Aleksander Egorov was born into a bourgeoisie family in Samara governorate. He studied for six years at the Samara classical gymnasium (1901) and entered the army as a volunteer. Egorov graduated from the Kazan infantry cadet school (1905). He performed military service in the Caucasus and the Kyiv military district. A participant of World War I. Colonel (1917). From 1904 to 1909 and in 1917, he was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs).

After the February Revolution, Egorov advocated an end to the war, which resulted in his suspension from office by a court of officers. In October 1917, he was elected a delegate to the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies to represent the Army Committee of Soldiers’ Deputies of the 1st Army. He supported the Soviet regime, joined the Left SRs. Egorov took part in the work of the Commission for the demobilization of the army and in the development of the Decree on Formation of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. In January 1918, he took up a position in the military department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). He supervised the formation and training of the Red Army. Since May 1918, Egorov was the military commissar at the All-Russian General Staff and Chairman of the Higher Attestation Commission for the selection of former officers for the Red Army. In July 1918, he joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) – RCP(b).

Since August 1918, he was on the fronts of the Civil War. He was appointed Commander of the 9th Army of the Southern Front of the Red Army, which fought against the troops of Pyotr Krasnov in the area of Balashov and Kamyshin. In December 1918, Egorov took command of the 10th Army, which took part in the defense of Tsaritsyn. Since July 1919, he was assistant to the Commander of the Southern Front and Commander of the 14th Army in Left-bank Ukraine. In October 1919, he was appointed Commander of the Southern Front, tasked to counter the offensive of Anton Denikin’s forces on Moscow. The troops commanded by Egorov defeated the armies of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR). Since January 1920, he was commander of the Southwestern Front, he led a series of operations during the Soviet-Polish war.

After the Civil War, he held various command positions. In 1925–1926, Egorov was the military attaché in China. Since 1931, he was Chief-of-Staff (since 1935, of General staff) of the Red Army. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1935). Since August 1937, he was Deputy People’s Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union. In March 1938, he was arrested. On February 22, 1939, he was convicted by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR over alleged involvement in “Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military conspiracy”. On February 23, Egorov was shot. He was rehabilitated in 1956.