He participated in the campaigns of the Seven Years' War and afterward devoted himself to mining engineering and subsequently visited Germany, Holland, and France.

Upon his return he accepted a position as Consul to Smyrna, where an attack of melancholia hastened his death.

In contradistinction to Sumarokov and others among the earlier fabulists of Russia, whose works are essentially satires, Chemnitzer was the first to introduce the genuine fable into Russian literature.

Although to some extent translations or imitations of La Fontaine and Gellert, his works show considerable originality.

Their good humor, vivacity of dialogue, simplicity, and distinctively national character have greatly endeared him to the Russian people.