Artsybashev was born in khutor Dubroslavovka, Akhtyrka uezd, Kharkov gubernia (currently Sumy Oblast, Ukraine). He studied in Kharkov School of Drawing and Art (1897 - 1898). During 1898 he relocated to Saint Petersburg, where he worked as a freelance journalist. His first major publication was the story "Meeting" which was published during 1901.He considered his novel Death of Lande (1904) to be his best work, but his major success was the novel Sanin (1907), which scandalized his Russian readers and was prohibited in many countries.The protagonist of the novel ignores all social conventions and specializes in seducing virgin country girls. In one notorious scene,a girl tries to wash embarrassing white stains off her dress after sexual intercourse with Sanin.

During 1923 Artzybashev received Polish citizenship and emigrated to Poland, where he edited the newspaper For Liberty! (?? ???????!). He was known as an irreconcilable enemy of the Bolshevik regime, and Soviet critics dubbed the novels of his followers saninstvo and artsybashevchina (both terms are considered derogatory). He died in Warsaw on March 3 1927.