Antanina was the eldest daughter of Antanas and Elena Matuzevičius. She grew up in Pašvitinys in a family that valued hard work, faith, and the sanctity of human life. From an early age, she learned to take care of others — helping her parents on the farm, watching over her younger siblings, and spending her free time knitting, embroidering, and baking delicious cakes for the family.

During the German occupation, still a teenager, Antanina played an active role in the rescue of a three-year-old Jewish girl, Chaviva Zivaitė, and her relatives. She carried food, served as a messenger between hiding places, and helped organize safe moves to trusted people. Every walk across the fields or through the forest held the risk of arrest or execution — yet Antanina acted without hesitation, guided by conscience and compassion.

When the Soviet mass deportations began in 1948, Antanina managed to escape and went into hiding in Kaunas. According to family testimony, she was sheltered by the same Jewish people whom her family had saved during the war — a poignant example of kindness returning in a full circle.

Later, she completed studies in water management design and worked as an engineer in a design institute. She built a family of her own with her husband, Petras Povilas, and raised two children — Rūta and Petras. Throughout her life, she remained gentle, caring, and loyal to the memory of Chaviva and her family, with whom she continued to keep close contact.

For her courage and humanity, Antanina Matuzevičiūtė-Briliuvienė was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in 1981.