Karvelis was born in Noreikiškės, Kaunas district on 13 June 1935, to Lithuanian politician
Petras Karvelis (1925-1929 Foreign Minister of Lithuania) and
Veronika Bakštytė, a cultural activist. Following the 1940
incorporation of Lithuanie into the Soviet Union, the Karvelis family emigrated to Germany in 1944. In 1940, Karvelis enrolled in
Sacre Coeur, a private school in
Berlin. She continued her studies at Kaunas
Aušra Gymnasium (1943-1944) and
Tübingen French school (1945-1950). Karvelis studied at the
Sorbonne (1951-1952) and then in the international relations department at
Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris from 1952 to 1956. Karvelis furthered her studies overseas at
Columbia University in New York in the history and economics departments from 1957 to 1958. In 1955. Karvelis began working for Express magazine in the international relations department. From 1959 to 1983, she worked as a publisher and editor for
Editions Gallimard, beginning as an international department manager, and later managing the Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe departments. Thanks to her, many renowned writers such as
Julio Cortázar (her partner between 1967 and 1970),
Pablo Neruda, and
Octavio Paz were published in France. Karvelis also worked as a literary critic publishing in
Le Figaro and
Le Monde. In 1988, Karvelis visited Lithuania and in 1991 helped Lithuania to join
UNESCO. In 1993 she became
Lithuania's permanent delegate to UNESCO. In 1991, Karvelis directed two documentary movies about Lithuania. She translated many Lithuanian authors into French, most notably novels by
Saulius Tomas Kondrotas (
Gaze of the Viper )),
Ričardas Gavelis,
Bitė Vilimaitė, and
Jurga Ivanauskaitė. She translated classic poems by
Kristijonas Donelaitis,
Maironis,
Balys Sruoga,
Salomėja Nėris,
Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, and
Jonas Aistis. Additionally she translated poems by modern authors:
Marcelijus Martinaitis (
Passerelle de nuages ),
Eduardas Mieželaitis,
Justinas Marcinkevičius,
Sigitas Geda,
Antanas A. Jonynas,
Gintaras Patackas, and
Almis Grybauskas among others. == Works of note ==