Ivonka Survilla
| Ivonka Survilla | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile | |
|
Assumed office 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Jazep Sažyč |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Івонка Шыманец / Ivonka Szymaniec April 11, 1936 Stołpce, Second Polish Republic |
| Spouse(s) | Janka Survilla |
| Children | Hanna-Pradslava Survilla, Dr. Maria Paula Survilla |
| Residence | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | Sorbonne |
| Profession | Translator Painter |
| Religion | |
| Website | radabnr.org |
Ivonka Survilla or Surviłła (Belarusian: Івонка Сурвілла, born Ivonka Szymaniec, Belarusian: Івонка Шыманец, Polish: Iwonka Szymaniec, April 11, 1936) is the self-styled President of the non-internationally recognized Belarusian People's Republic (BNR), the Belarusian government in exile.
Ivonka Survilla was born in Stołpce, then part of the Second Polish Republic (West Belarus), into the family of Uladzimier Szymaniec, an engineer, and Evelina Szymaniec née Paszkievicz.
In 1940, after the Soviet annexation of West Belarus, Uladzimier Szymaniec was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced to five years imprisonment in Gulag. He escaped due to the German attack on the USSR.
In 1944 the family fled to the West through East Prussia with the 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. Survilla's family members were active participants in the life of the local Belarusian community. Ivonka Szymaniec has studied at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and then graduated from a humanities faculty of the Sorbonne.
In 1959 Ivonka Szymaniec married Janka Survilla, a Belarusian economist, activist and radio broadcaster. With him she moved to Madrid, Spain, where they ran a Belarusian language radio programs supported by the Spanish government.
...
Wikipedia