Alexander Chizhevsky was born on February 7, 1897, in Tzehanovets, Poland, into the family of an artillery officer. His father, Leonid Vasilievich, continued the family military tradition, while his mother, Nadezhda Alexandrovna, died of tuberculosis when Alexander was not yet a year old. The boy was raised by his aunt Olga Vasilievna Chizhevskaya-Lesli and his grandmother Elizabeth Semyonovna.

Alexander received home education that included natural and exact sciences, but he was more attracted to the humanities. From childhood, he was fascinated by music, poetry, and painting; by the age of four, he could recite poems in several languages from memory and began writing his own.

His scientific career began with an interest in astronomy at the age of nine. In 1913, the family moved to Kaluga, where Chizhevsky met Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who became his scientific mentor. Alexander suggested that solar activity influences processes on Earth, and in 1915, he presented his ideas in a report that sparked lively discussion. In 1918, he defended his doctoral dissertation at Moscow University.

Six years later, on the recommendation of Anatoly Lunacharsky, Chizhevsky published a book based on his dissertation, which faced criticism. In 1918, he began studying the mechanisms of solar-terrestrial connections, focusing on air ionization. Unable to work in state institutions, he organized a home laboratory. In 1919, he presented the results of his research, leading to an acquaintance with physicist Pyotr Lazarev, who supported his work.

Chizhevsky discovered eleven-year cycles of historical processes, linking them to solar activity. In 1935, he found that bacteria respond to solar disturbances, allowing for the prediction of solar storms. Despite international recognition, he was arrested in 1942 and spent fifteen years in camps and exile.

After his release in 1950, Chizhevsky settled in Karaganda, where he worked as a consultant and head of laboratories. In 1958, he returned to Moscow, where he continued his work in aeroionotherapy. In his later years, he wrote memoirs about his friendship with Tsiolkovsky and maintained contact with his daughter.

Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky died on December 20, 1964, in Moscow and was buried at Pyatnitskoye Cemetery.