One of the greatest and most modern 20th century Lithuanian poets, translator, literary critic, laureate of the Lithuanian National Prize, Honorary Doctor of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
He was on the editorial board of "Aida", one of the editors of "Literatūros lankas".
He was born on 15 July 1919. He was baptised on the same day in the Roman Catholic Church in Utena.
1938 - graduated from Utena Gymnasium. In 1938-1939 he began studying Romance Studies and Philosophy at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. He was a friend of Vytautas Mačernis and Bronis Krivicks. Later, he continued his studies at Vilnius University for a couple of years, graduating in 1942.
In 1944, he fled to the West, like tens of thousands of other Lithuanian citizens who wanted to escape Soviet repression. He studied philosophy and art history at the universities of Tübingen and Fribourg. In addition, he studied and graduated in German, French and English literature. For a while he worked as a teacher in Lithuanian gymnasiums abroad and collaborated with the Lithuanian cultural press. After graduating in 1949, he settled in Baltimore (USA) and worked at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. until his retirement, editing articles and books.
