This article examines the main factors associated with the creation of a system of public health education, and the main areas of public health education work in Russia from the late nineteenth century to the mid-1930s. It analyses the main documents regulating public health education and the achievements and shortcomings of public health education work prior to the Russian Revolution, and describes the key factors in the development of public health education policy in the RSFSR. It sets out the main areas of public health education work (training of public health education instructors; lecture, literature and editing, publishing and library, and museum and exhibition work), and highlights the importance of professional training of public health education specialists, work with public organisations and trade unions, and cooperation between departments to maximise coverage of the population and promote and increase the accessibility of information on sanitation and hygiene.