldova. In 1990 polls, Mihai Ghimpu was elected to Moldovan Parliament as a representative of Popular Front and in 1994 polls as a representative of the Bloc of the Intellectuals. Alongside parliament members, Ghimpu voted the Declaration of Independence of Moldova in 1991.
According to last polls made in 2019 referring to the most popular politicians of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Ghimpu is on the fifteenth position among the top of politicians in which Moldovans have the highest trust,[9] and the others are on the eleventh position[10]
Timeline
Mihai Ghimpu
1988–1993: Founder of the democratic movement the Popular Front of Moldova, member of the Executive Office
Mihai Ghimpu on 28 August 2009: "I thank my colleagues for their trust. I hope that while in this post I will cooperate for a free press, independent legal system, and a state of law of which all the Moldovan citizens will be proud."[15]
Speaking at the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva on 20 July 2010, Ghimpu said: "Why have we become the poorest country in Europe? Not only because we did not carry out democratic reforms at the right time, but also because today on the territory of Moldova, part of an occupation army and its equipment continue to be stationed."[16][17][18]
President of Moldova
On 11 September 2009, he became the acting president of Moldova.[19] The interim position was possible following the resignation of Moldovan President, Vladimir Voronin, announced in the morning of 11 September 2009 on the public broadcaster Moldova 1.[20] The resignation letter was sent to the Parliament secretariat and by a vote of 52 deputies in the plenary session of the legislature the post of the President of the Republic of Moldova was declared vacant. Therefore, in accordance with Article 91 of the Constitution of 1994, which provides that "the responsibility of the office shall devolve ad interim to the President of Parliament or the Prime Minister, in that order of priority", Mihai Ghimpu has become the interim President of the Republic of Moldova until a new president is elected by the Parliament.
Mihai Ghimpu is known as an unambiguous supporter of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic identity:
What have we gained having as leaders people who knew that the language is Romanian and that we are Romanians, but acknowledged this truth only after they left office? I have not come to manipulate the citizens, but to tell them the truth.[24]
