The article examines the role of representatives of the Auerbach dynasty of engineers in the development of mining in the Russian Empire in the second half of the XIXth - early XXth centuries. For the first time the main directions of Auerbach's professional activity - science, rationalization, entrepreneurship and public education - were comprehensively researched. On the basis of archival sources and published materials, it has been proved that A.A. Auerbach and V.A. Auerbach, as representatives of the Russian engineering and technical intelligentsia, played an extremely important role in the development of scientific knowledge about mining, in the improvement of mining production, in the formation and development of stock corporations in the Urals and southern Russia, in the popularization of mining education and in the solving of social issues associated with the protection of the interests of mining workers. It is shown that the representatives of the Auerbach dynasty of engineers were characterized by the following features: a high level of education, exceptional diligence, the ability to achieve a set goal, a desire to combine scientific achievements and production practices, an openness to everything new and advanced, a readiness for critical understanding and the use of foreign experience in the development of mining, taking into account changes in the conjuncture of the Russian economy, and a significant personal contribution to the development of science, enginery and technology in mining. Scientific works and practical developments made by A.A. Auerbach and V.A. Auerbach became an important basis for the further development of mining in our country.