Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin was born in the village of Stenyshino, which was located in the Lipetsk district of the Tambov province, now part of the Petrovsky district of the Tambov region. He came from an ancient and noble noble family, which, like the Romanovs, traced its lineage back to Andrei Kobyla.

In 1859, Lodygin entered the Tambov Cadet Corps and continued his education as a military engineer at the Moscow Junker School, graduating in 1867. In 1870, he moved to St. Petersburg and, after retiring, began developing the incandescent lamp.

Lodygin attended classes in physics, chemistry, and mechanics at the Technological Institute as a free listener. In 1871 and 1874, he conducted experiments and demonstrations of electric lighting using incandescent lamps in various locations, including the Admiralty and the Technological Institute.

Initially, he tried to use iron wire as a filament, but after failing, he switched to experiments with a carbon rod in a glass bulb. In 1872, Lodygin applied for a patent for the incandescent lamp, and in 1874, he received a patent and the Lomonosov Prize from the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He patented his invention in various countries, including Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and others. Lodygin founded the company 'Russian Society of Electric Lighting Lodygin and Co.'

In the 1870s, Lodygin became close to the Narodniks and spent several years in their colony in Tuapse. In 1878, he returned to St. Petersburg, worked at factories, improved diving apparatus, and engaged in other inventions. For his participation in the Vienna Electrical Exhibition, he was awarded the Order of Stanislaus III class, which was rare for Russian inventors. In 1899, he became an honorary electrical engineer of the ETI.

In 1884, after mass arrests of revolutionaries, Lodygin went abroad, where he spent 23 years. He worked in France and the USA, creating new incandescent lamps, electric furnaces, and electric vehicles. In 1906, he sold patents for lamps with filaments made of refractory metals to the General Electric Company.

In 1884, Lodygin organized the production of lamps in Paris and sent them to St. Petersburg for an exhibition. In 1893, he began using filaments made of refractory metals for powerful lamps, and in 1894, he founded the firm 'Lodygin and de Lille.' In 1906 in the USA, he built a factory for the electrochemical production of tungsten and other metals. He also developed electric furnaces for melting metals and other purposes.

In 1895, Lodygin married journalist Alma Schmidt, and they had two daughters. In 1907, the family returned to Russia, where Lodygin brought many inventions with him. He taught at the Electrotechnical Institute and worked in the construction department of the Petersburg Railway. In 1914, he was sent to the Olonets and Nizhny Novgorod provinces for proposals on electrification, but World War I changed his plans, and he began developing a vertical take-off aircraft.

After the February Revolution of 1917, Lodygin could not find common ground with the new authorities, and financial difficulties forced his family to move to the USA. Due to illness, he could not accept an invitation to return to the RSFSR to participate in the development of the GOELRO plan. In March 1923, Lodygin passed away in Brooklyn.

Lodygin's contribution to the creation of incandescent lamps is significant. He was the first to propose using tungsten filaments and winding them into a spiral, as well as evacuating air from lamps to increase their lifespan. In 1871, he developed a project for an autonomous diving suit using a gas mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. In 1909, he received a patent for an induction furnace.