The son of Mikhail Tanich abandoned his father at the request of his mother. Lydia Nikolaevna Kozlova is familiar to fans of Russian pop music, first of all, with her hit “Iceberg”, performed by Alla Pugacheva Daughters of Mikhail Tanich and Lydia Kozlova

The childhood of Mikhail Tanich, the war years

Misha was born into a Jewish family in provincial Taganrog. His surname at birth is Tanhilevich. He began reading at the age of four, and soon wrote his first poems. The boy's biggest hobby was football.

He replaced everything for Mikhail. He got his first soccer ball, given by his father, at the age of five. Misha tried to draw, but realizing that he was not the first in this matter, he stopped doing it. But he always wrote poetry, realizing that he was great at it. Since childhood, Tanich only accepted victories and did not tolerate losses. When he was only fourteen years old, his father was shot and his mother was arrested. Misha moved to his maternal grandfather in Mariupol. He graduated from school in 1941, and in May 1943 (according to other sources, in July 1942) Mikhail was drafted by the Kirov District Military Commissariat of the Rostov Region into the Red Army.

Mikhail Tanich. Once again about love

He fought on the Belarusian and Baltic fronts. In 1944, Tanich was seriously wounded and was near death. Considering the young man dead, he was almost buried in a mass grave.

Arrest of Mikhail Tanich

Arriving in Rostov-on-Don after the victory, Mikhail became a student at the Civil Engineering Institute, but he did not have time to graduate because he was arrested. The reason for this was conversations about the Germans, their way of life, and German cars. Tanich was arrested under an article for anti-Soviet agitation. It was most likely one of the students who reported.

First he was in prison, and then he was sent to a logging camp. The camp was located in the Solikamsk region. Thanks to the fact that Mikhail was included in the brigade responsible for visual propaganda in the camp, he remained alive. All the people who arrived with him and who ended up directly at the logging site did not survive. This is how six years of his life passed. He returned under an amnesty only after Stalin's death.

The beginning of the work of the poet Mikhail Tanich

At first, Mikhail lived on Sakhalin. He published his poems in a local newspaper, signing them with the name Tanich.

The poet was rehabilitated only in 1956, which meant that from that time he had the right to live in Moscow. There he settled. Mikhail replaced his last name with Tanich. He worked in the press, as well as on the radio. A year later, the first collection of his poems was published.

Once Tanich, while at the Moskovsky Komsomolets publishing house, met Ian Frenkel. Their collaboration was the song “Textile Town,” which gained popularity among listeners. It was performed by several famous singers, among them Maya Kristalinskaya and Raisa Nemenova. Mikhail considered the meeting with Frenkel at the publishing house to be significant. He said that if it weren’t for her, it is unknown how his creative destiny would have developed.

Mikhail Tanich and gr. "Lesopoval" - I understand

He realized that the song had become a favorite for many listeners when, while buying ice cream, he heard the saleswoman humming it. He was proud and even told her that it was his song. The saleswoman, of course, didn’t believe it.

The best poems and songs of Mikhail Tanich

After such successful work as a co-author, Tanich more than once worked together with other poets and composers, these are Nikita Bogoslovsky, Eduard Kolmanovsky, Oscar Feltsman and Vladimir Shainsky. The result of working with Yuri Saulsky was the appearance of the popularly beloved song “Black Cat”. For the beginner Alla Pugacheva, the poet wrote the song “Robot”, the music was written by Levon Merabov. Subsequently, the poet regretted that Alla Borisovna found other authors for herself. He believed that he could write many hits for her. Such singers, who later became famous as Igor Nikolaev and Vladimir Kuzmin, collaborated with Tanich at the beginning of their creative careers. The first hit “Iceberg” was written by Nikolaev to the poems of Mikhail Isaevich. Kuzmin performed at “Song of the Year” for the first time with a song that was also directly related to Tanich.

The well-known song “Three Minutes”, performed by Valery Leontiev, was once written specifically for Alexander Barykin, but he did not want to perform it. The first video clip of Igor Sarukhanov was filmed for a song called “Guy with a Guitar”, its lyrics were written by Mikhail Isaevich.

Many songs were written by the poet for Larisa Dolina, Edita Piekha and Alena Apina. Tanich especially liked working with Apina, he was impressed by her character, he called this singer “his own.”

Mikhail Tanich and the Lesopoval group

The poet became the organizer of the Lesopoval group. Its leader was Sergei Korzhukov, who was both a singer and composer. Unfortunately, he died in 1994. A year later, thanks to Sergei Kuprik, who became the new lead singer, the group seemed to be reborn. The composer and arranger was Alexey Fedorkov.

Mikhail Tanich. Poems (On Victory Day. Hour of Memories 1993)

At the end of the poet’s life, “Lowing” was his main project. Fifteen albums were released during his lifetime, the sixteenth was released after Tanich’s death. He wrote more than three hundred songs for Lesopoval. Initially, Tanich thought that the group would perform Russian chanson. Later, journalists wrote about Lesopoval as a musical group performing “blatnyak”.

Currently, both Fedorkov and Kuprik have left the group, and Tanich is no longer there. But new songs continue to appear, for which Mikhail Isaevich left poems. A new album is currently being prepared for release. During his life, the poet published fifteen books. The last two came out in 1998.

Death of Mikhail Tanich

Somehow the poet felt bad. The ambulance arrived and decided to hospitalize him. It was April 10, 2008. The poet spent a week in the hospital, his condition only worsened. He was transferred to intensive care. On the 17th the poet passed away.

Personal life of Mikhail Tanich

Elfrida Lane is a German woman with whom Mikhail began a serious relationship while at the front, but it did not end with a wedding. After the war she lived in Germany.

The poet's first wife divorced him while he was serving his sentence. Her name was Irina. Mikhail's second wife was Lydia Kozlova. He met her at a party where she sang, and these were songs based on his poems. Then she did not yet know that the author of these poems was in their company. It was in Volzhsky. Soon they got married. The couple moved to the capital when the poet was rehabilitated. Lydia and Mikhail had two daughters, who later gave them two grandchildren.

// Photo: Anatoly Lomokhov/PhotoXPress.ru

The artists called Tanich “Uncle Misha” because he would always help. Sincere and dedicated to his work, he wanted to work until the last months of his life. Show business stars dreamed of performing songs based on Tanich's poems, and spoke about him in a purely positive manner. So, Igor Nikolaev came to his house as if it were his own home. “She and Lydia Nikolaevna were my Moscow parents, they looked after me and protected me. Mikhail Isaevich later told me that there were daughters, but no son. And he saw me as a son. And for me he was a father, whom I lost at the age of 21,” said the musician.

However, few people know that Mikhail Tanich’s real son abandoned him as a child. For the first time, Mikhail Isaevich married a medical student, Irina, in Rostov, from whom a son, Yuri, was born. Their family was destroyed by misfortune: Tanich was sent to prison following a denunciation. During one of the student parties, he had the imprudence to praise German roads and radios. For anti-Soviet propaganda, 24-year-old Tanich received six years in the camps. The first wife did not wait for the poet to return from prison and asked for a divorce. And then she even forced her son to write a letter in which he abandoned his father. Tanich met his son later, when he entered Moscow State University, but a warm relationship never developed between them. The heir to the star died very early from heart disease.

The poet's only true love was Lydia Kozlova, with whom he lived together all his life. Their love began in the poorest hut on the banks of the Volga. There was no furniture, only a bed. And Tanich took that one from the morgue, broken. It was his wife who helped Tanich forget about the failures in his first marriage.

“Once he gave me a bouquet of flowers,” recalls Lydia Nikolaevna. - And he saw how happy I was. Since then, he never forgot to bring flowers once a week throughout the 52 years that we lived together.”

Even Mikhail Isaevich’s youngest daughter, Svetlana, admits that her father was truly close only with her mother. “Dad didn’t like children being pampered. I could get hit for rudeness. In general, he was open and friendly up to a certain point. He had doors where he never let anyone in. Until the end, he opened up, maybe only to his mother,” admitted the heiress of the star Svetlana.

By the way, both daughters took their mother’s surname so as not to be in the shadow of their famous father. Having seen the sincere love of their parents, Tanich's heirs were still unable to build personal happiness. Now both women are single. Inga has two unsuccessful marriages behind her. But Svetlana has never been married, lives in her parents’ apartment and works on her father’s archive.

On the air of the “Tonight” program, the poet’s relatives recalled that a difficult time for their family began in the early 2000s, when Tanich suffered two heart attacks one after another. He underwent heart surgery when he was already over 70. But the worst thing happened when the writer was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He suffered from unbearable pain, but he spared his wife and did not admit how painful it was for him.

“At 3.10 am he died. But no one told me. I went to see him at ten in the morning, fully confident that he was still alive. When I found out that he died, I asked to see him. The doctor says that when a loved one comes to see someone who has just died, they may react to it. I walk in, Tanich is an absolute corpse. I understand that it is not possible to return it. But I start saying words that I didn’t finish. And when I said, “Mishenka, I’m here, I’m with you,” a tear appeared, he parted his lips and almost silently said, “You and I can’t stop loving each other.” This was our farewell to him,” said the poet’s widow.

The poet’s wife admitted that she still remembers him every day. Only next to this man were both his wife and two daughters truly happy, and therefore now they protect his memory with all their might.

Lumber felling - Sergey Korzhukov - I will buy you a house - White Swan
- Happy memory to both Tanich and Korzhukov...

Saburova Olga
08 February 2011
"Interlocutor No. 5"
After the death of the poet Mikhail Tanich, the founder of the Lesopoval group, his widow Lydia Kozlova took over the leadership of the men’s group. But she is not at all burdened by this burden - on the contrary, she is cheerful, open, smiling. Tanich handed over his brainchild to good hands.

Died many times

Lidia Nikolaevna claims that her husband made her an optimist, who “raised” Kozlova from her 18th birthday, when he took her as his wife. He taught by his own example: Tanich never lost heart, although there were enough reasons to despair for several generations. The poet liked to repeat the following phrase: “Life, of course, is a vile thing. But they didn’t come up with anything better than life.”

Tanich had a typical fate for his peers: his father was shot, his mother was imprisoned, the war began - he went to the front. Mikhail Isaevich, still alive, was buried in a mass grave. But they managed to get it out. Then they imprisoned him on a false denunciation. After 6 years of camps, in 1953, he was rehabilitated. He was released with a clear conscience and a whole bunch of diseases.

– When we got married, he was completely disabled! – Lidia Nikolaevna states without any despondency. She remembers her husband’s illnesses calmly - the way she perceived them. – In addition to tuberculosis, his legs were so rotten that for about 20 years I put oilcloth under the sheet: every night about a quarter-liter jar of pus leaked out. Then it was all over, the body recovered... Tanich died many times. It would be sad to tell, but he was a cheerful person.

When his heart began to worry, the poet was operated on by Renat Akchurin. Later, cancer was discovered. For the last 5 months, Tanich has not gotten up from the red leather sofa in the living room where we are sitting. So he received visitors, who traditionally poured into his house from morning to night. I managed to give songs to Boris Moiseev, Alena Apina, Laima Vaikula. In the end, Mikhail Isaevich spoke with great difficulty, and could not write down poems on his own at all - when he woke up, he asked his wife to sit down next to him with a piece of paper and a pen and dictated to her... Embarrassed by the request (“it’s indecent for me, an elderly woman, to say such a thing”), Kozlova reads one poem, dedicated by Tanich to herself:

Who would know how you are
beautiful in the morning
How do you like your makeup?
out of place
How they rise above me
every time
Both of your suns
green eyes.

Kozlova found these lines in her husband’s desk, which she touched for the first time only after the funeral. For a whole week, the widow sorted out the manuscripts: on each sheet of paper there is a TsU - some are easy to save, somewhere in Tanich’s hand notes were made “for “Lesopoval”.

“In April, it will be three years since Mikhail Isaevich has been gone, and I do everything that he did, as if I continue to live for him,” shares Lidia Nikolaevna. – I don’t even feel sad. I only feel sorry that these almost 52 years of marriage are over, that man is mortal... Already dying, in the intensive care unit, where I was allowed to enter for a short time, when my husband was already practically unconscious, he, slightly moving his lips, whispered: “And you and I ... we didn’t like it enough.” Here, of course, tears flowed from both of us. And I didn't cry anymore.

Was Balda

Kozlova did not have to delve particularly into the affairs of the artistic director of Lesopoval. Tanich took care of his wife in this too. When the country sang his first songs - “Textile Town”, “How Serves You” - letters with offers of cooperation began to arrive in bags for the poet. He appointed his wife, who herself is a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR, to defend against graphomaniacs.

“In order to identify talented composers, I was appointed by Tanich as “worker Balda,” as in Pushkin’s fairy tale,” Lidiya Nikolaevna laughs. “People came, I listened to the melodies and wondered in my own mind whether there was hope. If the melody was okay, it allowed him to reach Tanich.

His songs, performed by Soviet pop stars, became popular one after another, the poet earned decent money... and suddenly “Lesopoval” appeared in his life. Few people know that it was Kozlova who brought Tanich to chanson through long 10-year persuasion.

– Out of stupidity, people still scold Misha for the “Leopoval” program. Not understanding that there are no bad themes - there are bad songs in this genre - the poet's widow defends the group. – Tanich didn’t want to touch on this topic, but I always appreciated such a song.

The group's first appearance on television created a sensation. The telephone at Tanich’s house did not stop ringing until the morning. One of the callers, Kozlova recalls, was a Doctor of Philosophy. “I don’t approve of such songs,” the lady said. “I think they romanticize the criminal world... But tell me, where else can I listen to them?” The poet laughed in response: “God willing, you will hear.”

Man and steamboat

Tanich left more than a hundred poems for “Lesopoval”. The group continues to perform and release new albums. The music for the group is written by 10 composers who were still under Mikhail Isaevich - not a single one has broken away. The house is also full of guests. Although this apartment, where Tanich spent his last years, is not as holy as the old one, located on the other side of the Garden Ring. It is furnished with antique furniture; all the current celebrities who were still rising then came there.

“When we were planning to move here, Sasha Malinin came to us and asked what we would do with the situation,” Kozlova recalls. “I don’t know,” answered Mikhail Isaevich. “You must leave everything as it is,” said Sasha. “Your museum will be here...” And then Nadya Babkina looked in. Her Russian Song theater is right below us - so she asked to sell her our apartment. But Misha refused: “My Svetka (one of two daughters, the second went to Holland - author) will settle here.”

Kozlova jokes that her daughter still lives there - “like an employee of a museum”... But Tanich still took one thing from the old furnishings: her favorite sculpture, bought with a fee from Kozlova’s song “Iceberg”, performed by Alla Pugacheva. The walls of the poet's widow's two-story home are hung with paintings, and she did not buy any of them. Knowing Tanich’s love for painting and sculpture (he himself studied architecture), his friends tried to give him objects of art. But the poet received, perhaps, the most luxurious gift only after his death. Recently, a man approached Lydia Nikolaevna with a request for permission to name the ship that carries tourists along the Volga after Mikhail Isaevich. Upon closer acquaintance, the shipowner turned out to be the nephew of Evgeniy Leonov.

“I have no reason to be sad,” Kozlova, leaving looking through photographs of her husband, raises her eyes. - You can only regret what you have done in life - meanness, betrayal. Time passed and you realized. You will sit and kill yourself, what an abomination you have committed. Why should I cry? I'm just glad I was with Tanich. I was very lucky to meet a man of such intelligence, such nobility, such humor and such courage. Parting is a difficult thing, but Tanich enriched me with the love of life so much that I don’t even understand that he’s gone. And I continue this love, this relationship from soul to soul...

Group "Lesopoval" "Personal date". 2006

I have been friends with Mikhail Tanich since 1990. until his death. We met in Moscow - then he released his first album “Lesopoval”. This rare recording was released in a small edition on compact cassettes, and was completely different, with the exception of the songs, from the group's subsequent releases. M. Tanich was involved in the compere, reading poetry between songs.

Our Studio has always worked with Lesopoval. We helped them with concerts in St. Petersburg, and always showed their music on “Night Taxi” on the radio. In 1995 published on CD “The Last Concert of Sergei Korzhukov with Lesopoval”.

Mikhail Tanich did not believe that it was possible to make a good “live” concert video. He knew that we had already done many such programs, but he very much doubted that it would work out well with his group: “Sasha, this is a big live band. There are dancers, two vocalists, and musicians. Of course, I understand that you know how to put it all together, but live, in front of an audience...” I am very glad now that I was able to insist on my own, convince M. Tanich, and the shooting took place.
“Lesopoval” arrived, indeed, in full force: 10 people. To the great surprise of the then artistic director of the group, Sasha Fedorkov, M. Tanich came with them. Imagine, he’s 83 years old during the shoot!

The sound check with our sound engineer Slava Raspopov and the band's sound engineer took almost 4 hours. What’s interesting is that they built up well. True, what you see first in the film (3 tracks) was actually recorded last, because in an open area, at the start of recording, the vocal microphones were tightly “knitted”.

Overall the concert turned out great. The audience, as can be seen in the film, were literally hanging on the fence of the set. There were not enough tables for the spectators, of whom there were more than 700 people at the shooting, and therefore the main building of the Lesnoy restaurant was half empty - all the tables were moved outside.

When I brought the DVD home to Mikhail Tanich, he watched the entire film with me and said: “Sanya, I didn’t think it would work, but when I saw it, I’m telling you honestly - this is our best film. Thank you...".
I must admit, I did not expect such a reaction: the concert filming at Lesopoval was mostly either fragmentary for TV or amateur - there were a lot of both, but I knew that Tanich liked them.

I thought now - time flies quickly. Mikhail Tanich is no longer with us, A. Fedorkov and S. Kuprik no longer work at Lesopoval. Time moves inexorably forward, the more valuable is the modest work that we did in 2006, filming this video for you.
Alexander Frumin

The wife of the legendary songwriter Mikhail Tanich, Lydia Kozlova, spoke frankly about Tanich’s relationship with show business stars who sang his imperishable hits.

Tanich dissuaded Dolina from divorce

- WITH Larisa Dolina Mikhail Isaevich was a very friendly friend. She often came to us: she talked about her life, asked for advice, and sometimes cried on our shoulder. It was her husband who wrote “Weather in the House” to her, after which she became a full-fledged star. She is a very ambitious girl, but she has always been like a daughter in our family. She also told Tanich about the separation from her ex-husband, Vitya Mityazov. Tanich was always against any separation. Now even scientists have proven that love lasts only four years. Changing a partner, as a rule, does not give happiness, but only a passionate sexual impulse that does not last long. Mikhail Isaevich was a tough person and told her directly: “Lariska, think about it. Vitka is a very good person and an excellent producer. You lived with him for many years." And she responded: “Mikhail Isaevich, I’m crazy, I can’t live, I’ve never had such love.” Tanich gave her advice, but did not force her.

She made her choice herself.

Pugacheva danced for Tanich in the yard

WITH Alla Pugacheva Tanich had an excellent relationship, but they did not closely cooperate, although they respected each other.

You see, Alla always dominates in communication with men, but Tanich did not accept such an attitude. He saw Pugacheva when she was 15 years old. He then said: “Something will come of this girl.” During their first trip together, her husband wrote her the song “Robot.” Literally two months later, Alla, who was touring in Yalta with the “Merry Fellows” ensemble, went out onto the balcony of her hotel room and heard that this song was already being sung. Alla asked: “What is this?” Then the head of the ensemble, Pasha Slobodkin, told her: “Alla, this is glory.” They had long-distance love. When Tanich had a heart bypass surgery and he still couldn’t get out of bed, she came to us. For a long time I couldn’t park my huge limousine in our yard. I saw this and told Tanich. He, covered in iron, stood up and went downstairs to meet her, although he had never gone before. He went out into the yard, Alla saw him and let the gypsy girl dance. And he also started dancing. The two of them fought this gypsy girl so passionately that the whole yard was watching. I still remember this scene with emotion.

Kirkorov screwed in light bulbs for us

Philip Kirkorov During Mikhail Isaevich’s life he often came to us. He sang six or seven of his husband's songs. I always looked forward to his visit. He’s long, so I kept asking him to screw in light bulbs for us. He is not a star at all, he never refused. After his divorce from Alla, we somehow moved away from each other. But I'm always glad to see him. After all, half of my light bulbs (and there are about 120 of them) don’t work. I left it for Fili - he will come and definitely screw it in.

Allegrova had to refuse

Irina Allegrova sang two songs by Mikhail Isaevich - “Girlfriend” and “The White Light Came Like a Wedge on You.” “White Light” was performed by both Kobzon and Piekha at one time. But don’t let them be offended by me: they couldn’t do it as heartfelt as Allegrova’s. She performed it better. Several years ago we really wanted Irina to sing at a concert in his memory. But she was then on tour in Germany, and we did not imagine that she would have time to return. Literally on the eve of the concert, Ira calls me and almost in tears asks if she will participate in the concert. It turned out that she managed to return from tour. I answered her: “Ira, I’ll ask the TV people who did the filming.” When I called First, they told me that the airwaves were full and they would not be able to allocate time. I had to refuse.

I value her primarily as a warm-hearted and soulful singer.

Kuprik was not taken back

“Many people ask me why lead singer Seryozha Kuprik left the Lesopoval group after the death of Mikhail Isaevich,” admitted Lidia Nikolaevna. “About six months after Tanich passed away, he came to my house with a bouquet of roses and said that he wanted to work on his own. I then asked him: “Seryozha, have you thought well?” He nodded. For me, this decision was unexpected - literally the next day the group was supposed to go on tour. Forty concerts are planned. Then the group set off without him. I just told him: “Seryozha, do you know that you do not have the right to sing the songs of “Lesopoval”?” He replied: “Yes, I know that, but I ask you to give permission to perform one song - “White Swan on the Pond.” I allowed it. He then added that, if anything happened, he would be able to perform at corporate events. But I didn’t go for it. So, the guys will be wandering around the country, and he will only be at corporate events?

No need! The reasons for his leaving the group are unclear to me. But perhaps his girlfriend contributed, telling him that he was a genius and that if he started a solo career, he would become cooler than Leps. In fact, in the last years of his work at Lesopoval, Kuprik began to have problems with his voice. He could not sing - he was swallowing air. Doctors said that the voice problems were psychological. At that time, Stas Volkov was a soloist together with Kuprik. And Tanich introduced Slava Velichkovsky into the group as another performer. Sergei was probably worried that not only he was wearing flowers at concerts. He came to the cemetery and hinted that he wouldn’t mind returning. But the guys said that they would not forgive betrayal.

Kobzon must be carried in your arms

People like Joseph Kobzon, difficult to find. He is a true friend and helped us all the time. When my husband had the last stage of oncology, the doctors shrugged. One day they advised us of a medicine that was not yet on the market.

They promised to get it for fifty thousand dollars, but they never did. And once again Joseph calls, who at that moment was at the airport and was about to fly abroad. I say: “Yosya, you need medicine, but it’s not on sale.” He responded: “Spell it out.” Three days later he calls: “Lida, I brought the medicine.” Unfortunately, it didn't help. On the day my husband passed away, Yosya and I called each other in the morning. I told him that Misha had only a few hours left to live. He answered me: “What do you need?” I conveyed my husband's last request. He asked Kobzon to help him get a place at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. Kobzon, abandoning all his affairs, turned the car around and drove off to negotiate. Two hours later he found a place. He calls and reports. And Mikhail Isaevich was no longer there. So we buried him at the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

My husband chose this cemetery, arguing that it was located close to our house and it would be more convenient for me to go there.

“After Tanich’s death, Igor Nikolaev registered an apartment in Miami for me,” the poet’s widow shares her memories.

“After Tanich’s death, Igor Nikolaev registered an apartment in Miami for me,” the poet’s widow shares her memories of her husband.

Lydia Kozlova-Tanich.

Liliya Sharlovskaya

Everyone chooses for themselves: a woman, a religion, a road, a poem...” Probably, Tanich would never have become Tanich if, in the terrible post-war years, during the construction of the Stalingrad State District Power Plant, he had not met a young technical school student, Lida Kozlova. She is herself a talented poet, the author of one of the the most famous hits “Iceberg”, dedicated her life to her husband. She was his muse and inspiration, faithful friend and comrade-in-arms. From the first day they met, Lida realized that fate had brought her together with a genius.

Lidia Kozlova-Tanich:“Do you know that I saw Tanich for the first time in a dream? When I entered the construction technical school in Stalingrad, I had absolutely nowhere to live. For some time I spent the night in a hostel on the same bed with another girl, and then I decided to rent a bed in the city. I found a grandmother, scary as Baba Yaga, her face was wrinkled and always angry. For ten rubles she let me live on an old sofa in the basement. My scholarship was eighteen rubles. And then it turned out that my grandmother had a kind heart, and she loved me in her own way. I once asked: “Do you want to see your betrothed?” And then I didn’t even kiss, I was terribly wild. But who doesn’t want to see their betrothed? Grandma says: make a well out of matches and go to bed. And then at night I dreamed about my whole life, which, I hope, is not over yet, and a man with the face of Tanich, about whom I only thought then: “It’s okay, he’s handsome!”

How did the historic meeting take place?
Lydia:“I graduated from technical school, and I was assigned to Moscow. I studied very well. And I—that’s what was frivolous in my head—declared that I wanted to stay and work at the Stalingrad State District Power Plant. I arrived at the construction site and they put me in a dormitory. The seventh of November arrived, and a group of young people decided to gather in our room. Together, as they said then. And so I wash the floors, the door opens, and two guys and two girls of extraordinary beauty come in. I've never even seen such actresses! And one of the men has the face of my very betrothed from the dream. I’ll just blurt out: “Oh, I know you!” He was surprised, and I hid in the far corner during the party, worried that he might think that I was pestering him... At the height of the evening, the guys asked: “Lida, sing!” Sometimes I sang, playing along with myself on the guitar, and composed music and poetry. I took the guitar and announced: “I recently wrote a song, and I read poems in the newspaper, they were written by some Tanich.” And then this betrothed, who had not taken his eyes off me all evening, leaned over and whispered in my ear: “And Tanich is me!”

Simply incredible, mystical story! You probably believe in miracles, Lydia Nikolaevna?
Lydia:“I believe. Because there have been many miracles in my life. And isn’t life itself a miracle? We survived that terrible war... When the offensive began, my parents and I set off from Saratov to evacuate, but the Germans walked faster than we did. We were stuck in a remote village on the Volga. The hunger was terrible. I was ten years old, I heard the word “candy” and had no idea what it was... One day my parents sent me to buy bread; it was distributed in a village teahouse. I held the card in my hand and walked through the snow through the dark village. I go in and there’s smoke like a rocker, there’s a lot of people, and there’s a huge picture hanging on the wall, covering the entire wall. It depicts an episode from Lermontov's Pechorin: the hero is riding a horse, Bela is thrown over his saddle, and the Chechens are chasing after them. I just froze near such beauty. I look and, out of excitement, rub the cards in my hand, rub... When I came to my senses, there was nothing left of the cards - just dust. How to go home after this? There a hungry family sits and waits for me with bread... I wandered around the village all day, even looked into the well, and wanted to throw myself. I finally came home and confessed. The parents didn't even say a word. And in the morning there was an announcement on the radio: the cards were cancelled. Isn't this a miracle?

Mikhail Isaevich said in an interview that a gypsy also told him about you. This is true?
Lydia:“He told me so. Once I was walking through the market when I met a gypsy: “Let me tell you my fortune!” He extended his palm for fun. And she says to him: “Your wife will be called Lida!” At that time, as Tanich said, he didn’t even have a friend with that name. Tanich's father was shot in 1938; he held an important post in the leadership of the city of Taganrog. The mother was also imprisoned. Misha was taken by his grandfather. He got him into a railway technical school. By the way, Tanich got married there for the first time. A girl named Irina treated him to pies, but he was always hungry... So they began to live together. Their son was born. A wartime child, he was always in poor health. He passed away before Tanich. He often visited us, Mikhail Isaevich always communicated with him... The railway workers were given reservations, but Tanich himself asked to join the army. And he served throughout the war. And reached Germany. Later, at the institute in Rostov, his classmates asked him: “Mish, how do the Germans live there in Germany?” He said innocently: “The roads there are good, there are autobahns. We flew along them in Studebakers, like airplanes.” And this was enough for him to be arrested on denunciation and given six years in the camps.”

Weren't you afraid to marry a man with such a biography?
Lydia:“I was in love and didn’t even think about it! He had already divorced Ira by this time. When Misha was in the camps, she sent him a letter asking for a divorce. He, of course, didn’t mind... And after our first meeting, he disappeared for a long time: he didn’t want to spoil my fate. He quit his job as a construction worker and asked to work for a regional newspaper, across the Volga to another city. But he couldn’t stand it for long and started writing to me. Every day. And one day he wrote: come. I immediately quit, dropped everything and went. Or rather, she went: there was a two-kilometer-long pedestrian bridge across the Volga, which had ropes instead of handrails. How did I walk through it in the rain and wind? It was love that led!”

And how did your family life begin?
Lydia:"Funny! And very hungry. A fisherman's family let us stay. They gave us a summer kitchen. We started living there, and our eldest daughter, Inga, was born there. It’s funny - after our first wedding night, Tanich says: “If you’re not pregnant right now, it means you don’t love me!” My heart sank to my feet - how do I know whether I’m pregnant or not? Thank God everything turned out well. So he again sets the condition: “If a guy is born, I will leave home!” And when Inga was born, I was lying in the maternity hospital, crying. The sisters are busy, thinking, what a disaster I am. And I’m crying with happiness!”

Who chose a rare name for their daughter?
Lydia:“Tanich, of course. He was an athlete all his life, loved physical education and always appreciated sports. Then the name of speed skater Inga Artamonova thundered throughout the country.”

Did he continue to write poetry?
Lydia:"Certainly. When I was pregnant, I took out his leaves every day and read new poems. I immediately realized what level of talent this was. And she started nagging him little by little: Misha, send the poems to Moscow, send them! At first he brushed me off like an annoying fly. But, you know, a drop wears away a stone. He sent his poems to Literaturnaya Gazeta and received a response signed by Bulat Okudzhava: “Mikhail, you are very talented, you need to move to Moscow.” But Bulat did not know that after the camps Misha was not allowed to approach the capital closer than one hundred kilometers. But even then I began to put pressure on him: let’s at least move closer, somewhere in the Moscow region. As a result of various exchanges, we ended up in Orekhovo-Zuevo in a basement, barracks-type apartment. It was so damp there and there were so many rats running around that we went to the toilet with a broom to drive them away. Tanich developed tuberculosis from the camp, his legs festered so much that I changed the bandages every hour, and at night I put rubber diapers under the sheets...

Inga also developed tuberculosis. Another daughter was born here... There was little money. Tanich wrote poetry, they were published, but he received pennies for it. They paid thirty rubles for the verse. They didn’t put more than one in the newspaper. How could the family live on this money? But other writers and poets from Moscow had already begun to come to him. Tanich's talent was noticed. And one day Volodya Voinovich, he was working on the radio then, seeing how poor we were, said: write a song - they pay more for it. Sixty rubles or even ninety if the song is good.

Tanich wrote poetry and went to the editorial office of a youth newspaper. He was refused. Well, how can you write about the then Minister of Defense: “The girls are dancing in circles, the moonlit river is flowing. Comrade Malinovsky, will you register them? He, upset, walks down the corridor and meets a huge man. Also sad. This and that, we started talking. Tanich admitted that his poems were hacked to death. The interlocutor asked them to read. He asked: can I try to find music for them? This is how the song “Textile Town” appeared, the music was written by Jan Frenkel, that same tall man. This song was later performed on the Good Morning program.

And Tanich woke up famous?
Lydia:“Who knows the authors of the lyrics, and even by sight? He told how one day he went to the Kursky station to change money at a kiosk, and from there “Gorodok” was playing at full power. Tanich was stunned - only two days ago the song was first heard on the radio! His pride is bursting, he says to the saleswoman: “I wrote this song.” She looked at him contemptuously: “Come on!” Snout didn’t come out to write such songs! “That’s it,” my husband laughed later, “fame hit me for the first time.”

And you became rich people?
Lydia:“You didn’t know Mikhail Isaevich! Do you know what he bought with his first decent salary? Two years after the success of “Textile Town,” my husband received royalty money—two hundred rubles. He was driving home joyfully, but on the way at the commission office he met a huge wooden receiver. Telefunken. He bought it and took it home. We put it on the only nightstand and listened to it until the morning.

Even when Tanich became a famous poet, and composers lined up for his poems, he did not become a rich man: Misha loved to receive large companies and was hospitable. Having been hungry and suffered as a child, this person is ready to help everyone and, first of all, of course, feed and drink.”

Why do you think his songs were so received by people?
Lydia:“This is a special gift of a poet - to write in such a way as to blaze a path to every soul. After the success of “Textile Town,” Tanich and Frenkel were sent to Sakhalin through the Komsomol Central Committee to write a hymn about the island. And Tanich still wrote a simple soulful song “Well, what can I tell you about Sakhalin?” The authorities were unhappy, but the people accepted it, and they still consider it the anthem on Sakhalin.”

And “Iceberg”, the famous hit of Alla Pugacheva?
Lydia:“It was even easier with him. The young and unknown composer Igor Nikolaev often visited our house. Tanich didn't particularly like working with celebrities. I thought that they had already achieved everything, they had everything. But he accepted the youth, helped and wrote for them with pleasure. So one day Igor Nikolaev and Sasha Malinin appeared in our house. Tanich immediately said to Malinin: “You should sing romances, not pop music.” Malinin listened - and still sings romances. Tanich especially appreciated Igor Nikolaev; he immediately saw great talent in him. He advised: you don’t have a single song, try to write something with Lida first. And Igor and I made a song for Lyudmila Gurchenko, then another one for Edita Piekha. One day Igor came to us, hungry, as always. I poured him some borscht and sat down next to him. During lunch, Igor asked me for something new. I showed him Iceberg. He read, drank a glass of cognac and sat down at the piano. Twenty minutes later the song was ready.”

Liliya Sharlovskaya

Do artists pay you for your songs?
Lydia:“They never paid. Misha and I have lived our entire lives on royalties. Tanich was already ill when they bought the first poems from him. Alexander Iratov bought a whole cycle for Alena Apina’s new album, starting with the song “Knots,” it seems, for two hundred dollars per song. Then they bought more, but this did not last long - Tanich died.

Igor Nikolaev, by that time a very famous composer and performer, decided to give me a gift - he registered an apartment in Miami in my name. But I refused: why should I do this alone? In general, Igor helped me a lot: when Tanich died, he was simply there and literally saved me. And Joseph Kobzon called morning and evening, got a place at the Vagankovsky cemetery for Misha...”

After Mikhail Isaevich left, you replaced him as artistic director of the Lesopoval group. Was this something new for you?
Lydia:“For mercy, how new! From the day when Tanich wrote his first poem for Lesopoval until today, I have been constantly in the orbit of all the problems of the group. Misha had no intention of creating a group. Moreover, he did not want to touch on the camp theme in his poems. But there is such a word in the Old Russian language “donzhit”. Its meaning is conveyed by the modern word “molest,” so I’ve added it here: who, if not you, who went through the camps, should write about this? I brought Seryozha Korzhukov to him. They tried to write one song, then another, and things went well. One day Tanich was invited to television. He was already very popular then. He agreed to perform, but on one condition: he would show a new program and a new performer. She and Seryozha sang seven songs. And they blew up the airwaves! My phone was cut off at home, calls from all over the Union: who is this guy? Then the song “And the White Swan on the Pond” was born - practically the anthem of “Lesopoval”... When Tanich died, the guys came to the funeral. And at the wake, in front of everyone, they asked me to lead the group. We’ve been working like this for six years now without Misha.”

Lidiya Nikolaevna, didn’t your daughters follow in their father’s footsteps?
Lydia:“Inga, the eldest, became an artist. Together with her husband, also an artist, she went to study in Holland and stayed there. Their two sons also graduated from the Academy of Painting, actively exhibit and have success in Europe. I already have a great-grandson - six-year-old Misha. The youngest daughter Svetlana dedicated her life to preserving her father's legacy. She is working with archives, preparing his poems for publication. And she writes both prose and poetry.”

“Lowing”, songs, children, what else did your husband leave you?
Lydia:“I have never touched his papers in my life. We had a ritual: he woke up early, at seven o’clock, and wrote. I got up later, and he brought me a new poem. And so every day! And then he was gone, I went into his office. All the papers are sorted into folders: poems for “Lesopoval”, for the publishing house. everything is clear - all the instructions, where to whom and what. There were poems about me too... “Who would know how beautiful you are in the morning. I don't think your makeup suits you. How the two suns of your green eyes rise above me every time. Who would have known, who would have seen, anyone. He should wake up with you. Who would know how beautiful you are. You yourself. But I went crazy with jealousy...”