Kammala wannan jumlar: An haifi Nikolay Ignatyev a St Petersburg, ga Maria Ivanovna Maltsova da Kyaftin Pavel Nikolayevich Ignatyev. Mahaifinsa ya sami tagomashi daga Tsar Nicholas I, saboda amincinsa a lokacin da
Decembrist tawaye a 1825, kuma Grand Duke Alexander (daga baya Tsar Alexander II) ya tsaya a matsayin mai tallafawa a baftismar yaron. Bayan kammala karatunsa daga Corps of Pages, yana da shekaru goma sha bakwai ya zama jami'in Tsaro na Rasha, yana aiki tare da Hussar Guards Regiment na Mai Martaba. Daga nan sai aka nada Ignatyev zuwa Babban Jami'in kuma ya zama mataimakin babban kwamandan a gundumar soja ta Estonia. An ci gaba da shi zuwa babban jami'in a shekara ta 1856. A lokacin aikin Ignatyev na gaba ya kasance cikin rikici da Count Pyotr Shuvalov: wani ɗalibin Corps of Pages.