Aykhenvald was born in
Balta,
Russian Empire into a
rabbi's family and attended the
New Russia University in
Odessa, where he developed a lasting interest in
Schopenhauer's ideas. After moving to
Moscow in 1895, he employed a number of pen-names, including
Yu. Ald () and
B. Kamenetsky (). Aykhenvald followed Schopenhauer in that art is irrational and that the essence of it can be reached only by dint of
intuition. He panned most Russian literary critics for applying social and utilitarian criteria to literature and for producing political journalism in the guise of artistic criticism. Following the
Russian Revolution, and the publication of his essay 'Revolution: the leaders and the led' (Revoljucija: ee vozhdi i vedomye'), where he attacked
Leon Trotsky personally, Aykhenvald was briefly arrested and then, in 1922, exiled to
Germany where he involved himself in several high-profile émigré publications, including the newspaper Rulj. His life was cut short by a
tram accident in
Berlin. He is buried in the
Russian Orthodox cemetery in
Tegel, Berlin. ==Family==