Sofia Rotaru is a well-known singer, brought up in the Soviet Union. Her lifestyle is also quite Soviet, it differs significantly from the generally accepted one today, the one that helps most pop and movie stars to maintain the popularity and interest of fans. No scandals or divorces. The biography must remain impeccable: one love, one husband, loyalty and an exemplary Soviet family.
About rare talent, well-deserved success and a handsome prince
There is a legend that the future husband of Sofia Rotaru fell in love with her not even at first sight, but at first sight at the photo. It was a snapshot of the young winner of the Ukrainian pop song contest, published on the cover of a Kiev magazine. Seeing a charming Moldavian woman, a common soldier Anatoly Evdokimenko vowed to find her and marry her.
As befits a romantic hero, he fulfilled his promise. True, from the moment they met until the day of a modest wedding, in which, according to the singer herself, a couple of hundred people took part, three years have passed. But the fairy tale did not lose at all from this: over the years, a mathematician from the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, far from professional stage, has independently created a whole kingdom for his beloved.
Where do princes come from
Anatoly Evdokimenko was born in 1942. His father was a professional soldier, went through a concentration camp, and became a fairly high-ranking official in Chernivtsi. The elder brother worked as the secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol.
Anatoly himself played the violin since childhood, then studied at a prestigious university, at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. He planned to specialize in such a popular scientific field at that time as optics.
It was not customary to run away from the army at that time. Evdokimenko honestly paid his debt to the country. He learned to play the trumpet, performed in an army ensemble, was talented, but he understood that in splendid isolation he would hardly achieve popularity. After demobilization, he went to look for the princess from the cover, who lived not far away and did not particularly hide.
Sofia Rotaru was born into an ordinary rural family with many children in a border village, which at first was part of Romania, and then became Ukrainian. All members of this family, especially women, had a good ear and a taste for singing.
The elder sister of the future star fell ill with typhus and went blind. This tragedy sharpened her hearing so much that she was able to become a wonderful teacher for little Sophia, who, in addition to her voice and hearing, had a strong character and determination.
Relatives of Evdokimenko saw in the chosen one of Anatoly a small modest rural girl, who was completely transformed on the stage. Anatoly was in no hurry to tie himself by marriage. Instead, he worked on the creation of the vocal-instrumental ensemble "Chervona Ruta". Organizational skills turned out to be his main talent. In the ensemble, he was just one of the musicians. Sofia Rotaru reigned on the stage.
The first years of its existence, "Chervona Ruta", which was born from an amateur orchestra, once organized by students of the local university, could not break out of the provincial Chernivtsi. The director and administrator of the group made great efforts to ensure that the princess and her knights were seen and appreciated by the general public.
The future wife did not let her down. A reliable shoulder is exactly what a strong, beautiful, talented and purposeful girl lacked. She did not want to lose him and insisted on marriage. The wedding took place after Rotaru won a big professional victory at the world youth song festival in 1968.
The fairy tale does not end with a wedding
After the wedding, a life together began, most of which was devoted to hard work: rehearsals, concerts, tours and negotiations. Anatoly Evdokimenko took over most of the dirty work. He did not think about a separate career.
The collective existed in order to accompany the talented soloist. Perhaps her career could have taken place without the support of her husband. But his affection was part of his success. Evdokimenko gathered other talented people around the star, creating a worthy setting for a diamond.
The ensemble's finest hour was the festival in Yalta, where it won the main prize. The collective toured a lot and received rave reviews from the public and critics not only in the Soviet Union, but also in all socialist countries. Together with the ensemble, the singer performed almost until the very collapse of the Union. The husband was the director of all programs, the permanent director of the team.
The singer made the decision to perform on her own not because she grew out of the old image and old songs. Her experiments were not understood by the musicians who returned to the folk genre. Rotaru herself has repeatedly changed her repertoire and style, remaining at the same time herself and practically not losing popularity for three decades.
Officially Sofia Rotaru always bore the double surname "Evdokimenko-Rotaru". The couple have lived together for over 30 years. The family brought up a son Ruslan. The Evdokimenko couple celebrated their silver wedding simultaneously with the wedding of their son, who later pleased his relatives with the birth of a grandson and granddaughter.
Quite early, Anatoly Kirillovich's health began to fail. At first he fought cancer, then he suffered several strokes. The star was always there and behaved impeccably. In 2002, People's Artist of Ukraine Anatoly Evdokimenko died. His widow spent a whole year in mourning and for the first time did not come to the traditional ceremony "Song of the Year".
She never married again. All the stories about successful young fans, which were inspired by the tabloids, on closer examination turned out to be fictions. It was rumored that in her youth, even before the wedding with Evdokimenko, Sofia Rotaru was fond of the author of the song "Chervona Ruta" Vladimir Ivasyuk. No matter what they say, after the tragic death of her husband, the singer has always remained faithful to him, her audience and talent.
