Maria Paula Survilla

Maria Paula Survilla (February 1, 1964 – April 25, 2020), also known as Paŭlina Maria Survilla, was an American professor of ethnomusicology and an ethnocultural activist of Belarusian descent.

Biography Survilla was born in Madrid, Spain to Janka and Ivonka Survilla, anti-communist activists who had left Belarus because of conflicts caused by World War II. They moved to France for a few years and then to Spain. Paula inherited her mother's natural affinity for learning new languages and became fluent in French, Spanish and Belarusian as a child.

Early years When she was five, the family moved to Canada and at school Survilla learned English, her fourth language. Survilla became an activist at a young age, founding and chairing the Youth Canadian Ethnocultural Council. At the University of Ottawa, she studied ethnomusicology, graduated with her B.A. in music (clarinet, 1987)

Survilla died in Waverly on April 25, 2020, at the age of 56 from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. She was survived by her husband Eric Wachmann, a musician and professor of music, and their two sons, Vaalik, and Anton Wachmann.

Selected works Survilla, M. P. (1990). Music and Identity: Byelorussians Making Music in North America (University of Michigan). Survilla, M. P. (2003). Ordinary words. Sound, symbolism, and meaning in Belarusan-language rock music. In Global pop, local language, ed. Harris M. Berger and Michael Thomas Carroll, 187–206. Survilla, M. P. (2020). Of mermaids and rock singers: placing the self and constructing the nation through Belarusan contemporary music. Routledge.