To the 90th anniversary of the birth of Iryna Mykhailivna Tarnovska (married Trach), great-niece of Vasyl Vasyliovych Tarnovsky Jr, whose name our museum bears.
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Iryna Mykhailivna, as an interesting person, attracted the attention of writers and journalists. More than twenty publications cover different periods of her life. In 2015 year I. Tarnovska decided to give a brief introduction about herself in her autobiography, not counting on printing.
Iryna Mikhailivna was born in Kyiv 29 April 1936 year. She was baptized in the refectory church of Mykhailo Zolotoverkhi monastery, when the girl was already five years old. Certificate of baptism for no 1 від 7 December 1941 Dr.. is now kept in our museum.
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The girl's father is a famous master of photography, Mykhailo Volodymyrovych Tarnovskyi, a member of the board of the Dager company (1865–1943) worked on the order of many museums of Ukraine. On sorry, his image remained only in the memories of his still very young daughter,. Iryna's mother, Yukhimiy Ivanivna Sereda, was by her side all her later life (1899–1971), a simple village woman, much younger than her husband. She did not shy away from any work, she also worked as a cleaner, and a nurse.
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Irina's childhood was during the German occupation, when the family was forced to repeatedly look for places to live, after all, they were thrown out of the apartment to nowhere. 1944 year, the girl went to the first grade of secondary girls' school no 3, which she successfully completed 1954 year. Despite the famine years, which haunted Irina's childhood and youth, she actively engaged in swimming, jumping into the water, gymnastics, I read a lot, studied English.
Studying at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, in the first year she met her future husband Yuriy Trach, master of sports, who became the father of their son Volodymyr, 1956 року народження.
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They lived very poorly, in the basement, ice cream boxes served as furniture, food was prepared under compulsion. There was barely enough money to live on, because the family budget consisted of two scholarships and the mother's pension.
After receiving a diploma of higher education, the man worked as a designer-technologist, later the head of production of the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant. and Iryna Mykhailivna - in the design office of the shipbuilding plant "Leninska Kuznia", where, as she mentioned, they designed various equipment for metallurgical plants, synthetic and man-made fiber plants. She worked in this field until retirement 1991 year.
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Iryna Mykhailivna revealed her belonging to the Tarnovsky noble family during her first visit to the State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Kachanivka" 1988 year. Mykhailo Pavlov, the director of the Kyiv Film Studio of Chronicle and Documentary Films, was interested in her message. Later, the documentary "Day of Remembrance" was released on the big screen. From that time, Irina Mykhailivna's significant public work began in popularizing representatives of the Tarnovsky family and preserving Kachanivka as a unique palace and park ensemble.
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Close ties with the Chernihiv Regional Historical Museum named after. VV. Iryna Mykhailivna supported Tarnovsky for many years, participated in museum meetings, handed over family documents for safekeeping, memorial items, collection of embroidery, created by her.
Concluding the autobiography 6 February 2015 year, she noted: "My life was interesting, full of important events, meetings with personalities, which is now very pleasant to remember, - only to remember". But fate gave her another ten years of an active meaningful life.
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Iryna Mykhailivna Trach-Tarnovska has passed away 20 May 2025 year.
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Senior researcher of the museum Svetlana Polovnikova,
Nataliya Samokhina, head of the scientific and educational department.
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