Everlasting Star: Remembering Anna Herman
“I just have blond hair, but in general I am Asian. I was born in hot Urgench, and then lived with my mother in Dzhambul, studied at school. There was a river near the school, such a beautiful, with green bnks”. This is an excerpt from an interview by Polish singer with German roots Anna Herman.
Indeed, the famous singer and composer, a girl of Nordic appearance, was born in Uzbekistan, where Anna Herman lived with her parents until the third grade. Soon the family moved to Dzhambul in Kazakhstan, and little Anna continued to study at school there:
“I remember the desk, so strong and durable. I think that now these are not made. I sat at it with a boy. He had narrow eyes. He was Kazakh. “I really liked him then, because he looked like a toy, as he was small and dark with rosy cheeks”.
Many years later, having achieved success on an all-Union scale, Anna Herman recalled her childhood in the countries of Central Asia. In May 1979, there was a big tour, and one of the cities that the Polish singer visited then was Ashgabat.
Anna Herman gave several concerts on the stage of the Mollanepes Theater. The hall was full of the audience sitting breathless. Multinational Ashgabat gave the singer the warmest welcome. After one of the concerts, the female part of the creative team - Anna and her colleagues - was invited to visit the city’s sewing factory.
Workers of the factory specializing in women’s clothing presented Anna Herman with a Turkmen national outfit and a handmade clutch embroidered with traditional patterns. Historical shots were also captured at the factory with the happy singer surrounded by Turkmen craftswomen.
On the pages of the book “One Hundred Memories of the Great Singer”, in which different people remember Anna Herman, one can find a note by Kurban Amanniyazov, a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, professor. He met Anna while in Moscow, and then he was surprised by the singer’s manner of covering her shoulders with a kerchief made in an oriental style, as women in Central Asia do.
Anna told the professor about her childhood spent in Uzbekistan and her strong dream of visiting those places again. And there it was. The singer’s dream soon came true.
Anna Herman visited Ashgabat in April of the 80th and stayed in the hotel of the same name. Having met with Kurban Amanniyazov, the singer told him that the tour was very hard and she felt bad.
Anna really wanted to get to the Ashgabat market, as she lost a cherished bracelet that was a gift from her mother. The singer planned to purchase a similar bracelet in Turkmenistan. The very next day, Kurban brought Anna Herman a piece of jewelry made to his personal order at the Ashgabat jewelry factory. And grateful Anna invited him with his family to her concert, and that very evening she went on stage with that bracelet in her arm.
More than once she will wear that memorable gift brought from Ashgabat during her performances. But, unfortunately, that would be the last big tour in the life of Anna Herman. A couple of years after the grand tour, the singer died.
...Your rays by heavenly power
Illuminate my whole life
When I die, you above the grave
Shine, shine, my star.
