Born in Zizonys, Biržai district municipality, in 1882, Galvanauskas completed his secondary education at the Gymnasium of Jelgava, Latvia in 1902.

He was arrested and imprisoned in the Panevėžys Prison, but escaped and with the help of Felicija Bortkevičienė fled abroad.

[1] Between 1906 and 1919, he lived first in Finland, then in Liège (Belgium) from 1908, where he completed his studies and received a diploma in mining engineering from the Technical University and another one from the Electrotechnical Institute, then he worked on the railroad in Serbia.

His home was the target of a bomb attack by extreme nationalists (Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania) who suspected him and his French wife to be pro-Polish, he was injured.

He was involved in re-organizing Klaipėda's woodworking industry, and founded a building company that constructed apartments for workers.