Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, known as Reb Elyah Lopian or Reb Elyah Kelmer, was born in 1876 in Grajewo, Łomża province, the son of Yaakov, and studied there under Rabbi Chaim Leib Mishkovsky. At nine he refused to follow his family to the United States, where there were almost no Torah institutions, and stayed alone in Łomża to study under Rabbi Eliezer Shulevitz. He then joined the Kelm Talmud Torah, where he learned under the Alter of Kelm and Rabbi Yitzchak Blazer, and became one of Kelm's leading figures.

During the First World War he stayed at the yeshiva with his students to continue teaching; after the war he travelled through the towns of Lithuania giving talks and helped bring Kelm's students back together. In 1928 he moved to England, where he was rosh yeshiva of the Etz Chaim yeshiva in London's East End, alongside Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan.

In 1950 he moved to the Land of Israel and became mashgiach (spiritual guide) of the Knesset Chizkiyahu yeshiva, in Zichron Yaakov and later in Kfar Hasidim. Called "the greatest Mussar master of our generation", he left talks collected in Lev Eliyahu, which stress working on one's character traits and the fear of God.

He passed away on 20 Elul 5730 (1970) and rests on the Mount of Olives.