Biography of Anna Herman

Everyone admired her: young people, old people, the West and the East, rich and poor. And how was it not to admire Anna Herman - brilliant, talented, beautiful, firm and gentle, and with an unusual aching voice? It seemed that she would always perform on stage, bewitching her voice with millions of spectators. But fate has its plans, according to which Anna was given away just under 50 years of her life, most of which was permeated with suffering and sorrow ...
Childhood
Full name - Anna Victoria Herman was born on February 14, 1936 in the town of Urgench in Uzbekistan. Her father - Eugen (in Russian manners - Eugene) Herman was a German by birth, he worked as an accountant. Anna's mother, Irma Mortens, was a descendant of Dutch immigrants, she worked as a teacher of the German language.

When the girl was 1.5 years old her father was arrested, accused of wrecking and espionage, later he was shot (later, almost 20 years later he was rehabilitated posthumously). On this the misfortunes of the Herman family did not end, soon the younger brother of Ani, Friedrich, died of the disease. Mother and daughter leave to seek a better life. They often move from place to place, having traveled more than one union republic: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia.

Soon Irma marries her second husband - a Pole by nationality. But their marriage does not last long. In 1943, he died in the war. But his Polish background allows Anna and her mother to move to Poland, where they settled definitively.

In Poland, Anna goes to school, where she studies excellently. Especially good at her are the humanities and languages ​​- she could freely speak in German, Dutch, English and Italian. Then, at school, she began to show creative talents - she was very fond of drawing and singing. Anya even wanted to enter a creative college, but her mother asked her to choose a more mundane specialty that could bring her real income. Therefore, Anna Herman entered the University in Wroclaw in 1955, choosing geology as a specialty.

There, Anna, who has not lost her creative potential, begins to sing in the amateur theater "Pun", which gives impetus to her self-determination in choosing a further life path.

Singing career
During her time in student amateur performance, where Anna performed popular songs, she was noticed and began to invite to small variety performances. Soon she began to go on concerts in the cities of Poland, speaking at small festivals. At one of these performances she meets the composer Jerzy Gerd, who begins to write songs for her.

Serious success is achieved by a young performer in 1963, when she wins the all-Polish song contest, and at the international competition she wins the third place. After that, Anna Herman went on tour in the USSR, where she won the sympathy of Soviet listeners.

But the most real recognition comes after performing at the festival in Sopot in 1964, where Herman wins first place among the performers from Poland and the second among all the contestants. After this victory, her plate comes out and Anna leaves for the tour. She visits concerts in many cities of the Soviet Union, England, the USA, France, Belgium, countries of Eastern Europe. Anna Herman becomes a famous singer. Not only in Poland and the USSR, but also in capitalist countries.

In Poland, the common people love her, but they still do not consider her, calling him a Soviet singer. After all, the overwhelming majority of songs Anna performs in Russian, and the performing style is completely different from that adopted by the Poles then. But in the USSR it is met with "hurray", therefore it is recorded mainly in Moscow, and Anna appears in the USSR much more often than anywhere else.

In 1967 Anna went to Italy. There she has a stunning success: she gives a lot of concerts, records a new record, is shot in clips. She is the first performer from the countries of the socialist camp, who performs at the famous festival in San Remo, together with world celebrities, where she is awarded the "Oscar de la simpatia" prize. Italian newspapers are full of her photos, talking about her as a new rising superstar. Anna is in the seventh heaven and nothing foretells that everything can change abruptly ...

Ordeal
At the end of August 1967, Anna and her assistant were traveling with another Italian performance. Both of them were very tired and the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Their car, rushing along the freeway at great speed, threw through the fence. The driver, sandwiched between the steering wheel and the seat, received only minor abrasions and damage, but Anna was thrown through the glass and she flew several dozen meters, hitting the rock. They were found only a few hours later and taken to the hospital.

Herman did not have a living place on the body, almost everything was broken: arms, legs, spine ... She lay in the hospital for several days without regaining consciousness. And the doctors did not give any predictions, whether it will survive or not.

However, Anna would not be herself, if she surrendered so easily. Three months after the terrible accident she was allowed to transfer to Poland for treatment. She was "packed" from head to foot into plaster, which was removed only six months after she returned to her homeland. Anna had to start all over again: walk, learn to do simple things, such as holding a spoon or a pen in her hand.

Return
But the desire to live and work, as well as the support of close people, helped Anna Herman overcome this difficult stage in her life. And in 1970 she again goes on stage. Her first concert after a long break takes place in Warsaw, where spectators meet Anna with a half-hour standing ovation. Anna Herman again begins to perform. And since 1972 begins her tour tour. At the same time Herman sings for the first time a song specially written for her "Hope". This song is the first work performed in Russian by Anna after the restoration. And then the song acquires the status of "people's".

Personal life
Anna Herman was married in 1970 with a simple engineer from Poland, Zbigniew Tucholsky. Their meeting occurred when Anja studied at the university, and the young specialist Zbigniew was sent by the department of metal science for lecturing in Wroclaw. They met on the beach, got to talking, but Zbigniew needed to leave urgently, they left each other's addresses and said goodbye. This random acquaintance did not leave the young man's head and after a while he again returns to Wroclaw and meets with Anna.

Anna and her husband really wanted to have children. And in November 1975 they have a long-awaited son, Zbyshek, born. Naturally, the concerts were postponed for some time. Anna enthusiastically engaged in family, very fond of cooking for her men.

Death
In 1980, fate again strikes Anna. At the Moscow concert in the Luzhniki Herman suddenly becomes ill. After the examination, doctors put a disappointing diagnosis - oncological disease of the sarcoma. However, Anna does not want to cancel the already planned trip to Australia and goes there on tour, where she gives concerts all over the continent. Immediately upon his return to Warsaw, Herman lays down on the operating table, but the doctors are already powerless to help - the disease spread too quickly and far.

Anna died in August of 1982. She was buried in Warsaw at an evangelical cemetery. At her funeral thousands of her fans and ordinary people gathered, for whom the name Anna Herman will always be fanned with a halo of light, and her songs will forever remain in the hearts of millions.