Alekandr Evgenievich Fersman was born on October 27, 1883, in St. Petersburg. His father, Evgeny Alexandrovich Fersman, was a military architect and professor who participated in the Turkish campaign. His mother, Maria Eduardovna, was an artist and musician from the family of General E. F. Kessler. His grandfather, Alexander Fyodorovich Fersman, was a scientist-artillerist. Alekandr had an older sister, Vera Evgenievna, born in 1881.

From the age of six, Alekandr became fascinated with mineralogy, visiting his uncle's laboratory, Professor A. E. Kessler, at the Kessler estate near Simferopol. In 1895, he entered the 3rd grade of the Odessa 4th Gymnasium, but left in 1896 and continued his studies at home. In 1898, he re-enrolled in the gymnasium and graduated in 1901 with a gold medal. In his certificate of maturity dated June 1, 1901, he had excellent grades in many subjects, except geography and the Law of God. During his studies, he visited the resort in Karlovy Vary 11 times, where his mother was treated.

From 1901, Fersman studied at the natural sciences department of the physics and mathematics faculty of the Imperial Novorossiysk University in Odessa, also attending a course in art history. His interest in geology and chemistry was instilled by Professor P. G. Melikishvili. On August 28, 1903, he was admitted to the physics and mathematics faculty of Moscow University, where he became a student of V. I. Vernadsky and attended his mineralogy circle. Fersman's first scientific works were devoted to the minerals of Crimea.

After graduating from university in 1907, he remained at the mineralogy department to prepare for a professorship. In 1907 and 1909, Fersman underwent scientific internships in Germany, studying at Heidelberg University, researching natural diamonds, and writing a monograph on diamonds. In 1908, he traveled through France and Italy.

From September 14, 1909, Fersman began working as a part-time assistant at the Mineralogical Cabinet of Moscow University. At the end of 1911, he resigned along with other teachers in protest against the policies of the Ministry of Education and took a position as a professor at the A. L. Shanyavsky People's University.

From 1912, Fersman worked at the Academy of Sciences, being elected senior curator of the Geological and Mineralogical Museum named after Peter I. He went on expeditions to replenish the museum's collection and served as the museum's director in 1919 and 1930. Simultaneously, from 1912, he taught mineralogy at the Bestuzhev Higher Women's Courses.

During World War I, Fersman was the secretary of the Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces of the Country and went to the front. In 1915, he was elected a member of the Dokuchaev Soil Committee. On February 1, 1919, Fersman was elected a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 1920, he became one of the initiators of the creation of the Ilmen State Reserve. In 1922, he conducted an audit of the Diamond Fund, studying the famous historical stones. Fersman held numerous positions at the Academy of Sciences, including director of the Institute of Archaeological Technology and the Radium Institute.

Fersman worked on expeditions in Transbaikalia, studying various deposits. He was the organizer of comprehensive geological expeditions, discovering the Monchegorsk copper-nickel deposit and the Khibiny apatite deposits. Fersman's scientific work is distinguished by three directions: topomineralogy, the study of the pegmatite process, and geochemistry.

In 1932, he created the Ural branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and the Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy, and Crystallography. During the war, Fersman held positions as chairman of the Commission for Geological and Geographical Services of the Red Army and director of the Institute of Geological Sciences. In 1943, his book "Geology and War" was published.

In May 1943, Fersman fell seriously ill, but his health improved by the end of the year. In December 1944, he was treated for hypertension. Alekandr Evgenievich Fersman passed away from a brain hemorrhage on May 20, 1945, in Sochi. He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, where a monument was erected at his grave in 1965.