He was born in Lysovsk, Novo-Burassk, Saratov, Russian Empire.
He first studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics at Saratov State University, but then he transferred to Moscow University.
In 1930, he was named head of higher mathematics at Saratov University.
In 1936, he successfully defended his thesis and became a Doctor of Science.
Among others, he considerably improved a result from Guido Hoheisel and Hans Heilbronn on an upper bound for prime gaps.