It is not uncommon in the history of education that one outstanding name attracts everybody’s attention and outshines other brilliant and prominent educators. This may undoubtedly be applied to Vasily Ivanovich Vodovozov (1825-1886), a remarkable promoter of literacy and a great contributor to the development of public education in Russia. Vasily Vodovozov has long been known not as an independent researcher but as a close associate and theoretical successor of Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky whose name stays behind all major achievements in the Russian theory of education between the 1850s and 1860s. Such a view is only partially true. The study of Vasily Vodovozov’s legacy reveals bright and original historical pages of literacy dissemination and formation of the Russian schooling. Moreover, it enriches teachers, public educators, and researchers with exciting and challenging ideas. Vasily Ivanovich Vodovozov was born on September 27, 1825 in Petersburg, to a family of an impoverished small tradesman. Vasily’s father died early leaving his 42-year-old widow to take care of four daughters and three sons, with the youngest, Vasily, just being under four. The boy was raised and brought up in poverty and constant need for money. The family was left without means for survival because all the property was sequestrated and sold to pay their debts.