He was born in Leningrad. During the war from 1944 to 1945 he was a tank driver, participated in the liberation of Prague. In 1955, he graduated from the Leningrad University, majoring in "Norwegian language and literature". He received the qualifications of a Scandinavian philologist and a teacher of the German language in a secondary school. Translated chapters 58–87 of the Saga of Egil in the collection "Icelandic Sagas".

In 1968, he moved to Minsk. He worked in the design office of the Tractor Plant as an engineer-translator.