Taisiya Povaliy - the combination of these first and last names seems sonorous, bright, organic. Some even think that the People's Artist of Ukraine has taken a creative pseudonym, like many colleagues on the stage.
“My maiden name is Giryavets,” the singer confessed to the Dni. Ru correspondent. “It is purely Ukrainian, since I was born in the village of Shamraeva, Kiev region, and there it is widespread. At school, as I remember now, they called me Girey - I was pleased a tight girl. But many years later I learned that Girya is the original surname of my ancient family."
Grandmother Taisiya Povaliy had many traditional Ukrainian towels with handmade embroidery. One of them was the beginning of a big story about which the artist told. “I began to look at the drawing of one towel and gasped,” says Taya. “There were depicted a man and a woman under trees, whose roots go into the traditional Ukrainian ornament. And between them there was a small bush. And I realized that this was a symbol of our family, a key that I must solve."
Povaliy ordered a large genealogical study and found out that her family dates back to the 16th century. Cossack Ivan Girya was the best friend and right hand of Bohdan Khmelnitsky himself - the hetman of the Zaporozhye Army, a Ukrainian commander and statesman. “It seems to me that knowing your roots, a history of a kind is very important, this is what everything is based on,” the singer is sure.
And the singer received the sonorous surname Povaliy from her first husband. It is also worn by the artist's son Denis, who also makes music. “When fame came to me and I began to travel a lot, a funny incident happened,” Taisia smiles. “I remember how the border guards at the airport were dumbfounded when they opened my passport and saw that Povaliy was my real name.” We always thought, this is your pseudonym, "- they told me then at the border."
The second husband of the performer was the producer Igor Likhuta. But at his request, Taisia did not change her sonorous surname and documents - they say, everyone was used to Povaliy, she became a brand.
It is worth noting that the same Alla Pugacheva, after the wedding in 1969, changed her passport and became Alla Orbaken. She lived under the name of her first husband, Mikolas Orbakas, for four years. After the divorce, the Prima Donna immediately returned her former sonorous surname Pugachev. Although some, as in the case of Taisia Povaliy, many thought that this was her stage name - her very rebellious character reminded everyone of the familiar story of a peasant leader, whose uprising frightened Empress Catherine II.