From 1991 to 2002 she taught ethnomusicology at the University of Vincennes (Paris-VIII).
An ardent communist, she identified in contemporary folk music the perfect vehicle to express her political ideas. Over the course of her career she wrote many protest song lyrics (many of them sung by fellow musician Paolo Pietrangeli), embracing the themes of social justice that characterized the Italian '68 period and other political issues.
In the early 1960s she befriended artists and writers who were passionate about Italian popular traditions, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dario Fo, Italo Calvino and Roberto Leydi.
Father, Giovanni Salviucci (1907-1937), was a composer who studied with Ottorino Respighi. Mother, Ida Parpagliolo (1904-1994), was a pianist.