Born in 1937 in Klaipėda. Poet, translator, literary scholar, and essayist. He graduated from Vilnius University, participated in dissident activities, and was a founding member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group. In 1977, he emigrated to the United States (his Soviet citizenship was revoked by a special decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR). From 1985 to 2012, he worked at Yale University and is now Professor Emeritus. Since 2019, he has been living in Vilnius. His books have been published in more than twenty languages.

Tomas Venclova