In 2019, it is the 80th anniversary of the birth of the Russian sociologist Rimma Pavlovna Shpakova (1939–2006). Colleagues retained vivid memories of her as a researcher and teacher personality, but there is no complete assessment of the results of her scientific research. This article fills this gap. The main theme of her work was the historical and theoretical analysis of the sociology of M. Weber, the German classic of the discipline that significantly influenced its institutionalization in the world. R. P. Shpakova’s research program divides into two periods: 1968–1988 and 1988–2006. In the first period, a Weberian research program was developed, the credibility of which was ensured by using documents from the German archives and rest on the Weberian research results achieved. In those years, scientific studies were conducted in the paradigm of critics of Western sociology. During the second period, the research work of R. P. Shpakova was conducted in continuity with the principle of evidence of historical and sociological results and the validity of the conclusions, but already in the paradigm of sociology as an independent scientific discipline and separated from the ideology. During these years, she united the creative forces of Russian and German historians of sociology around Weberian subjects, the history of post-war German sociology and the history of Russian-German contacts in theoretical sociology since the beginning of the 20th century. The article presents the memories of her student, who spoke about his motivation to appeal to R. P. Shpakova for scientific leadership, numerous assessments of her colleagues in the scientific community of Saint Petersburg University and the city on the Neva River, detailed memoirs of A. Deichsel (professor of University of Hamburg) about the perception of R. P. Shpakova as a specialist in the German sociological community, about inter-university cooperation and numerous scientific contacts and scientific publications in which it is implemented. The second stage of the work of R. P. Shpakova represented the time of recognition of her scientific contribution. She was not only an honorary professor at Saint Petersburg University, but also a member of the F. Toennies’s Society in Kiel, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. This stage was interrupted by a sudden severe illness and remained unfinished. Nevertheless, her legacy became the basis for the continuation of Weber’s research for the younger generation of historians and theorists of sociology.