A. Gatsiskiy and his contribution to the development of national education within the sphere of the activities of Society for the spreading of literacy in the Nizhny Novgorod governorate (second half of nineteenth century)

This article is described the main aspects of the social and socio-cultural activity of A. Gatsiskiy, the famous Nizhny Novgorod contributor-local historian, the prominent representative of the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo, the Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Scientific Archival Commission and the talented statistician, in the process of creation (1872) and following practical work of Society for the Spreading of Literacy. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of the functioning of this unique organization, which was established under private initiative; it has been hardly mentioned today, even by modern scholars of the history of the Nizhny Novgorod region.