Ivonka Surviła

Ivonka Surviła studied at Faculty of Arts of Paris and Beaux-Arts de Paris. The recorded working language is English, French and Belarusian. The field of work recorded is literary studies, painting and politics. Residence is recorded at Ottawa and Madrid. Employment is recorded with Institut français de Madrid and Health Canada. Distinctions recorded are Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Order of the Pahonia, Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal and Francysk Skaryna Medal.

• Name — Ivonka Survilla • Office — President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile • Term Start — 30 August 1997 • Predecessor — Jazep Sažyč • Birth Name — Івонка Шыманец / Iwonka Szymaniec • Born — 11 April 1936 • Birthplace — Stołpce, Poland (now Stowbtsy, Belarus) • Spouse — Janka Survilla • Children — 2; including Maria Paula • Alma Mater — Sorbonne • Occupation — Translator Painter • Website — radabnr.org • Awards — Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

Ivonka Survilla was born Iwonka Szymaniec in Stowbtsy, then part of the Second Polish Republic (Western Belorussia), into the family of Uladzimier Šymaniec, an engineer, and Evelina Šymaniec (née Paškievič). In 1940, after the Soviet annexation of Western Belorussia, Uladzimier Šymaniec was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Gulag. He escaped due to the German invasion of the USSR. In 1944 the family fled to the West through East Prussia with thousands of other refugees and eventually reached Denmark, where they lived in a refugee camp for several years. On the way Ivonka's younger sister died. In 1948 her family moved to France and settled in Paris. Šymaniec's family members were active participants in the local Belarusian community. Šymaniec studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris and then graduated from a humanities faculty of the Sorbonne. In 1959 Ivonka Šymaniec married Janka Survilla, a Belarusian economist, activist and radio broadcaster. With him she moved to Madrid where they ran a Belarusian language radio program supported by Francoist Spain.

After the closure of the radio station in 1965, Janka and Ivonka Survilla moved to Canada in 1969 where Ivonka started working as translator for the federal government. She eventually became the head of Translation Services at Health Canada. In Canada, Ivonka Survilla became an active member of local Belarusian organisations. In 1989, Ivonka Survilla, with the assistance of her husband Janka Survilla and friends Zinaida Gimpelevitch and Pauline Paszkievicz-Smith, created the Canadian Relief Fund for Chernobyl Victims in Belarus. This charitable organization has provided medical aid in various forms, reciprocal medical staff visits between Canada and Belarus, food aid, and has provided health respites for children in various locations within Canada.

Ivonka Survilla was elected president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1997. She is the first woman president of the Rada and the first president elected after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and creation of an independent Republic of Belarus. Survilla regularly addresses the Belarusian society on March 25 and other occasions. She is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism. In 2013 she was awarded the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for "her lifelong work in restoring democracy to Belarus".

Ivonka Survilla has two daughters. One of her daughters, Maria Paula Survilla, (1964–2020) was a professor of ethnomusicology at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Her husband Janka Survilla died in Ottawa in 1997. Survilla has participated in more than 30 exhibitions as a painter.

Ivonka Surviła was recorded at birth as Івонка Шыманец. Her recorded languages were English, French, Belarusian and Polish. She was the child of Uladzimir Shymaniets. She married Janka Survilla. One child is recorded: Maria Paula Survilla.

Ivonka Surviła is recorded as having received Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Order of the Pahonia and Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal.