[3] Lenz was born in Dorpat (nowadays Tartu, Estonia), at that time in the Governorate of Livonia in the Russian Empire.

After completing his secondary education in 1820, Lenz studied chemistry and physics at the University of Dorpat.

[4] After the voyage, Lenz began working at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia, where he later served as the Dean of Mathematics and Physics from 1840 to 1863 and was Rector from 1863 until his death in 1865.

Lenz eagerly participated in development of the electroplating technology, invented by his friend and colleague Moritz von Jacobi.

Along with the electrotyped relief produced by Jacobi the same year, these were the first instances of galvanoplastic sculpture.