The article is devoted to the pedagogical heritage of an outstanding surgeon, thinker and reformer of the education of N. I. Pirogov. The characteristic of the philosophical-pedagogical system of ideas and views of the scientist is indicated; the main stages of the formation of its «spiritual and moral pedagogy» are indicated. The activity as a trustee of the Odessa and Kiev training districts is covered. The aspiration of the pedagogical community to follow fashionable not always justified innovations motivates the functioning of an ineffective education system. In this regard, the appeal to the ideological and pedagogical views of N. I. Pirogov, aimed at the formation of a whole moral personality able to resist the vices of modern society (vanity, envy, greed, hypocrisy, cruelty, etc.) and struggle with evil.