Alexey Brodovitch was born to a wealthy family of Russian noblemen, his mother an amateur painter and his father a psychiatrist. After the Russo-Japanese War, the Brodovitchs moved to Russia. Alexey was enrolled at a prestigious institution in St. Petersburg aiming to join the State Academy of Arts later. Aged 16, he tried to join the Russian armed forces as a volunteer, but his father brought him back. Alexey ran away on several occasions and was eventually sent to an officers’ school.
