Nicolae Timofti

Nicolae Timofti (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e tiˈmofti]; born 22 December 1948) is a Moldovan politician and jurist who was President of Moldova from 23 March 2012 until 23 December 2016. He served as head of Moldova's Supreme Magistrate Council and was elected President by parliament on 16 March 2012.

Timofti was born to Elena (born 1927) and Vasile Timofti in Ciutulești, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union, and has four siblings. At the beginning of 1949, his family moved to Florești. On 6 July 1949, his paternal grandfather Tudor Timofti was deported by Soviet authorities to the Amur region, where he died in 1953. Timofti graduated from the law school of Moldova State University in 1972.

After graduation, Timofti spent two years in the Soviet Army before beginning his career as a judge in 1976. "He is a person who was with us when we started reforms in the 1990s," Mihai Ghimpu said. In 2005, Timofti was appointed to the Higher Judicial Chamber and, in 2011, he was named chairman of the Supreme Council of Magistrates.

After his election by parliament, Timofti identified Moldova's European orientation as a priority, as it had been the country's policy during the previous years; he stated that this policy "must continue" and that his country "has no other future than a European future". Former acting president and speaker of the Parliament of Moldova Mihai Ghimpu called Timofti "...a progressive man, [which] means a lot for the Republic of Moldova."

Timofti is married to the lawyer Margareta Timofti and they have three sons: Alexei (born 1977) works as a lawyer for the World Bank in Washington, Nicu (born 1980) is a sports journalist in Chișinău, and Ștefan (born 1989) studies economics in Chișinău.