Ivan Savvich Nikitin was born on October 3, 1824, in Voronezh to the merchant Savva Eftikhievich Nikitin and was their only child. Thanks to his intelligence and business acumen, Savva Eftikhievich achieved significant material prosperity: he owned a candle factory, a spacious house with a balcony, a country dacha, and a shop in a busy area. At the age of nine, Vanya was sent to the second grade of a spiritual school, where he already knew how to read. He studied diligently, successfully graduated from the school, and in 1839 entered the spiritual seminary. During his studies at the seminary, Nikitin became fascinated with the poetry of Alexander Pushkin and Alexei Koltsov and began writing his own poems. This activity became a necessity for him, and he gained fame as the 'seminary poet.' However, he did not complete his studies at the seminary, as he was expelled in his fourth year for missing classes.

Savva Nikitin acquired an inn on 2nd Dvoryanskaya Street (now Nikitinskaya Street, 19A) and in 1844 appointed Ivan as the manager, or as it was said in the 19th century, the caretaker. Ivan Savvich managed the hotel until the end of his life, overseeing a clerk, domestic workers, and a cook.

In 1859, in the center of Voronezh on Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street (now Revolution Avenue), Ivan Savvich bought a building and opened a bookstore there. Soon, a reading room was established, which became a popular meeting place for the city's literary community.

Nikitin was popular with women, but he had special feelings for Natalia Matveeva, the daughter of the well-known commander of the Voronezh militia during the Crimean War, Major General Anton Matveev. Ivan Savvich dedicated poems to her: 'The sunlight fell upon your face...' and 'I do not dare to irritate you...'.

In the spring of 1861, Ivan Savvich fell seriously ill, and by autumn it became clear that the illness was incurable. On September 10, 1861, he signed a will stating that the bookstore should be sold, and the money distributed among relatives. The right to publish his works was transferred to his friend and mentor, advisor to the Voronezh provincial government Nikolai Vtorov. All proceeds from the publication of books were to be directed to charity. Ivan Savvich Nikitin passed away on October 28, 1861, and was buried in Voronezh in the literary necropolis next to the grave of the poet Alexei Koltsov.