Country of Origin: Belarus (born in Stobcy, which was then a part of the Second Polish Republic)

Main Focus: Democracy, Belarusian Independence, Humanitarian Aid, Translation and Communication, Leadership

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Ivonka Joanna Survilla is the President of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the oldest government in exile in the world.

Ivonka Survilla was born in Stobcy, a part of the Second Polish Republic (West Belarus). In 1939 the USSR invaded and took over the country. The following year Ivonka's father was captured by the Soviet forces and sentenced to five years in a Siberian Gulag. However, he managed to escape, and 1944 the family fled to Denmark.

Her family relocated to France in 1948, settling in Paris. Ivonka earned her degree from the Sorbonne and in 1959, married fellow Belarussian Janka Survilla, an economist, activist, and radio presenter from Belarus. They relocated to Madrid, where they ran a radio show in Belarusian that was broadcast across Europe.

Ivonka Survilla began working as a translator for the federal government in Canada in 1969 after the radio station was shut down in 1965. Janka and Ivonka Survilla migrated to Canada in 1969. She subsequently rose to lead Health Canada's Translation Services department.

Ivonka Survilla joined numerous local Belarusian organizations in Canada and became an active member.

Ivonka Survilla founded the Canadian Relief Fund for Chernobyl Victims in Belarus in 1989 with the help of her husband Janka Survilla, friends Zinaida Gimpelevitch and Pauline Paszkievicz-Smith, and others. This nonprofit organization offers various forms of nutritional assistance, medical assistance, visits between Canadian and Belarusian medical personnel, medical staff exchanges, and health breaks for kids across Canada.

In 1997, Ivonka Survilla won the election for Rada president of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. She was elected as the Rada's first female president and as the country's first leader following the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of an independent Republic of Belarus.

On March 25 and other occasions, Survilla speaks to the Belarusian public on a regular basis.

She signed the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism as one of its original signatories.

The Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was given to her in 2013 in recognition of "her lifelong commitment in bringing democracy to Belarus."