 Lissitzky was born on November 23 , 1890 in <unk> , a small Jewish community 50 kilometres ( 31 mi ) southeast of Smolensk , former Russian Empire . During his childhood , he lived and studied in the city of Vitebsk , now part of Belarus , and later spent 10 years in Smolensk living with his grandparents and attending the Smolensk Grammar School , spending summer vacations in Vitebsk . Always expressing an interest and talent in drawing , he started to receive instruction at 13 from Yehuda Pen , a local Jewish artist , and by the time he was 15 was teaching students himself . In 1909 , he applied to an art academy in Saint Petersburg , but was rejected . While he passed the entrance exam and was qualified , the law under the Tsarist regime only allowed a limited number of Jewish students to attend Russian schools and universities . 
