He pursued higher education at Moscow State Pedagogical University, where he later defended his doctoral thesis on Acmeism as a literary school.

[1] Lekmanov has held various academic positions, including a decade of teaching at Moscow State University's Faculty of Journalism.

Since 2011, he has been a professor at the Higher School of Economics, focusing on philology and literary history.

[3] In October 2024, Lekmanov was controversially designated as a "foreign agent" by the Russian Ministry of Justice, a move criticized by academic and human rights communities.

He left Russia in 2022, citing opposition to the political climate and the invasion of Ukraine.