She was born in the Manor of Linkaučiai near Krekenava, then part of the Russian Empire, to the family of Juozas Povickas and Antanina Ona Liutkevičiūtė, petty Lithuanian nobles.

[1] For a year, she studied Polish history and French language at the secret "Flying University" in Warsaw.

[3] Through book smuggler Motiejus Baltūsis, Bortkevičienė gained access to the illegal Lithuanian newspapers Varpas, Ūkininkas, and Naujienos.

The Union proposed and the Seimas approved a resolution calling for universal suffrage without regard to sex, religion, or nationality.

[10] Her husband was imprisoned in Lukiškės Prison in 1906 for three months;[5] the experience weakened his health and after a long treatment he died in January 1909.

[12] After the conference, she lived in Copenhagen and worked with the Red Cross organizing relief for Lithuanian POWs in Germany.

[12] In spring 1918, she returned to Vilnius and resumed political activities, reviving Lietuvos ūkininkas in November 1918.

[7] In December 1918, at the start of the Lithuanian–Soviet War, the Lithuanian government was in crisis and Bortkevičienė encouraged Mykolas Sleževičius to take charge and become the Prime Minister.

[12] Sleževičius considered her for the Ministry of Provision and Public Work, but members of the government expressed reservations about a woman minister and she was not selected.

[7] In the beginning of 1919, Bortkevičienė and other prominent personalities, including Mečislovas Reinys, Juozas Vailokaitis, and Liudas Gira, were jailed as hostages by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic headed by Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas.

[9] On 24 July, Vaclovas Sidzikauskas arranged a prisoner exchange in Daugailiai, swapping fifteen prominent Lithuanians, including Bortkevičienė, for 35 communists.

In April 1920, as a candidate of the Peasant Union, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania, but due to her busy schedule she refused the mandate.

The law was particularly important for women as it provided 6-week maternity leave and forbade termination of employment on grounds of pregnancy.

[3] During the Assembly sessions Bortkevičienė spoke rarely, but she voiced her opinions on two major issues, land reform and the institution of the president.

[3] In April 1920, together with the Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party (LPSDP), she established publishing company AB Varpas (bell), which she headed until 1930.

[3] The publications were outspoken about their ideals and did not shrink from criticizing the government, for which Bortkevičienė faced fines and arrests.

[5] All her life Bortkevičienė campaigned for democratic liberties and was particularly upset by the December 1926 coup d'état that brought the authoritarian regime of Antanas Smetona.

[2] In his memoirs, Kazys Grinius blamed Voldemarininkai for the explosion, but the group was established only in late 1927 and thus unlikely responsible.

[5] Bortkevičienė campaigned for amnesty of Juozas Pajaujis [lt] who received a death sentence for organizing an anti-Smetona coup in 1927.

[3] When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in 1940, the press was nationalized, taking away Bortkevičienė's life work and means of living.

Her funeral was supervised by the NKVD; her body was transported in a simple truck to Troškūnai and buried next to her sister.