1. Ivonka Survilla is the President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, a Belarusian government in exile.
11 Facts About Ivonka Survilla
1. 2.
Ivonka Survilla was born Iwonka Szymaniec in Stowbtsy, then part of the Second Polish Republic, into the family of Uladzimier Symaniec, an engineer, and Evelina Symaniec.
3.
Ivonka Survilla escaped due to the German invasion of the USSR.
4.
In 1959 Ivonka Symaniec married Janka Survilla, a Belarusian economist, activist and radio broadcaster.
5.
Ivonka Survilla eventually became the head of Translation Services at Health Canada.
6.
In Canada, Ivonka Survilla became an active member of local Belarusian organisations.
7.
Ivonka Survilla was elected president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1997.
8.
Ivonka Survilla 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.
9.
Ivonka Survilla is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.
10.
One of her daughters, Maria Paula Ivonka Survilla, was a professor of ethnomusicology at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
11.
Ivonka Survilla has participated in more than 30 exhibitions as a painter.