A shoe last holding device for clamping a shoe last including two spaced-apart clamped portions includes a base seat unit, a driving unit, and a clamping unit. The driving unit includes a pushing member movable relative to the base seat unit. The clamping unit includes two spaced-apart clamping elements pivotally mounted to the base seat unit. Each clamping element includes a force transmission end abutting against the pushing member and a clamping end opposite to the force transmission end. The pushing member is disposed between and movable toward and away from the clamping elements to drive the clamping elements to convert between a releasing state and a clamping state where the clamping ends engage the clamped portions, respectively.

A method for automatically pulling a shoe upper onto a last using a robot which includes a robot controller, a robot arm controlled automatically by the robot controller, and a gripper which is moved by the robot arm and which is designed to hold a shoe upper.