E. A. Werthlieb was born on June 21, 1943 in Leningrad. He is an Orthodox believer. In 1970 Werthlieb graduated from the Leningrad State University. He participated in Samizdat (Boris Ivanov, Rid Grachev, Victor Krivulin, Vadim Nechaev). Werthlieb made an unsuccessful attempt to flow to Sweden and was captured while crossing the border. He served in aviation. In 1975 he emigrated. Werthlieb worked in New York as a cargo-lifter together with Eduard Limonov, he also kept artistic contacts with Iosif Brodsky, Sergey Dovlatov, Sasha Sokolov, Alexey Tsvetkov, Valery Popov, Yuriy Kublanovsky.

In 1983 E. A. Werthlieb defended a Ph.D. thesis on the polito-logical aspect of Russian spiritual tradition in the University of North Carolina (USA). In 1996-97 he was on post-graduate, polito-logical stage in the Russia's Presidential structures. He is member of Russia's Union of Writers, Russia's Union of Journalists, the PEN-club, London's Royal Institute of International Affairs, the American Association of political consultants, he is a consultant on politico-diplomatic work of the international Christian fund "Blagovest-Media".

Werthlieb's two books were published in St. Petersburg: "The Russian - from Zagoskin to Shukshin…" ("Zvezda", 1992, with a prologue of the academic A. Panchenko") and "Various straps of rhymed thoughts" (Terzia, 1994). Werthlieb took part in a half dozen of interview on the radio and television of St. Petersburg (including his recorded talk with Yuriy Boldyrev of December 22, 1995). He was invited as a guest to the Session of compatriots which took place in St. Petersburg (Vitaly Potemkin). Yet during 15 years Werthlieb lives and teaches in Germany being the professor of politology and Russian culture at the George Marshall European Strategic Center (Bavaria).

His wife, Yelena Sergeyevna, is daughter of the famous Christian remedial defender Tatyana Sergeyevna Khodorovich (who was chairman of Solzhenitsyn Fund of Moscow before the Solzhenitsyn family exile for Paris) and grand-daughter of the Tsar's admiral fon Nemits who during 1920-21 was in command of the Russian Navy (and who later became professor of the Russian Marine Academy). His wife's great-grand-mother is sister of the painter Vrubel (Anastasia). His wife's ancestors comprise the Volkonsky Counts also.