Elvyra Usačiovaitė is a Doctor of Humanitarian Sciences (History), the author of monographs and scientific articles in Lithuania and abroad, and book maker.

Dr. Usačiovaitė was born in 1956, in Šakiai. In 1974, after graduating from Vilnius 16th secondary school, she entered the History faculty at Vilnius University. In 1980, she received a degree in History and in 1993, she defended her Doctoral thesis on Lietuvių valstiečių baldų puošyba XIX-XX a. pirmoje pusėje (Lithuanian peasants’ furniture decoration in the XIX to the beginning of the XX century).

Since 1988, she has worked at the Institute of Culture and Art (after the reorganization in 2002, it was renamed: the Institute of Culture, Philosophy and Art). In 2002, she became the head of the newly established Baltic Cultural Division at the Institute.

Her research interests: religion, culture, habits and symbols of the ancient Balts (Lithuanians, Prussians and Yotvingians) and their reflection on traditional Lithuanian culture and world-view.

In 2005, the publishing house “Versus aureus” published the study of A. Usačiovaitė Augimo samprata senojoje lietuvių kultūroje (The conception of growth in ancient Lithuanian culture), about the spiritual culture of ancient Lithuanians.