A native of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa (a part of the Soviet Union until 1991), Izold Pustõlnik graduated cum laude from Odessa University in 1960 and received his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Tartu in 1969 and his Doctor of Science from Saint St. Petersburg State University in 1994.
Izold Pustõlnik died in Tartu eight weeks after his 70th birthday. In 2011 asteroid 11832 (1984 SC6) discovered by Belgian astronomer Henri Debehogne on September 21, 1984 was named after Izold Pustõlnik.
He was also a member of the International Astronomical Union, European Astronomical Society, Euroscience, Society for European Astronomy in Culture (SEAC) and served on the Board of Euro-Asian Astronomical Society and the Advisory Board of Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions.
