The article considers the reasons for contradictory attitude toward the Decembrists’ impact on the formation of cultural traditions in Siberia. On the basis of their contemporaries’ memoirs, including Siberians’ ones, the author attempts to examine the origins of the impact of the “public criminals” on the formation of cultural traditions in Siberia: their background, educational level, personal qualities, grade and forms of their involvement into the local life. Moreover, the author emphasises the level of cultural interests of different social classes of Irkutsk society and its willingness to accept a new system of social relations and view of life.