Akhiezer was born in
Cherykaw,
Russian Empire in what is now
Mogilev Region,
Belarus. He studied radio engineering at
Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 1929–34. From 1934, he worked at the
Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology in
Kharkiv. With
Isaak Pomeranchuk and under the supervision of
Lev Landau, he studied light-light scattering and was awarded a
Ph.D. in 1936. A treatise on wave absorption in modulated
quasiparticles gave him a
habilitation degree in 1941 and title of
full professor. When
Lev Landau left Kharkiv in 1937, Akhiezer became head of the department of Theoretical Physics at
Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology, which was renamed
Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology shortly afterwards. He held this post for over 60 years until his death. With
Cyril Sinelnikov and Anton K. Valter he founded the faculty of physics and technology at
University of Kharkiv. With
Isaak Pomeranchuk he studied
neutron scattering and
plasma physics at the
Kurchatov nuclear physics institute in
Moscow (1944–52). ==Awards==