Rabbi Akiva Eiger was born on 1 Cheshvan 5522 (29 October 1761) in Eisenstadt, then in Hungary, the eldest son of Rabbi Moshe Güns and Gittel Eiger. His mother was the daughter of Rabbi Akiva Eiger the Elder, rabbi of Pressburg, after whom he was named; the family later adopted the Eiger surname. A child prodigy, he first studied with his father and then, at twelve, went to Breslau to the yeshiva of his uncle, Rabbi Binyamin Wolf Eiger.

In 5541 (1781) he married Gluckel, daughter of the wealthy Yitzchak Margolis of Lissa, who supported him so that he could devote himself to learning; there he opened a yeshiva. After a fire in Lissa ruined his father-in-law, he reluctantly accepted a rabbinic post: in 5551 (1791) he became rabbi of Märkisch Friedland in West Prussia, where he served twenty-four years. Widowed in 5556 (1796), he married his niece Breindel. In 5575 (1815), thanks in part to the efforts of his son-in-law, the Chatam Sofer, he was appointed rabbi of Posen, a position he held until his death.

He is considered one of the greatest Talmudic geniuses of modern times; his name became synonymous with Talmudic genius, and his method, based on rigorous logic rather than pilpul, is still studied in yeshivas. He also devoted himself to his community's needs: during the cholera epidemic of 1831 he imposed hygiene rules and limited gatherings in the synagogue, for which he received a letter of thanks from King Frederick William III of Prussia.

Works: his concise notes on the Talmud, Gilyon HaShas, printed in editions of the Talmud; his glosses on the Shulchan Aruch; and his responsa. His glosses and responsa are foundations of everyday halachic ruling and of the work of rabbinical courts.

He passed away in Posen on 13 Tishrei 5598 (12 October 1837), aged seventy-six, after contracting pneumonia the day after Yom Kippur. He had forbidden eulogies. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery of Posen (Poznań), where a new stone was placed at the presumed site of his grave after the original was destroyed during the Second World War.