Alexander Seversky was born in Tiflis, Russia, in 1894. A member of the Russian Army Air Service during the First World War he flew more than fifty combat missions before losing a leg.

Seversky was working for the Russian embassy in Washington when the Russian Revolution took place. He decided not to return to Russia and in 1922 he founded the Seversky Aero Corporation. As well as producing aircraft he designed bombsights and landing gear for seaplanes and flying boats.

During the Second World War De Seversky wrote Victory Through Air Power (1942) where he argued that the Allies could win the war primarily through air superiority. Alexander Seversky died in 1974.