HOW I MET JANKA and IVONKA SURVILLA's Family
My family emigrated to Canada in 1979. About a year later, we meet up with the Survilla’s family.
Here is how we met: I applied for a graduate program at the University of Ottawa in the early 1980s. My first choice was a class with the linguist, Prof. Dr. Bogdan Plaskacz. Most of the students in the classroom were from various countries, ranging from Russia to Moldova. Each of us was supposed to name our birthplace (country and its capital city) at the first meeting. When my turn came, I named Biełaruś and Minsk. The professor asked me whether I was familiar with Biełarusian Canadians. I wasn’t. Dr. Plaskacz responded that his best friends are Biełarusians and that they would be happy to meet compatriots. That evening, I received a phone call from a woman with a melodious voice: it was Joanna Survilla, who said that Dr. Plaskacz had invited both our families to his home for supper on Saturday. “You probably don’t have a car,” she mentioned (and we didn’t), but my husband, Janka, will pick you up and bring you back home. Indeed, Sp.-r Janka did. Very soon, he became my mentor in terms of the history of Biełaruś; he knew our country as the five fingers on his right hand. Janka Survilla was an excellent and friendly teacher and friend. Because of him, I dropped Russian studies to promote my motherland in the academic world. And together, under his leadership, we succeeded. Colleagues who attended our presentations at the world conferences were envious of our unity and success.
Dr. Zina Gimpelevich
