Krasnodar, founded in 1793, is the capital of the Kuban Territory. In Krasnodar there are many monuments dedicated to the history of the Cossacks and outstanding Cossacks. On September 26, 2008, in the area of ​​Postovaya and Oktyabrskaya streets, near the Platan hotel, a monument was erected to the People’s Actress of the USSR – Klara Stepanovna Luchko.

Klara Luchko said that she was “three times Cossack”: by origin (Klara Luchko was from Poltava) and by two film roles – Dasha Shelest in “Kuban Cossacks” and Klavdia Pukhlyakova in “Gypsy”.

The Kuban people fell in love with the actress and remembered it as “their own.” Clara Luchko often came to the Kuban and called it a second homeland. The role of the collective farmer Dasha Shelest brought national love to Klara Stepanovna.

The film was shot in the Gulkevichesky and Kurganinsky districts of the Krasnodar Territory (1949). For the role of Dasha Shelest, Klara Luchko was awarded the USSR State Prize.

Creation of a monument Clara Luchko

In 2005, the authorities of the Regional Center started talking about erecting a monument in honor of their beloved actress. In 2007, a project competition was announced, the winners of which were sculptures from Moscow – Daria Uspenskaya and Vitaly Shanov. These sculptures created a tombstone for Klara Luchko at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.

Luchko’s daughter Oksana Lukyanenko took part in the image of the monument. Work on the monument lasted 1.5 years. The grand opening of the monument to Klara Stepanovna took place 3 years later at the birthday of Krasnodar.

A bronze sculpture 3.5 meters high is installed on a granite pedestal, which was made in the Regional Center. The sculptures managed to show the femininity and beauty of this great actress. Clara Luchko is depicted in the form of a slender young radiant Cossack woman who has put her leg back a little and seems to want to leave the monument.

Behind her is a viburnum bush, which served as a symbol of the song that sounded in the film “Kuban Cossacks”. The film was watched by 40 million viewers, and the real Kuban Cossacks presented the actress with the “Honorary Cossack” diploma.

After some time, newlyweds began to come to the sculpture and lay flowers at its foot. Clara Stepanovna Luchko became for them a symbol of female beauty and strength of character.

The monument to the actress in Krasnodar is a tribute to the memory and national love in the Cossack land.