Vasily Vasilievich Maté was a Russian painter, draftsman, and engraver, an academician and a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, as well as an actual state councilor. He was born in 1856 in Verzhbolovo, in the Kingdom of Poland. He received his education at the Reformed School, the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he studied under F. I. Jordan.

For his polytipographic engraving based on a study of the head of John the Baptist, created by A. A. Ivanov for the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People," Maté was awarded a silver medal and in 1880 was sent to study in Paris. There he studied under Panemaker and learned etching under the guidance of Galyar.

Maté did not create significant original works, but his talent manifested in another way. He became one of the leading engravers in Russia at the end of the 19th century, creating numerous etchings and woodcuts, as well as portraits of figures from Russian history and culture. By reproducing the works of artists such as V. M. Vasnetsov, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, and others, he contributed to the popularization of Russian art. His polytipographies, distinguished by their painterly softness and expressiveness, were published in magazines such as "Pchela," "Russian Antiquity," "Historical Bulletin," "Art Review," "World Illustration," and other publications.

Since 1899, Maté switched from woodcut to etching technique, creating 278 plates, of which 225 were portraits. He believed that this technique offered more opportunities to achieve likeness with the rough line of a pencil and the fluidity of brushstrokes. From 1884 to 1909, Maté taught at the Central School of Technical Drawing of Stieglitz in St. Petersburg, from 1911 at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and from 1894 to 1917 at the Academy of Arts. Among his students were such well-known artists as A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, I. N. Pavlov, N. N. Gerardov, as well as I. E. Repin and V. A. Serov, and architect I. A. Fomin.

Vasily Vasilievich Maté passed away in 1917 in Petrograd.