Husband of Sofia Rotaru Anatoly. Sofia Rotaru saved her husband for five years

The fate of Sofia Rotaru was destined to become a famous singer. From birth, she had a good voice and hearing, it only remained to develop her talent. The first teacher for little Sophia was her sister Zinaida. The girl was blind and therefore had absolute hearing. She listened to songs that were broadcast on the radio, and then taught her sister to sing them. Sophia's father also had a good voice and they sang songs with their daughter.

Sofia was fond of not only singing. She was a versatile child. The girl was very successful in athletics, mastered the game on several musical instruments. But her main passion was singing.

In order for her talent to be appreciated, Sofia began to participate in various music competitions. A talented girl was noticed and began to be invited to perform on radio and television. But 1962 can be considered the beginning of a career. From that moment to the present, Sofia Rotaru has not lost popularity. She experiments with styles, but at the same time her music is relevant for both young people and the older generation.

Sofia Rotaru considers her husband Anatoly Evdokimenko her guardian angel. He was ready for numerous actions for the sake of his wife, and it was he who made the singer popular.

Anatoly was born in Ukraine in the wonderful city of Chernivtsi. Before meeting Rotaru, he did not even think about a musical career. The guy studied at the university and received a diploma in mathematics. But one photo literally turned his life upside down.

Once Anatoly caught the eye of the cover of the magazine "Ukraine". It depicted a beautiful young singer, and the article described her success in music competitions. It was young Sofia Rotaru. The girl sunk into the soul of Anatoly so much that he decided to find her and get to know her.

Evdokimenko managed to carry out his plan. He met the singer and in order to be constantly around decided to master the musical alphabet. The guy learned to play the trumpet, and later, he created the Chervona Ruta team. All his efforts were aimed at creating all the conditions for the development of his beloved. In the ensemble, Sofia Rotaru was a soloist, and Anatoly was a musician. Their creative union lasted for several years.

More than three years have passed since Anatoly and Sofia met until their wedding. All this time, the guy sought reciprocity from his beloved. For two years, Sofia did not reciprocate the guy's advances. But love still won. The girl agreed to the marriage proposal. In 1968, they formalized their relationship.

Already as a married couple, Sofia and Anatoly traveled almost the whole world together. First, the singer followed her husband to distant Novosibirsk, where he was sent while serving in the army. After the service ended, Anatoly accompanied Sofia everywhere during her tour.

Interesting Notes:

Two years after the wedding, the couple had a son, who was named Ruslan. The child grew up surrounded by creativity and music, so Ruslan, when he matured, took up producing. For Anatoly Evdokimenko, his wife was the meaning of life. For her sake, he learned to play a musical instrument, became its administrator, and later, concert director. There were also quite non-standard actions, but which proved his absolute love.

Since the singer was born in a Moldovan family, her native language was Moldovan. In order to surprise her, Anatoly learned the Moldavian language and confessed his love to his wife in it.

Sofia also loved her husband very much. When, in adulthood, he was faced with many diseases, she was constantly nearby. She literally pulled him out of the clutches of death when Anatoly was diagnosed with an oncological disease. The singer spared neither money nor time for her husband to recover. Together they achieved results - the disease receded.

But oncology seriously shook Anatoly's health. He started having heart problems. After the tragedy that happened in the man's family, he survived the first stroke. Even before he really had time to leave him, he again ended up in the hospital with the same diagnosis. Anatoly's heart could not stand the third stroke and he died in the hospital.

After the news of the death of her beloved husband, Sofia Rotaru canceled all concerts and performances. She missed the final "Song of the Year" for the first time in 30 years. The singer was very upset by the loss of a loved one. She was even going to leave the stage, but relatives persuaded her to continue to sing and create. It was her son Ruslan who took over the duties of the administrator and helped her continue her concert activity.

For many years, the singer has been alone. From time to time there are rumors that Rotaru secretly got married. Rotaru prefers not to comment on such rumors. Close people know that she still loves her husband and keeps the memory of him as a person who was ready for anything for love.

Sofia ROTARU prophetically called her last album "I still love you." She seemed to know that these were the words she would have to say to the person who was everything to her in life! In an artistic environment, a long-lasting marriage is a rarity. Their union was a rare and happy exception.

Our call with sincere condolences found Sofia Rotaru in her Kyiv apartment in a state of deep sorrow. Nevertheless, the singer found the strength to say a few words through incessant tears.

- Sonechka, how are you?- Bad, very bad! - Please hold on, you are a strong woman, do not break, overcome this grief!- Yes, thank you, I'll try ... They lived together for over 30 years. At one of the last concerts in Moscow, Sofia, before performing the song "Chekai" ("Wait"), said: "I sing it for a man who devoted his whole life to me and my work. To my husband Anatoly Evdokimenko." When she sang, tears shone in her eyes ...

Anatoly Kirillovich had been ill for a long time. A few years ago, he, the artistic director of her ensemble "Chervona Ruta", suffered his first stroke and was speechless. And shortly before her husband's illness, Rotaru's mother died, then her matchmaker was killed. In a word, trouble never comes alone.

I could only congratulate with a glance

Almost all the money that Sofia Mikhailovna earned, she spent on her husband's treatment. She moved Tolik to their house on the Black Sea, not far from Yalta, near the famous Nikitsky Botanical Garden. There, the climate is better, and the silence, and the sea is nearby. He was given a massage, a speech therapist tried to restore his speech. In the soul of Rotaru, hope flared up ...

On August 7, Sofia Mikhailovna received guests at her anniversary at her home in Yalta. Tolik congratulated his beloved with hugs, kisses and just looks - unfortunately, he could not do otherwise. He helped Sonechka marinate the barbecue, and at the official reception he was always there and even sipped a glass of Crimean wine for the love, health and success of his wife.

On August 17, Rotaru was supposed to perform at the Yalta Avangard stadium in honor of the city's day, with a new solo program. But in the morning Anatoly became once again ill with his heart. He was taken by ambulance to the city hospital. The stroke happened again. Anatoly was in a coma, and Sofia Mikhailovna had to entertain the unsuspecting Yalta residents in the 7,000-seat stadium in the evening. The concert could not be cancelled. She worked brilliantly: the stadium roared with delight. And only relatives guessed what was happening in the soul of the singer.

Soon Rotaru turned to Leonid Kuchma for help. Anatoly Evdokimenko was transported to a hospital in Kyiv on the President's personal helicopter. He was placed in one of the best clinics in the capital of Ukraine.

A small improvement in her husband's health - and she agrees to go on tour, then to shoot in the New Year's musical in Kiev ... Together with her son Ruslan and daughter-in-law Svetlana, she goes to perform in Germany. Only three concerts remained until the end of the tour, but then Evdokimenko had a third stroke. Already in the evening Sofia Mikhailovna was in Kyiv and managed to catch her husband alive, but, unfortunately, unconscious. Ruslan and Sveta drove home from Frankfurt and rushed to the hospital a day later. Unfortunately it's too late...

Love Worthy of a Romance

They met in the distant 60s. He then served in Nizhny Tagil, and she was a soloist of the Chernivtsi Philharmonic. And after the next republican review of amateur performances, the photograph of young Sonya got on the cover of the magazine "Ukraine". Anatoly fell in love immediately and set the main goal of his life to find this girl and win her heart at all costs.

He succeeded. True, not immediately. In order to be with his beloved, Anatoly had to learn the Moldavian language. For her, he created the Chervona Ruta ensemble and became its artistic director.

"I was just lucky with Sonya, - said in an interview Anatoly Kirillovich. - After all, if we were both not musicians, we would rarely see each other. Sonya constantly went on tour, to shoot ... And since I directed Chervona Ruta, we were always together. "I often remember this happiest moment in my life: my beloved proposed to me, and I'm getting married! - Sofia Rotaru told in an interview a few months ago.- Our musicians alternately played Moldovan and Ukrainian melodies. Everything was so wonderful and unique! He courted me for a long time and persistently: somehow I didn’t immediately see in him that only one - for life. In fact, only now I understand that my husband is my destiny.

Irina BARYSHEVA, Evgeny ROMANOV

Childhood

Ukraine became the birthplace of Sophia Rotaru, the girl was born in the village of Marshintsy, in the summer of 1947. The girl's parents were ordinary villagers. His father was a foreman, his mother worked in the market. The sonorous surname of the singer speaks of her Moldovan roots. It is interesting that at first the birth of the baby was mistakenly recorded on August 9, instead of 7. So, the artist had two birthdays instead of the prescribed one, she continues to celebrate both of these happy days.

Not forgetting their roots, the parents spoke the Moldovan language, urging the children to remember their origin. In addition to Sofia, the family had four more children: three brothers and two sisters. The talented girl received her data by inheritance, the singer's father and older sister had excellent hearing and voice. Having lost her sight at a young age, her sister began to teach the future star to perform songs in Russian. This is how Sofia Rotaru began her musical journey, in which her father believed in a great future.

Due to her sister's illness, Sophia was considered the eldest in the family, which naturally forced her to do a lot of housework and help her relatives. The atmosphere of love and help to each other reigned in the family.

Being extremely active and inquisitive, the girl from childhood was fond of many different activities. Achieving success in all her endeavors, Rotaru received the title of all-around school champion. In addition to sports success, she was engaged in theater and learned to play musical instruments. She mastered the game on domra and button accordion.

Having good vocal abilities, Sofia together with her family she sang many songs during home gatherings. The young lady owed her nickname "nightingale" to the beautiful contralto, which did not go unnoticed by the audience during her tour of the region.

Fame

• Fame came to a young performer at the age of fifteen with a victory in a regional amateur competition. The victory gave the young girl the opportunity to test herself in the championship at the regional level. Having won a year later at the regional level, Rotaru at the age of seventeen becomes a participant in the Republican Festival of Performers and wins there. Having gained great fame, the young singer successfully performs at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Having received all-Union recognition, the artist gets on the cover of the magazine "Ukraine".
• At twenty-one, young Sofia Rotaru becomes the winner of an international festival held in Bulgaria and gets on the pages of all publications in the country.
• Three years later, the film “Chervona Ruta” comes out to the audience, the songs performed by the Ukrainian singer for this musical tape bring Sofia national success. So, the star of the music scene becomes a member of the pop ensemble belonging to the Chernivtsi Philharmonic.
• The artist begins her annual participation in the “Song of the Year” from the age of twenty-six after winning the Golden Orpheus competition. Only once she will not take part in the performance, the reason for this will be the untimely death of the singer's husband in 2002. Together with participation in the final of the "Song of the Year" Rotaru is given the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine.
• A year later, the first song album was released, and at the age of twenty-eight, the singer moved to live in beautiful Yalta. The change of residence brings work in the Crimean Philharmonic and the well-deserved title of People's Artist.
• From 1976 to 1983, the singer released a number of albums recorded in foreign languages, which provoked a ban on traveling abroad, while continuing to work in the Crimean region. At thirty-six, Rotaru received the title of People's Artist of Moldova.
• Sofia Mikhailovna begins her solo career in 1986, for the next fifteen years, cooperation with the composer Matetsky brings a large number of hits to the work of the famous singer. Two years after the start of her solo career, Sofia Rotaru becomes the People's Artist of the USSR.

During the period of her work, Rotaru collaborated with the ballet "Todes", celebrated the twentieth anniversary of her creative activity in the concert hall "Russia" and, without losing popularity after the collapse of the Soviet Union, continued her career as a singer. In addition to success in creativity, the artist became the owner of many awards and titles.

Personal

Together with the assignment of one of the most significant titles - the hero of Ukraine, a tragedy comes to the artist's family - her husband dies.

Sophia met her future husband after the 1964 issue of a magazine with her face on the cover. Seeing the young singer on the front side of the publication, Anatoly decided that the girl was perfect for the role of a soloist in his musical group. Four years later, the couple got married, maintaining their relationship until the death of her husband. Sofia Rotaru experienced the loss of her beloved husband hard, interrupting his creative activity for a while.

In family life, Sofia Mikhailovna was happy, the couple had a son, who today is engaged in musical production. Ruslan is married and has two children.

The artist still looks young today, always remaining in good shape. The star of the musical Olympus does not advertise her personal life, fans take information about the life of the artist from the social networks of her relatives. Continuing her creative activity, she releases wonderful compositions that will certainly become hits.

There is a legend that during the collapse of the Soviet Union, the leaders of Moldova, Ukraine and Russia lamented: how could they divide the singer Sofia Rotaru. Each president wanted to see it as a national treasure of his state. “Not a bad anecdote,” Sofia Mikhailovna laughs.

Seriously, I used to always say that I feel like a Ukrainian Moldavian. Now I want to say: “I feel like just a man!” Three cultures live in me at the same time - Russian, Moldovan and Ukrainian.” For more than forty-five years, the singer has been performing on the professional stage.

It seems that over the decades of popularity, outwardly Rotaru has not changed at all. When asked how he manages to look so good, he names traditional sports and the right way of life. “I try to exercise regularly on simulators, I love swimming, sauna, massage,” she admits. “Of course, I watch my diet, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, I practically don’t use salt and I try not to eat after six in the evening.” Sofia Mikhailovna considers herself a gambler only in creativity, but she doesn’t like to experiment with her appearance: “I think that maintaining your individuality is much more difficult than constantly changing something in yourself.

You tell me: do you imagine Rotaru a bright blonde or no hair at all? To be honest, I don't." Not everyone knows that after the death of her husband Anatoly Evdokimenko in October 2002, Sofia Rotaru lost her desire to sing and go out in public. - Sonya was so worried that we were afraid to leave her alone! - recalls the younger sister Aurika Rotaru. - Of course, as they could, supported. Sonya refused all concerts and filming, for the first time in thirty years she did not participate in the final of the TV program “Song of the Year”.

For six months, she generally disappeared from television screens. She didn’t sing, didn’t go on stage, closed herself. Every day in the morning she went to the cemetery, to the grave of her husband, and spent several hours there. I talked to him like he was alive! Watching her suffer was unbearably hard. One evening, her son Ruslan sat Sonya down and said: “Mom, you need to work. At least for the sake of the memory of his father! Come on, dedicate new songs to him. Let him rejoice for us THERE.”

Convinced my mother to start singing, found new composers. Sonya recorded an album dedicated to Anatoly Evdokimenko and called it "The Only One". She threw herself into work. She ran away to dances through the window. Rotaru inherited a special love for her family and relatives from her parents Alexandra Ivanovna and Mikhail Fedorovich, who raised six children. The eldest is Zinaida, then Sophia, Lydia, Anatoly, Eugene and the youngest is Aurika.

As a child, I really wanted to be like my sister, - says Aurika Rotaru. - We have eleven years of difference: I graduated from school, and Sonya was already a famous singer. I watched her on TV and told everyone: “I will become the same as Sofia.” (laughs) Our dad was especially proud of Sony's success.

In his youth, he also dreamed of a stage, he had a voice that was amazing in beauty and strength. In the army, of course, dad was the lead singer. But it did not work out: at first the war prevented, then a large family appeared. Dad wanted one of us to become a singer, but Sonya was especially singled out. He said: “Here she will be a real artist!” When guests came to the house, they stayed up late, dad picked up the sleeping, still very little Sonic (as her parents called her) and asked to sing. They put it on a stool, and Sonya sang some Moldavian folk song.

For this they gave sweets or even money - twenty to thirty kopecks. Sonya later shared this "fee" with us. In general, everyone in our family sang. Since childhood, I have a picture before my eyes: a day off, my parents and I sit in the courtyard of the house and sing. And Moldovan, and Ukrainian, and Russian songs. Such a beautiful polyphony turned out. Too bad they didn't make audio recordings at the time. The plot of the family was large - one hectare. With a garden, a garden, living creatures. There was a job for everyone. Sonya, for example, has been milking a cow since she was six years old, and her sisters and brothers took care of the cattle and helped in the garden.

All the children were at work. The day in the family began early - at six in the morning. First - work in the yard, then - breakfast and study at school. Sometimes they went to the market to sell their fruits and vegetables. They survived as best they could. The younger ones wore clothes for the older ones, just like in an ordinary poor family with many children. - Sonya grew up a lively girl, - Aurika smiles. - She loved to climb trees.

A couple of times her father rewarded her with slaps on the back of the head for this. We visited other people's gardens for cherries or strawberries. And before school exams - for flowers. Although we have all this grew, but our own is not interesting. In the evenings, when my parents fell asleep, we slowly got out through the window and went to play the Cossack robbers. Once they played so much that they did not notice how morning had come. We run to the house, climb into the window, and in the room my father is sitting with a belt. We are waiting. Oh, and he drove us then! (laughs)

In the seventh grade, Sonya began to sneak out through our window to dance at the country club. One day, her father caught her in the same way. But our older sister Zina did not allow him to punish his daughter. She stood between Sonya and her father: “Dad, Sonya is already big, she wants to dance. Don't scold her!" But Sonya Rotaru had little time for pranks. She went to a music school, played the domra, went in for athletics, even won regional olympiads. Early began to participate in amateur performances in the village club. She also performed in neighboring villages.

And since the concerts were held mainly in the evenings, Alexandra Ivanovna’s mother grumbled: “You can’t let such a young girl go in the evenings. Who will marry then? I was afraid that the reputation in the village would be damaged. But Zina again stood up for Sonya. She even cried, persuading her mother: “Let Sonya go. She needs it!” The husband died in Sonya's arms - In our village Marshintsy there was such a tradition: a girl of sixteen or seventeen years old can already get married, - recalls Aurika Rotaru. - When she reached this age, on the central square near the club staged dance-bride.

If, in front of everyone, the guys invite the girl to dance, then she has become an adult, it's time to get married. And now it's Sony's turn. Mom persuaded her for a long time: "Daughter, go." And the kind - in any. A week later, Sonya still came to the "bride". Of course, our local guys did not disregard such a beauty. In the village, Sonya was still small called "feticefrumoase", which means "beautiful girl" in Moldovan. And that same evening two young men came to our house. So it was customary: after dancing, go to the girl and knock on the threshold so that she comes out to you on a date. We hear someone knocking.

Mom says: “Sonya, come out. The suitors have come to you." - “I won’t go out. You wanted me to go to the dance, come out yourself!” So I didn’t go to the “grooms”. Then our dad talked to the guys, explained that his daughter was not yet ready for marriage, she wanted to go to Chernivtsi to study at a music school. While studying at the school, Sofia Rotaru won the republican amateur art competition and received a cash prize - one hundred and twenty rubles! Sofia Mikhailovna later recalled: “I came to a Kyiv hotel after the award, fanned out the money and began to save.

Twenty rubles for mom and dad, ten for each brother and sister. After that competition, her photo was printed on the cover of the magazine "Ukraine". They also wrote that this girl is Sonya Rotaru, a student of the conductor-choir department of the Chernivtsi Musical College. Somehow miraculously, a magazine from Ukraine ended up in the Urals with a certain young man, Tolya Evdokimenko, who did military service there. He fell in love with Sonya at first sight.

He returned to his home in Chernivtsi and showed the photo on the cover to his father. He already whistled: “I wish I had such a daughter-in-law!” And Anatoly found Sophia, who then lived in a hostel at a music school. “I’ll be honest: at first, Tolya didn’t impress me,” says Sofia Rotaru herself. - Yes, handsome, educated. But there were many such young people around me. He gave me flowers, invited me to restaurants, but sent girlfriends instead of himself. But one day Tolya called and spoke to me in the purest Moldovan language. I was shocked: he learned this language especially for me.

Soon I accidentally met Tolya on the street and ... I realized that I fell in love once and for all. The wedding was played with a special Moldavian scale in September 1968. Before that, the groom bought wedding rings and a beautiful white fabric for a wedding dress. A large tent was erected in the courtyard of the house, vats were placed on the street, and from the very morning the women began to cook. There were five hundred guests - almost the entire village of Marshintsy. Anatoly invited his musicians from the student variety orchestra, where he played the trumpet. They played for three days. After the wedding, the newlyweds settled in Chernivtsi, in the family of the spouse. Aurika Rotaru laughs: “I remember Tolya joking then: “I have the best mother-in-law in the world: she lives far away and does not understand Russian.”

Our mother spoke only Moldovan and Ukrainian.” For the sake of his beloved, Anatoly left science - by that time he had graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the university and was engaged in physics - and created the Chervona Ruta ensemble, where Rotaru became a soloist. With the same team, Sofia Rotaru became famous throughout the Soviet Union.

Anatoly became for his wife both a producer, a director, and a director. At first, folk Ukrainian and Moldovan melodies were selected for Sofia. By the way, even today folk songs occupy a significant place in her repertoire: “I can’t live without them. As I hear - tears ... "- says the singer. But Anatoly persuaded Sofia to try herself as a soloist in a pop orchestra. And then one day she nevertheless succumbed to persuasion, took a chance - she sang the song "Mama" by Alexander Bronevitsky. And the song came out. Sofia Rotaru was sent to the IX World Festival of Youth and Students in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

Anatoly firmly decided to go with her to the festival. For this performance, they urgently needed a double bass player. And then Anatoly Evdokimenko himself mastered this musical instrument in two months. True, corns did not leave his fingers for a long time. The result of the trip is a stunning success and the first place. When Sophia was awarded the gold medal, she was literally covered with Bulgarian roses. One of the musicians then joked: "Sofia's flowers for Sofia." And the chairman of the jury, Lyudmila Zykina, predicted, pointing to Rotaru: "This is a singer with a great future."

Already in 1973, the Golden Orpheus competition was held in the Bulgarian city of Burgas, where Sofia again received the First Prize. Thus began the real glory of Rotaru. “At first, my husband did not allow me to give birth,” recalls Sofia Mikhailovna, “he believed that you first need to make a career, and only then think about children. But I deceived him: I simulated pregnancy.

He grumbled, of course, but got used to this fact, lost his vigilance, and I got pregnant for real. Then she came up with many scientific explanations for him, why she gave birth to Ruslan not nine months later, but later. Ruslan was born in August 1970. Entire stories are still told about how noisily Anatoly met his wife from the hospital. With flowers, with musicians, with dozens of bottles of champagne. In Chernivtsi, there was even movement, because Evdokimenko, with Ruslan in his arms, was dancing in the middle of the road.

Sofia Rotaru and Anatoly Evdokimenko lived for almost thirty-five years in love, harmony and well-coordinated work. The singer was envied by both the audience and colleagues: a loving husband, a successful career, the love of the audience. Everything an actress can dream of! But happiness was destroyed by illness - in the late nineties, Anatoly had a stroke on the next tour. Only he began to come to his senses - a year later the second. Then he lost his speech.

But Sofia Mikhailovna did not give up, she fought for a long time, treated her husband with different doctors. She cared, tried to always be there. - Sonya went away only to concerts and to pray in church, - says Aurika. - In 2002, Tolya was again admitted to the hospital, and there - the third stroke, the last ... Sonya and Ruslan, who became an assistant to her mother instead of her father, then went to concerts in Germany. They called me from the hospital: “Anatoly got worse.

Come." I informed Sonya and Ruslan, who interrupted the tour. A few hours later they were in a Kyiv hospital. Tolik never regained consciousness - he died in Sonya's arms ... The best rest is fishing and gardening Only work helped Rotar survive the tragedy. Six months after the death of her husband, Sofia Mikhailovna found strength in herself and again began to perform, appear on television, and tour. Often the singer invites her younger sister on tour with her. -

It is always very interesting to watch Sofia Rotaru behind the scenes, says Aurika. - Before the performance, it is better not to approach her. She worries, worries. He will double-check everything on stage twenty times: costumes, sound, light, repeat the numbers with the dancers ... But after the concert he can relax. If we are on tour somewhere, we go to a hotel. We close in the room and start playing cards. We love preference. True, we play only for fun ...

Sonya's biggest regrets are that her beloved husband Tolik passed away so early, and that she did not give birth to a daughter at one time. But our mother told us: “Give birth to more kids! Then you will regret. If it's hard, give it to me, I'll grow it!" But we worked hard, traveled around the world. They could not afford a large family, there was no time to raise them. Today Sofia Rotaru lives in two cities at once - in Yalta, where she has her own house and hotel business, and in Kyiv.

When he takes a break from concerts, he likes to spend time either fishing or in his Yalta garden, where he takes care of fruit trees and a vegetable garden. She gathers the harvest herself, makes jam and preparations for the winter. But the main thing in her life is her grandchildren. The eldest - Anatoly, named after his grandfather - studies in England, the youngest, Sonya, at the Kyiv music school.

I love my grandchildren very much, I spoil them as best I can, - Sofia Mikhailovna admits. - I regret that at one time I paid little attention to Ruslanchik. She constantly went to concerts, and he saw his mother mostly on TV. I was very worried, but what to do is the cost of our profession.

Grandchildren call Sonya only by name, - says Aurika. - I remember how Tolik told me: "Imagine, my classmates do not believe that Sofia Rotaru is my grandmother." Well, really - in their understanding, grandmothers should be so old. And the grandchildren themselves cannot believe in such a relationship. The sister communicates with Sonya and Tolik on equal terms, she is first of all a friend to them.

No lectures or moralizing. They trust Sonya with all their secrets. Tolik is such a wonderful business guy growing up. When he comes to Kyiv for holidays, he cannot sit quietly doing nothing. For example, he performs in nightclubs as a DJ. He often turns to Sonya or Ruslan for advice, lets him listen to his music. They tell him if something is wrong. Sofia Mikhailovna's family is friendly and kind! In connection with the latest infamous events in Ukraine, they are trying to drag Sofia Rotaru into the conflict.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, Rotaru family doctor:

- Sofia Mikhailovna knows firsthand what real grief is. During the period when her husband Anatoly Evdokimenko was in our Institute of Gerontology in Kyiv after a second stroke, she visited him every day. It was a difficult time for her, she herself needed help, and she sought to support others. Once a patient of 80 years old came to my office from a stroke department. She cried and said that Rotaru herself brought the medicines for her. “It was only thanks to her that I was healed,” the patient said. “Only because it is from the hands of Sofia Rotaru.” After asking the doctors, I learned that this is not an isolated case. Coming to her husband, the singer asked the doctors about lonely patients. Doctors wrote down for her who needed what medicines, and she either brought them or left money. Drugs for stroke patients are expensive - not every pensioner can afford it. She then saved five lonely old people, but asked to be silent about it. Sofia Mikhailovna helps people quietly, without publicity. I know that she regularly transfers money to orphanages, but I don’t even ask for details, she doesn’t like to talk about it ...

Valery Evdokimenko, brother of the star's husband:

Sonya has always been a cheerful and unpredictable lady. In this, they are very similar to my brother Tolik, they loved to play tricks on each other. Once with a friend Genka, an employee of the State traffic inspectorate, we decided to have a drink with a purely male company, you know, secretly from Sonya. They didn’t think of anything better than setting the table in the garage in Yalta, where Tolik anchored his yacht. We ate, drank and forgot about the time. And Sonya searched them, literally called the whole of Yalta to find her husband. A few hours later she found Tolik and Genka in the garage, but crept up so quietly that they did not notice her. Deciding to take revenge, she locked the men outside. They sat there almost all day, only letting them go around midnight... Sonya and Tolya were very fond of fishing. Rotaru gave all the men a head start in this matter, she could catch a carp under 10 kilos! The couple went fishing in her native village of Marshintsy. They usually caught a chub fish there, and if she slipped off the fishing rod, Sonya jumped into the water right in her clothes so as not to miss the prey.

Boris Moiseev, a close friend of the artist:

– I recall with delight an incident in Yalta at the Crimean Dawns festival in the early 1980s. After the performance, Sonya and I left the Yubileiny concert hall, where a crowd of fans was waiting for us. At that time, celebrities drove the Volga - "expensively rich." She had just such a luxurious car: snow-white, with a beige leatherette interior. And so Sonya gets into her jalopy, when suddenly the fans begin to rock her car, and then they completely pick it up. They carried Rotaru along the embankment named after Lenin. Sonya was stunned, opened the window and begged the fans to put her in her place. It was very funny, but at the same time scary! Rotaru later said that at first she didn’t even understand - either she was being stolen, or she was loved so much.

Sergey Lavrov, concert director of the singer:

– For 15 years, Sofia Mikhailovna has been helping a girl from Krivoy Rog, who has a congenital bone disease - they are very fragile and break at the slightest load, the child can hardly walk. The singer learned about her from a friend, immediately handed over the money. Then the baby was only a few months old, and since then Rotaru secretly sent a certain amount to the girl's mother. And when she retired, she ordered her assistants to transfer their pensions to the ward - this is about $ 600 a month.

Sergey Kramarenko, entertainer:

- In the 1990s, Sofia and I performed at the Sochi Circus, then it was directed by People's Artist of the USSR Mstislav Zapashny. By the way, Sonya was very fond of singing in the arena, because it is round and all the spectators are nearby. Just before the performance, Mstislav invited us backstage to the enclosures to look at the animals. I didn’t really like this idea, but Sonya was delighted. Naturally, I could not refuse her, and we went to the cages with the tigers. Zapashny told about a couple of cats and invited Rotar to come in and stroke them. Sonya's eyes lit up, she became so interested that she was ready to do it. I was frightened, began to dissuade her, assured her that she had gone crazy! And Sonya looked at me so sternly and promised: “If you conduct a concert badly and freebie today, I will feed you striped for dinner, only a butterfly will remain!” I tried very hard that evening, because Sonya could well have done what she voiced if she had remained dissatisfied - this is in her character.

Alina German, designer:

- Sofia Mikhailovna, together with Alla Pugacheva, Soso Pavliashvili and other stars, participated in the musical comedy "The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors", which was staged by my husband Alexander Igudin. I sewed costumes for all the speakers and was terribly nervous - I worked with stars of this level for the first time. But she prepared herself properly: she worked tirelessly for several days on the dress for Sofia Mikhailovna - corset, embroidered with pearls, like a real queen. And so Rotaru comes to the rehearsal, I go up to her to get acquainted, I tell her that I need to try on an outfit, and she replies: “Thank you very much, but I already have costumes for the performance. They were prepared by my stylists, who know very well what I love and always create beautiful images for me.” Tears welled up in my eyes - after all, she didn’t even see what a beautiful dress I had prepared for her! I decided that I wouldn’t give up just like that, and developed a plan - I began to follow the star everywhere: “Sofia Mikhailovna, this dress will make you a queen, just try it on!” Finally she gave in. Okay, he says, bring your beauty, I'll look at it. I ran after the dress, Sofia Mikhailovna tried it on, and it sat like a glove! “You didn’t deceive me,” Rotaru summed up with pleasure, looking at herself in the mirror. “And just like a queen!” It was happiness - my favorite singer appreciated my work. And after the performance, she came up to me with the words: “Alina, you are great for insisting on your own.”

Elena Buraga, fortuneteller Rotaru, Ukrainian Vanga:

Sonya and I were in the same class and were very good friends. It was I who predicted to her more than fifty years ago that she would be famous. We then rested with a company on a pond in Marshintsy. She suddenly began to sing, and I saw her on the stage. She said this, everyone laughed, but it happened ... Now we don’t see each other often, and I don’t call so as not to distract, she’s very busy. But when I see it on TV, for some reason I cry, I love her so much and miss her. And I always pray for her, I know everything will be fine - I see it! She will live for a long time and will not leave the stage soon. She is tormented by the machinations of enemies, but let her move forward, no matter what. My friend is a believer and God helps her.