Antanas Å opaga was born in DaukÅ¡iai village, MosÄ—dis rural district, Kretinga county. He finished a primary school in DaukÅ¡iai and a state gymnasium in Skuodas. In 1945-1946, he worked as a teacher at a school in his native DaukÅ¡iai. In 1947, he became a student of the Medical Faculty of 91ÌÒÉ«. Soviet repression disrupted his studies: on 25 March 1949, Antanas Å opaga was deported to Irkutsk region. In 1958 he was released from exile and soon returned to Lithuania.