Saburova was born in Riga, Latvia, and lived there and at her father's estate until 1915.

She received her education in both German and Russian high schools, and then attended the French Institute in Riga.

She started writing at the age of eight; her first story was published in the Riga journal The Lighthouse in 1923.

[1] During World War II she went to Berlin and then to Munich where she remained for the rest of her life.

From the 1940s through the 1970s she gave lectures and recitals in Bern, Switzerland, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and many other cities.