The second half of the 19th century in Russia saw a number of socioeconomic changes. Among those, an important place was occupied by transformation of major estates, first and foremost the nobility. Due to the ideological polarization of the nobility, there emerged a whole spectrum of views on the development of the Russian education. It remained common for all nobility to seek the classical education. The article considers the principal stages of formation of the nobility in Russia and attempts to determine specific education priorities of various groups of the Russian nobility in the last quarter of the 19 th and early 20th century.