The purpose of the research is to examine the history of the formation in the public consciousness of the myth about Lev Aristidovich Kasso, who held the post of Minister of public education of the Russian Empire from September 1910 until his death in December 1914. In Soviet, Post-Soviet and Western historiography he was considered as a key figure, a symbol of conservative and repressive policy of autocracy in the field of higher education and science in general. The research is based on a wide range of historical sources, including political journalism, media, normative acts and official documents. Important for achieving the goals of the study were the memoirs and correspondence of representatives of the scientific community, in particular, the former Minister of public education Ivan Tolstoy, such professors, politicians and publicists as David Grimm, Alexander Izgoev, Konstantin Arsenyev, etc. This allowed authors to identify the stages of the formation of the myth about Lev Kasso in the period from autu