Ikonnikov was an academician of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, a professor and a dean of the History and Philology faculty of Kiev University.

Born in Kiev in the family of a landlord, who belonged to Russian nobility.

In 1869 he defended his doctorate dissertation at the same university "Research experience of cultural significance of Byzantium Empire in Russian History (Russian: «Опыт исследования о культурном значении Византии в русской истории»).

In 1904 Ikonnikov was placed in charge of the Provisional Commission in research of ancient documents in Kiev.

He is a brother of the Kiev Governorate architect Mikhail Ikonnikov and a father-in-law of Vsevolod Petrov.