 He was the son of André Kervaire (a French industrialist) and Nelly Derancourt.After completing high school in France, Kervaire pursued his studies at ETH Zurich (1947–1952), receiving a Ph.D. in 1955.His thesis, entitled "Courbure intégrale généralisée et homotopie", was written under the direction of Heinz Hopf and Beno Eckmann.