Alsatian painter, printmaker, and illustrator Maurice Achener was born in Mulhouse, France, a commune located near the Swiss and German borders, in 1881. Due to his proximity to Germany he was able to attend the L'Ecole des Arts Decoartif in Strasbourg, and the Arts Academy in Munich, where he was a pupil of painter Ludwig von Lofftz and etcher Peter Halm.

Achener co-founded the Alsatian Artist Society with Georges Ritleng in 1901, which included the artists Daniel Schoen, Hansi, Alexandre Urbain, and N. Forsberg. Around this time he also formed a friendship with Maurice Bastide du Lude, a studio partner of Achener's at the Chateau du Lude where they both worked. Achener's work was first published in "La Revue Alsacienne Illustre", a periodical edited by Charles Spindler, and was eventually commissioned regularly to create etchings of Alsace and the Alps. Later, his work as a regionalist expanded to include Provence, Brittany, and other regions in France. He was known for working directly on the plate, and for making his own inks and deliberating on which papers would work best for which composition.

Among the places he toured for sketch studies was Italy, Tunisia, and the United States, in addition to Germany and Switzerland. In addition to the large bosy of etchings and drypoints he created in his career, he was also known for his oil painting and pastel portraits. 

In 1905 Achener moved to Paris, where he became a French citizen in 1913 and participated in World War I under the family name of his wife, Emilie Patry. He would remain in Paris until his death in 1963.