In 2018 we celebrated the 110th anniversary of Irina Zarutskaya (1908–1990). She was a professor of Moscow State University, and her name is closely connected with the formation and development of geographical cartography. The authors noted the importance of Irina Zarutskaya’s contribution to the theory and methodology of geographical cartography. We also highlighted her implementation in topographic mapping when she took part in the process of preparing the general geographic and thematic maps of Russia in the scale 1 : 2 500 000 and 1 : 4 000 000. Irina Zarutskaya played an active role in the overview mapping of the country and integrated regional mapping. The fundamental cartographic works by Irina Zarutskaya were first to give a reliable and multilateral data about the territory of Russia. Those maps made a very important stage in the cartographic study of Russia and prepared an information base for the socio-economic development of our country. No doubt, Irina Zarutskaya’s works entered in the history of science as the classical works of Russian cartography; moreover, their importance has been recognized outside Russia. Her practical and scientific activities were always closely intertwined with the pedagogical work and scientific research. The theoretical and methodological heritage of Irina Zarutskaya’s determined the prospects of its development in the following decades.