К звездам первой величины в российской практической педагогике, несомненно, нужно причислить Надежду Ивановну Попову (1877 - 1964 гг.), хотя ее место на педагогическом небосклоне не является очень выигрышным. Обстоятельства сложились таким образом, что другие светила долгое время владели нашим вниманием. Теперь же справедливость требует повести разговор об одной из немногих женщин - учительниц, имеющей право быть причисленной к ряду выдающихся подвижников российского образования. Н.И. Попова не была репрессирована в 1930-е годы, и её жизнь можно назвать относительно благополучной по сравнению с трагической судьбой большинства советских педагогов 1920-х – 30-х годов. Но и ей, подставлявшей лицо холодным ветрам одного из самых суровых и впечатляющих периодов мировой истории, пришлось в полной мере испить свою горькую чашу.

Nadezhda Ivanovna Popova (1877-1964) can certainly be called one of the best Russian educators of the past though she was hardly considered prominent in official circles. It happened so that in my previous papers prepared for this journal, I tried to cover more famous thinkers and educational practitioners. Finally, time has come to talk about one of the few Russian teachers-pioneers who made a difference in the field of Russian education. Popova was not under arrest in the 1930s, and one can say that her life was relatively good in comparison with those (from 1920s-30s) who faced the tragic fate of spending their days in Soviet GULAGs. But let us try not to jump to conclusions – Popova’s life was never a bed of roses and she had to drink its cup to the bitter end. Popova realized her calling relatively early, and at the age of 16, she started working as a teacher in a Moscow municipal elementary school. By this time she had already graduated from the famous Mariinsky female gymnasium, mastered three foreign languages, and received a teacher’s certificate. Some years later she entered and successfully graduated from the History Department of the Moscow higher training female college. While studying there, she met with some brilliant thinkers of her time (Boguslavsky, Soloviev, 1992). By 1905, Popova became one of the leaders of the All-Russian Teachers’ Union and an organizer of its Moscow office.