Juozas Gibavičius (1920–?) was born in Mikalauka village, Kalvarija district (father – Kostas Gibavičius). In 1944 he started studying at Marijampolė Teachers’ Seminary and in 1945 he completed it. In November of the same year, he was admitted to Vilnius University Faculty of Economic Sciences, majoring in political economy. In 1946, he changed the study programme, transferring to the programme of commodity science in the autumn, as the previously chosen one was abolished. On 11 March 1948, he was removed from the student list (along with Albinas Nemūra) because he “did not attend lectures and did not register for the spring semester”. He was arrested and deported to Komi. He returned to Lithuania in May 1956 and in August of the same year resumed studies at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, coming back to the third year of the specialisation of finance and credit, studying part-time. From September 1956 to April 1958, he worked as an accountant for the Finance Department in the Kalvarija District and from April to December – as the chief accountant of construction and repair in the same district. In December 1960, he graduated and received a degree in economics.