Larisa Angela Bakurova ( uk, Лариса Анжела Бакурова, ; born February 21, 1985) is a
Ukrainian-born Taiwanese
Taiwanese may refer to:
* Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien
* Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa)
* Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan
* Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan
* Taiwanese people, ...
actress and model. Besides her modeling engagements, she has appeared in supporting roles in the
Taiwanese drama
Taiwanese drama (, also known as T.W. drama) refer to dramatic programming of television programming extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and hav ...
''They Kiss Again'' and the film
''Don't Go Breaking My Heart. In 2012, Bakurova starred in the film ''Young Dudes'' directed by
DJ Chen Yin-Jung.
Bakurova was a professional
rhythmic gymnast
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordi ...
from ages 3–15 and won numerous national competitions. She was Miss
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
at the age of 18. Bakurova is a graduate of
Odessa National Economics University
Odesa National University of Economics (ONEU, uk, Одеський національний економічний університет, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi ekonomichnyi universytet) – one of the leading universities in Ukraine, fo ...
, where she holds a master's degree in economics.
In 2013, Bakurova obtained the Taiwan
Permanent Resident Certificate and began the
naturalization
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
process. She married a Taiwanese national in 2015 and gave birth to a daughter in 2016. On January 24, 2019, Bakurova became the first naturalized Taiwanese citizen of Ukrainian descent, which required a long process to