Alexey Lev Tolstoy what relationship. Another one of the fat ones

Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. The works of this brilliant writer are Russia’s greatest asset.

In August 1828, a classic of Russian literature was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. The future author of War and Peace became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On his father's side, he belonged to the old family of Count Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of the Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.

Lev Nikolayevich’s mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbirth fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Lev was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.

Caring for the children fell on the shoulders of the writer’s aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Sacken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - their father’s sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced her nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life at the Yushkov estate in his story “Childhood.”

The classic received his primary education at home from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the Faculty of Oriental Languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he transferred to another faculty - law. But he did not succeed here either: after two years he left the university without receiving a degree.

Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man regularly kept a diary, loved social entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and...

Disappointed with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the village, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for candidate exams at the university, studying music, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet in a horse guards regiment. Relatives called Lev “the most trifling fellow,” and it took years to pay off the debts he incurred.

Literature

In 1851, the writer’s brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Lev to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. The nature of the Caucasus and the patriarchal life of the Cossack village were later reflected in the stories “Cossacks” and “Hadji Murat”, the stories “Raid” and “Cutting the Forest”.

In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story “Childhood,” which he published in the magazine “Sovremennik” under the initials L.N. Soon he wrote the sequels “Adolescence” and “Youth,” combining the stories into a trilogy. The literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolaevich his first recognition.

The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: an appointment to Bucharest, a transfer to besieged Sevastopol, and command of a battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came the series “Sevastopol Stories”. The works of the young writer amazed critics with their bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them a “dialectic of the soul,” and the emperor read the essay “Sevastopol in December” and expressed admiration for Tolstoy’s talent.

In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him “the great hope of Russian literature.” But over the course of a year, I got tired of the writing environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners. Later in Confession Tolstoy admitted:

“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”

In the fall of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe for six months. Visited Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. On the family estate, he began arranging schools for peasant children. With his participation, twenty educational institutions appeared in the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium, he studied the pedagogical systems of European countries in order to apply what he saw in Russia.

A special niche in Leo Tolstoy’s work is occupied by fairy tales and works for children and teenagers. The writer has created hundreds of works for young readers, including good and instructive fairy tales “Kitten”, “Two Brothers”, “Hedgehog and Hare”, “Lion and Dog”.

Leo Tolstoy wrote the school textbook “ABC” to teach children writing, reading and arithmetic. The literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included instructive stories, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice for teachers. The third book includes the story “Prisoner of the Caucasus.”

In the 1870s, Leo Tolstoy, while continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted two storylines: the family drama of the Karenins and the home idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love affair: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of existence of the “educated class”, contrasting it with the truth of peasant life. "Anna Karenina" was highly appreciated.

The turning point in the writer’s consciousness was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight occupies a central place in the stories and stories. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “The Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. The classic of Russian literature paints pictures of social inequality and castigates the idleness of the nobles.

In search of an answer to the question of the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but even there he did not find satisfaction. The writer came to the conclusion that the Christian Church is corrupt, and under the guise of religion, priests are promoting false teaching. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication “Mediator,” where he outlined his spiritual beliefs and criticized the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, and the writer was monitored by the secret police.

In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received favorable reviews from critics. But the success of the work was inferior to “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace”.

For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his teachings on non-violent resistance to evil, was recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.

"War and Peace"

Leo Tolstoy disliked his novel War and Peace, calling the epic “wordy rubbish.” The classic writer wrote the work in the 1860s, while living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, entitled “1805,” were published by Russkiy Vestnik in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated controversy among critics.

The novelist took the features of the heroes of the work, written during the years of family happiness and spiritual elation, from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolaevich’s mother are recognizable, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love of art. The writer awarded Nikolai Rostov with his father’s traits - mockery, love of reading and hunting.

When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. His young wife helped him, copying his drafts out clean.

The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of its epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to “write the history of the people.”

According to the calculations of literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, the works of the Russian classic were filmed 40 times abroad alone. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia have made 16 films based on the novel “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection” has been filmed 22 times.

“War and Peace” was first filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.

Personal life

Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the couple’s life can hardly be called cloudless.

Sofia Bers is the second of three daughters of the Moscow palace office doctor Andrei Bers. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they vacationed on a Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time Leo Tolstoy saw his future wife as a child. Sophia was educated at home, read a lot, understood art, and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as an example of the memoir genre.

At the beginning of his married life, Leo Tolstoy, wanting there to be no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. The shocked wife learned about her husband’s stormy youth, passion for gambling, wild life and the peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolaevich.

The first-born Sergei was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy began writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite her pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five of the 13 children died in infancy or early childhood.

Problems in the family began after Leo Tolstoy finished his work on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that Sofya Andreevna so diligently arranged in the family nest. The count's moral turmoil led to Lev Nikolayevich demanding that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he made himself, and wanted to give his acquired property to the peasants.

Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of ​​​​distributing goods. But the quarrel that occurred split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Upon returning, the writer entrusted the responsibility of rewriting drafts to his daughters.

The death of their last child, seven-year-old Vanya, briefly brought the couple closer together. But soon mutual grievances and misunderstandings alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher for whom romantic feelings developed. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for “half-betrayal.”

The couple's fatal quarrel occurred at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia a farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but could not do otherwise.

Death

82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in the stationmaster's house. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy’s health.

The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

• Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
• Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
• All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
• Let everyone sweep in front of his own door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
• It's easier to live without love. But without it there is no point.
• I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
• The world moves forward because of those who suffer.
• The greatest truths are the simplest.
• Everyone is making plans, and no one knows whether he will survive until the evening.

Bibliography

• 1869 – “War and Peace”
• 1877 – “Anna Karenina”
• 1899 – “Resurrection”
• 1852-1857 – “Childhood”. "Adolescence". "Youth"
• 1856 – “Two Hussars”
• 1856 – “Morning of the Landowner”
• 1863 – “Cossacks”
• 1886 – “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”
• 1903 – “Notes of a Madman”
• 1889 – “Kreutzer Sonata”
• 1898 – “Father Sergius”
• 1904 – “Hadji Murat”

TOLSTOY TRIBE: WHAT WAS THE FATE OF LEO TOLSTOY'S 13 CHILDREN. Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy had 13 children - Sofya Andreevna gave birth to the writer 9 sons and 4 daughters. What was their fate and what mark did they leave on history?

Unfortunately, 5 of the 13 children died early: Peter lived a little over a year, Nikolai - less than a year, Varvara - a few days, Alexey died at 4 years old, Ivan - at 6 years old. The youngest, Ivan, was unusually similar to his father. It was said that his blue-gray eyes saw and understood more than he could express in words. Tolstoy believed that it was this son who would continue his work. However, fate decreed otherwise - the child died of scarlet fever.

SERGEY LVOVICH (1863-1947) Tolstoy described his eldest son Sergei as follows: “The eldest, blond, is not stupid. There is something weak and patient in the expression and very meek... Everyone says that he looks like my older brother. I'm afraid to believe. That would be too good. The brother’s main trait was not selfishness or self-sacrifice, but a strict middle ground... Seryozha is smart - a mathematical mind and a sensitivity to art, an excellent student, a dexterous jumper, gymnastics; but gauche (clumsy, French) and absent-minded.” Sergei Lvovich was the only one of all the writer’s children who survived the October Revolution in his homeland. He seriously studied music, was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and one of the founders of the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow, and took part in commenting on his father’s Complete Works. Also known as the author of musical works: “Twenty-seven Scottish Songs”, “Belgian Songs”, “Hindu Songs and Dances”; wrote romances based on poems by Pushkin, Fet, Tyutchev. He died in 1947 at the age of 84.

TATYANA LVOVNA (1864-1950) Tatyana, like her sisters Maria and Alexandra, was a follower of Tolstoy’s teachings. From her mother, the writer's eldest daughter inherited practicality, the ability to do a variety of things, like her mother, she loved toilets, entertainment and was not without vanity. She inherited the ability to write from her father and became a writer. In 1925, together with her daughter, Tatyana Lvovna went abroad, lived in Paris, where her guests were Bunin, Maurois, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Alexandre Benois and many other representatives of culture and art. From Paris she moved to Italy, where she spent the rest of her life.

ILYA LVOVICH (1866-1933) Characteristics of Leo Tolstoy: “Ilya, the third... Broad-boned, white, ruddy, shining. He studies poorly. Always thinking about what he is not told to think about. He invents games himself. He is neat, thrifty, and “what’s mine” is very important to him. Hot and violent (impulsive), now fight; but also gentle and very sensitive. Sensual - he loves to eat and lie quietly... Everything that is not permitted has a charm for him... Ilya will die if he does not have a strict and beloved leader.” Ilya did not graduate from high school, he worked alternately as an official, then as a bank employee, then as an agent of the Russian social insurance company, then as an agent for the liquidation of private estates. During the First World War he worked for the Red Cross. In 1916, Ilya Lvovich left for the USA, where until the end of his life he earned money by lecturing on Tolstoy’s work and worldview.

LEV LVOVICH (1869-1945) Lev Lvovich was one of the most talented in the family. Tolstoy himself described his son as follows: “Handsome: dexterous, intelligent, graceful. Every dress fits as if it were made for it. Everything that others do, he does, and everything is very clever and good. I still don’t understand it well.” In his youth he was carried away by his father’s ideas, but over time he switched to anti-Tolstoy, patriotic and monarchist positions. In 1918, without waiting for arrest, he emigrated. He lived in France and Italy, and finally settled in Sweden in 1940. In exile he continued to engage in creativity. Lev Lvovich's works have been translated into French, German, Swedish, Hungarian and Italian.

MARIA LVOVNA (1871 - 1906) When she was two years old, Lev Nikolaevich described her as follows: “A weak, sickly child. Like milk, white body, curly white hairs; large, strange, blue eyes: strange in their deep, serious expression. Very smart and ugly. This will be one of the mysteries. He will suffer, he will search, he will find nothing; but will forever seek the most inaccessible.” Sharing her father’s views, she refused to go out on social occasions; She devoted a lot of effort to educational work. Having passed away early, at the age of 35, Maria Lvovna was remembered by her contemporaries as “a good person who did not see happiness.” Maria Lvovna was well-read, fluent in several foreign languages, and played music. When she received her teacher's diploma, she organized her own school, which served both peasant children and adults. Her obsession sometimes frightened her loved ones; the young, fragile woman traveled through remote settlements in any weather, independently driving a horse and overcoming snow drifts. In November 1906, Maria Lvovna fell ill: her temperature suddenly rose sharply, and pain appeared in her shoulder. Doctors diagnosed pneumonia. According to Sofia Andreevna, “no measures weakened the strength of the disease.” Throughout the week, while the woman was in a semi-conscious state, her parents and husband were nearby; Tolstoy held his daughter’s hand until the last minutes.

ANDREY LVOVICH (1877 - 1916) He loved his mother very much, she adored him and forgave her son everything. His father appreciated Andrei’s kindness, argued that this was “the most precious and important quality, which is more valuable than anything in the world,” and advised him to apply his ideas for the benefit of the people. However, Andrei Lvovich did not share his father’s views, believing that if he is a nobleman, he should enjoy all the privileges and advantages that his position gives him. Tolstoy strongly disapproved of his son’s lifestyle, but said about him: “I don’t want to love him, but I love him because he is genuine and does not want to appear to others.” Andrei took part in the Russo-Japanese War with the rank of non-commissioned officer and mounted orderly. He was wounded in the war and received the St. George Cross for bravery. In 1907, he entered the service as an official of special assignments under the Tula governor Mikhail Viktorovich Artsimovich, who maintained excellent relations with Lev Nikolaevich. Andrei fell in love with his wife, and soon she went to Andrei, leaving the house, a desperate husband and six children. In February 1916, in St. Petersburg, Andrei had a strange dream, which he told his brother. He saw himself dead in a dream, in a coffin that was being taken out of the house. He attended his own funeral. In the huge crowd following the coffin, he saw Minister Krivoshein, his chief at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg, and his beloved gypsies, whose singing he loved very much. A few days later he died from blood poisoning.

MIKHAIL LVOVICH (1879 - 1944) Mikhail was musically gifted. From childhood, he loved music very much, masterfully learned to play the balalaika, harmonica, and piano, composed romances, and learned to play the violin. Despite his dream of becoming a composer, Mikhail followed in his father’s footsteps and chose a military career. During the First World War, he served in the 2nd Dagestan Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division. In 1914-1917 participated in battles on the Southwestern Front. He was nominated for the Order of St. Anne, 4th degree. In 1920, he emigrated, eventually stopping in Morocco, where he died. It was in this country that Mikhail wrote his only literary work: a memoir describing how Tolstoy’s family lived in Yasnaya Polyana, this novel was called “Mitya Tiverin”. In the novel, he also recalled that family and country that could no longer be returned. Mikhail Lvovich died in Morocco in 1944.

ALEXANDRA LVOVNA (1884 - 1979) She was a difficult child. The governesses and older sisters worked with her more than Sofya Andreevna and Lev Nikolaevich. However, at the age of 16, she became close to her father, and since then she devoted her whole life to him: she did secretarial work, mastered shorthand and typewriting. According to Tolstoy's will, Alexandra Lvovna received copyrights to her father's literary heritage. After the October Revolution of 1917, Alexandra Tolstaya did not want to come to terms with the new government, which brutally persecuted dissidents. In 1920, the Cheka was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. Thanks to the petition of the peasants of Yasnaya Polyana, she was released early in 1921, she returned to her native estate, and after the corresponding decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, she became the curator of the museum. She organized a cultural and educational center in Yasnaya Polyana, opened a school, a hospital, and a pharmacy. In 1929, she left the Soviet Union, going to Japan, then to the USA, where she gave lectures about her father at many universities. In 1941, she accepted US citizenship and in subsequent years helped many Russian emigrants settle in the United States, where she herself died on September 26, 1979 at the age of 95. In the Soviet Union, Alexandra Tolstoy was removed from all photographs and newsreels; her name was not mentioned in notes and memoirs, excursion stories and museum exhibitions.

Peter Tolstoy

great-great-grandson of Tolstoy, journalist

Although many modern Tolstoys live abroad (they emigrated after the revolution), the “lump of Russian literature” still has descendants in our country. For example, Pyotr Tolstoy, whose father returned from emigration in 1944 with his brother. Thanks to his family, Peter knew about his great-great-grandfather from childhood: he visited Yasnaya Polyana several times and became closely acquainted with family heirlooms. This representative of the Tolstoy family is a very famous Russian journalist and TV presenter who has been working on Channel One for many years. Currently hosts the programs “Politics” and “Time will tell.” Peter spoke about his famous great-great-grandfather in one of his interviews:

Tolstoy remained honest with himself, always remained so, even when he was mistaken

Fekla Tolstaya

great-great-granddaughter of Tolstoy, journalist

Second cousin of Peter Tolstoy and also a very famous Russian journalist. Her real name is Anna, but she is known mainly by the name Thekla, a childhood nickname that later turned into a pseudonym. Tolstaya was born into a family of philologists and followed in the footsteps of her parents: she graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University and speaks five languages. However, already in childhood she was drawn to television: as a schoolgirl, Fekla began acting in supporting roles in films, and in 1995 she entered GITIS in the directing department. Behind Fekla’s back are many projects on radio and television, including author’s programs about her own family tree “Fat”, as well as “War and Peace”: Reading a Novel.” In a conversation with MK Boulevard, the journalist happily spoke about the advantages of her huge family, whose members are scattered all over the world:

If you have relatives in another country, you understand it completely differently. I can explore Rome, for example, together with my beautiful niece, who, like a Roman, shows me the places I have loved since childhood - and this is an incomparable feeling. The same can be said about my relatives in Paris or New York. I get into the family, communicate with their friends

Andrey Tolstoy

great-great-grandson of Tolstoy, reindeer herder

Another descendant representing the Swedish branch of the family, Andrei Tolstoy, is a simple farmer who has been raising reindeer for many years. He achieved great success: Andrey is one of the most famous reindeer herders in Scandinavia. He admitted that he was never able to read “War and Peace” at school. However, then I finally mastered the four-volume work. Several years ago, Andrey visited Russia for the first time.

Vladimir Tolstoy

great-great-grandson of Tolstoy, advisor to the President of Russia

Vladimir Ilyich is a person without whom there would be no meetings of Tolstoy’s descendants (which are held regularly today), and the fate of Leo Tolstoy’s Yasnaya Polyana estate would remain under threat. In the early 90s, they wanted to take away the lands of the estate for new developments, the forests were cut down... But in 1992, Vladimir Ilyich published a large material about all the troubles in Komsomolskaya Pravda. Soon he was appointed director of the museum-reserve. Now Tolstoy is an adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, and his wife Ekaterina Tolstaya is in charge of the museum’s affairs. Vladimir admitted to the Tula newspaper “Young Communard”, speaking about his relatives:

Each of us has our own individuality, each of us has our own view of the world. And everyone is talented in their own way. Fat people can do anything: they take photographs, draw, write. And at the same time they are ashamed of their talents: modesty is another family quality...

Victoria Tolstoy

great-great-granddaughter of Tolstoy, jazz singer

Yes, yes, she is Tolstoy, not Tolstoy: the Swede Victoria decided not to decline her surname, but to make it more “authentic”. How did the Swedish line of the Tolstoy family come about? The son of Lev Nikolaevich, Lev Lvovich, was forced for health reasons to turn to the Swedish doctor Westerlund. And then he fell in love with his daughter Dora... The modern representative of this family branch, singer Victoria, is better known in her homeland under the pseudonym “Lady Jazz”. By her own admission, Victoria does not know the Russian language and has not read Lev Nikolaevich’s novels, but in her work she often turns to classical Russian composers. At the moment, the blonde has already released 8 albums, one of which is called My Russian Soul (“My Russian Soul”). Victoria told the jazz publication JazzQuard:

When I was in Moscow several years ago, I visited the Tolstoy House Museum. I remember I saw there a portrait of a lady from the Tolstoy family and was amazed at how much this young woman from past centuries looked like me! Then for the first time I really felt my involvement in the Tolstoy family: how much connects and unites us at the deepest genetic level!

Ilaria Stieler-Timor

great-great-granddaughter of Tolstoy, Italian teacher

Shtiler-Timor is the great-granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy’s eldest daughter, Tatyana Sukhotina-Tolstaya. According to Ilaria, her grandmother tried to start a theatrical career, but due to her difficult financial situation, she was married to a wealthy Italian, Leonardo Albertini, who was one of the founders of the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Recently, Stieler-Timor has been living in Israel, where he teaches Italian. She visited Russia for the first time in 1985, and since then she has kept in touch with her Russian relatives. The Israeli portal Haaretz.com quotes Ilaria.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's parents, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, got married in 1822. They had four sons and a daughter: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, Lev and Maria. The writer's relatives became the prototypes of many of the heroes of the novel "War and Peace": father - Nikolai Rostov, mother - Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, paternal grandfather Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy - the old Count Rostov, maternal grandfather Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky - the old Prince Bolkonsky. L.N. Tolstoy had no cousins, since his parents were the only children in their families.

According to his father, L. N. Tolstoy was related to the artist F. P. Tolstoy, F. I. Tolstoy (“American”), the poets A. K. Tolstoy, F. I. Tyutchev and N. A. Nekrasov, the philosopher P. . Y. Chaadaev, Chancellor of the Russian Empire A. M. Gorchakov.

The Tolstoy family was elevated by Peter Andreevich Tolstoy (1645-1729), an associate of Peter I, who received the title of count. From his grandson, Andrei Ivanovich Tolstoy (1721-1803), nicknamed the “Big Nest” for his numerous offspring, many famous Tolstoys descended. A.I. Tolstoy was the grandfather of F.I. Tolstoy and F.P. Tolstoy, the great-grandfather of L.N. Tolstoy and A.K. Tolstoy. L.N. Tolstoy and the poet Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy were each other’s second cousins. The artist Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy and Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy the American were cousins ​​of Lev Nikolaevich. The sister of F. I. Tolstoy the American, Maria Ivanovna Tolstaya-Lopukhina (i.e., L. N. Tolstoy’s cousin) is known from the “Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina” by the artist V. L. Borovikovsky. The poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev was the sixth cousin of Lev Nikolaevich (Tyutchev’s mother, Ekaterina Lvovna, was from the Tolstoy family). The sister of Andrei Ivanovich Tolstoy (great-grandfather of L.N. Tolstoy) - Maria - married P.V. Chaadaev. Her grandson, the philosopher Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev, therefore, was Lev Nikolaevich’s second cousin.

There is information that the great-great-grandfather (father of the great-grandfather) of the poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was Ivan Petrovich Tolstoy (1685-1728), who was also the great-great-grandfather of Lev Nikolaevich. If this is really so, then it turns out that N.A. Nekrasov and L.N. Tolstoy are fourth cousins. L. N. Tolstoy’s second cousin was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov. The writer's paternal grandmother, Pelageya Nikolaevna, was from the Gorchakov family.

L.N. Tolstoy’s great-grandfather, A.I. Tolstoy, had a younger brother Fedor, whose descendant was the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who depicted his ancestor Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy in the novel “Peter I”. A. N. Tolstoy’s grandfather, Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy, was Lev Nikolaevich’s fourth cousin. Consequently, A. N. Tolstoy, nicknamed the “red count,” was the fourth great-nephew of Lev Nikolaevich. The granddaughter of A. N. Tolstoy is the writer Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya.

On his mother's side, L.N. Tolstoy was related to A.S. Pushkin, the Decembrists, S.P. Trubetskoy, A.I. Odoevsky.

A. S. Pushkin was the fourth cousin of L. N. Tolstoy. Lev Nikolaevich’s mother was the poet’s second cousin. Their common ancestor was admiral, associate of Peter I, Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin. In 1868, L. N. Tolstoy met his fifth cousin Maria Alexandrovna Pushkina-Hartung, some of whose features he later gave to the appearance of Anna Karenina. The Decembrist, Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky was the writer’s second cousin. Lev Nikolaevich's great-grandfather, Prince Dmitry Yuryevich Trubetskoy, married Princess Varvara Ivanovna Odoevskaya. Their daughter, Ekaterina Dmitrievna Trubetskaya, married Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky. D. Yu. Trubetskoy’s brother, Field Marshal Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy, was the great-grandfather of the Decembrist Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy, who, therefore, was Lev Nikolaevich’s second cousin. The brother of V.I. Odoevskaya-Trubetskoy, Alexander Ivanovich Odoevsky, was the grandfather of the Decembrist poet Alexander Ivanovich Odoevsky, who, it turns out, was L.N. Tolstoy’s second cousin.

In 1862, L. N. Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna Bers. They had 9 sons and 4 daughters (of 13 children, 5 died in childhood): Sergei, Tatyana, Ilya, Lev, Maria, Peter, Nikolai, Varvara, Andrey, Mikhail, Alexey, Alexandra, Ivan. The granddaughter of L.N. Tolstoy, Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya, became the last wife of the poet Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin. The great-great-grandchildren of Lev Nikolaevich (the great-grandchildren of his son, Ilya Lvovich) are TV presenters Pyotr Tolstoy and Fekla Tolstaya.

L.N. Tolstoy's wife, Sofya Andreevna, was the daughter of the doctor Andrei Evstafievich Bers, who in his youth served with Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva, the mother of the writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. A.E. Bers and V.P. Turgeneva had an affair, which resulted in the appearance of an illegitimate daughter, Varvara. Thus, S. A. Bers-Tolstaya and I. S. Turgenev had a common sister.

On July 29, the premiere of Fyokla Tolstoy’s author’s program “Thick” started on the Rossiya K TV channel.

Several years ago, journalist and TV presenter Fekla Tolstaya filmed a documentary series “Great Dynasties” about the descendants of famous noble families. Then the question reasonably arose: why Thekla, the great-great-granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy, did not talk about her illustrious family. And now she finally decided to explore her roots and made her own program about Tolstoy.

Over seven centuries of Russian history, the Tolstoy family included writers and ministers, sailors and artists, academicians and composers, governors and journalists. Through the history of the Tolstoy family one can trace the entire history of Russia. Today's Tolstoys are one of the most extensive, most friendly, happiest families. The premiere eight-episode program “The Tolstoys” introduces the history of the Tolstoy family, covered in amazing stories and legends.

Fekla Tolstaya spoke about the painstaking and interesting work on the program.

I filmed this series about my family and for me it was more emotional work than any other. I wanted to show not so much the biographies of people, but how they reflected the history of the country, how they acted in certain circumstances. It is more interesting to talk not about the history of masses, classes, estates, but about history using the example of a specific fate. All the Tolstoys were not indifferent to the fate of the Fatherland and, to the best of their ability, tried to contribute to its prosperity. The events that we will talk about can be completely historical: battles, coups d'etat, diplomatic negotiations, the construction of famous palaces; and quite private, because sometimes a brief description of a family drama can tell us a lot more about ancient times than multi-volume encyclopedias.

Fekla, what are the main family traits of the Tolstoys?

I had a great desire to find common family traits. I think that Tolstoys are straightforward and quite natural (in the sense that they don’t like to pretend). And they are natural because they love to live in nature. And as Lev Nikolaevich said about the Tolstoys, that they are a little wild.

Whose fate shocked you personally more than others?

I would especially like to mention Lev Nikolayevich’s youngest daughter Alexandra, who in the last years of the writer’s life was the only one on her father’s side. I come from the family of brother Elijah, who was on the other side. But she always seemed like an unusual figure to me. She fought in the First World War. She rose to the rank of colonel of the medical service, then managed to spend time in the basements of Lubyanka, then became commissar of Yasnaya Polyana. Later she went abroad, where she saved refugees from death. Amazing personality. I would like more people to know about her, such a strong, bright woman.

Where was the program filmed?

Now the descendants of the writer, his great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, number about three hundred people. They live in different countries of the world. We were in America, Europe and Russia, of course. We visited abandoned estates, where even a car could not get through, and walked through the fields on foot. For example, there is such an estate Pokrovskoye (it belonged to the sister of Lev Nikolaevich) in the Tula region on the border with the Oryol region.

According to our idea, in each episode, besides me, there will be someone else from the family who will talk about the hero of the film. Viewers will also hear comments from historians, and actors Viktor Rakov and Irina Rozanova will read memoirs and letters.

Fekla, are there any family heirlooms from the Tolstoy family?

A lot of relics have been preserved and our family can consider ourselves very happy in this regard. Much has been preserved due to the fact that Lev Nikolaevich was an outstanding personality and his wife understood during his lifetime that museums should be made from his houses in Yasnaya Polyana and Moscow. There are also older things left, for example, those belonging to the first Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, this is a man of Peter the Great’s time. And we continue the family tradition of caring for history. We will be opening an exhibition dedicated to my father, Leo Tolstoy’s great-grandson, Nikita Tolstoy. My father was born in exile, and then the family returned to Russia, they became one of the first repatriates. So you will even be able to see the Aeroflot ticket that my father used to fly to Russia for the first time in 1945. The exhibition will take place in the building of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy on Pyatnitskaya, 12.

I know that once every two years the whole extended family gathers in Yasnaya Polyana. Are there any other traditions?

Yes, this is the brightest family tradition of recent times. After one of the Tolstoys (my second cousin Vladimir Ilyich) became the director of the museum of the Yasnaya Polyana estate, we got the opportunity to gather in our native nest. Despite the fact that the Tolstoy family is huge, we treat each other as close people, and this “network” is of a kind, because no matter what country in the world you come to, you have relatives everywhere and even if you are just getting to know them , you feel the kinship of souls, the proximity of interests, the unity of characters.