The article considers the process of formation of historical education in Irkutsk State University and its development in 1920-s. It emphasizes that the Faculty of History and Philology continued traditions of classical Russian education of the XIXth and the early XXth centuries. Throughout the considered period, historical education was provided at the Faculties of History, Philology, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Pedagogics. The transition period from the imperial to the Soviet model of education affected teaching staff, academic disciplines, teaching methodology. The article highlights the reform of higher education, the influence of political and ideological attitudes on historical education at Irkutsk University.