Alex Levinsky was born in 1954 in Moscow, Russia. Graduated from Bryansk University in 1978 as a teacher of English and German, worked as a teacher in village schools, started career as a journalist in 1983. Worked as a correspondent in Bryansk weeklies, moved to Moscow in 1998 where worked as Economy section chief for Izvestia daily, editor for Popular Mechanics, Russia and is still serving as an observer for Forbes, Russia