Vasilii Mate

Born Feb. 23 (Mar. 6), 1856, near Virbalis, in present-day Lithuanian SSR; died Apr. 9 (22), 1917, in Petrograd. Russian engraver.

Mate studied at the School of Drawing of the Society for the Promotion of the Arts (1870-75) with L. A. Seriakov and at the Art Academy (1875-1880) in St. Petersburg. He was sent on full scholarship from the St. Petersburg Art Academy to study in Paris (1880-83). He studied engraving in Germany, Holland, and England. He did numerous etchings and wood engravings, including portraits of Russian cultural figures and reproductions of the paintings and drawings of I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, and many other Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century. Mate taught in St. Petersburg at the Shtiglits Central School of Technical Drawing (1884-1909), the School of Drawing of the Society for the Promotion of the Arts (from 1911), and the Art Academy (1894-1917). His pupils included A. P. OstroumovaLebedeva, I. N. Pavlov, V. D. Falileev, and P. A. Shillingovskii.