[1] Berkovsky was born on July 13, 1932 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian SSR to a Jewish family.

During the Great Patriotic War (WWII), he was evacuated with his family to Novokuznetsk, where his mother, Etel Viktorovna Gerts, was a prominent cardiologist and head of the cardiology department in a hospital for wounded soldiers.

His father, Samuil Mikhaylovich Berkovsky, was drafted and mobilized on the first day of the war, serving in the infantry.

[3] He received a PhD degree in 1967, and stayed on at the institute first as an instructor, and later as associate professor.

Viktor Berkovsky worked closely with Sergey Nikitin on composing music for the theater and movies, such as "Мэри Поппинс", "Коньки", "Морские ворота" (text by Yuri Vizbor), "Большая докторская сказка", "Али-Баба и 40 песен персидского базара", and songs for the children's show "Будильник" (texts by Daniil Kharms).