Architect Vasily Stasov was born in 1769 in Moscow to a family of poor nobility. He mastered the basics of drawing, drafting, and architecture at the gymnasium of Moscow University. After the early death of his father and older brother at the age of 14, Stasov was forced to leave the gymnasium and took a job in the Moscow Charity Administration expedition, which approved building projects and locations for their construction.

Thanks to his abilities, the young man quickly advanced in his career and soon became an assistant architect. From that moment on, he not only checked drawings but also gained the right to design buildings independently. During his time in the expedition, Stasov developed about 100 projects for Moscow and the surrounding area.

By 1794, he had become a well-known architect, but the lack of an academic diploma could have kept him in the Moscow Charity Administration for life. However, the palace coup of 1801 in St. Petersburg changed his fate. Stasov was commissioned to design the Sokolnichye Field in Moscow for the coronation festivities of Alexander I.

The emperor liked Stasov's project, and in 1802 he sent the architect to Paris to study architecture at the state's expense. However, in 1804, due to deteriorating relations between Russia and France, Stasov moved to Rome, where he enrolled in the Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture of St. Luke. For his academic success, he was awarded the title of professor, a distinction previously achieved by only Vasily Bazhenov among Russians.

Planning to stay in Italy for a year and a half, Stasov remained there for four years due to the war between Napoleon and the Russo-Austrian coalition in 1805. He could only return to Russia after the Treaty of Tilsit. In 1808, he was assigned to serve under the governor-general of St. Petersburg to carry out important state orders.

In 1810, Stasov was tasked with reconstructing part of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo into an educational institution. He placed teachers' apartments and utility rooms on the first two floors, classrooms and a ceremonial hall on the third, and dormitories for students on the fourth.

In 1811, Stasov was elected an academician of architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts. A year later, he permanently moved to the capital. His first public building in St. Petersburg was the complex of the Russian Academy on Vasilievsky Island. At the same time, he worked on the construction of Kazan Cathedral and the improvement of the area near the Customs House.

In 1817, construction began on the barracks of the Pavlovsky Regiment in Marsovo Pole according to his project, as well as the reconstruction of the Horse Yard. For his craftsmanship, the emperor awarded Stasov a lifetime pension of 2000 rubles a year.

Stasov combined his work in St. Petersburg with projects in Tsarskoye Selo, where he worked for about 20 years. His ideas were realized in residential quarters, parks, and palace interiors for the imperial family.

In 1827, he was appointed a member of the Committee for the Restoration of the Transfiguration Cathedral, where he reflected the victories of the Russian army in the Russo-Turkish War by decorating the fence with trophy cannons. At the same time, he was constructing the Trinity-Izmailovsky Cathedral, for which he received the Order of Saint Stanislaus II degree.

That same year, on the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, the Narva Triumphal Gates were laid according to his project. Almost all buildings of that time in St. Petersburg were erected under Stasov's supervision. He participated in the Council for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, worked on the Smolny Monastery complex, restored the interiors of the Winter Palace and the Small Hermitage, and also led the construction of the Yamskoy Market, warehouses for the Engineering Department, and the reconstruction of the Law School. In his last years, he oversaw the construction of the New Hermitage.

Vasily Stasov passed away in 1848 and was buried in the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.