Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on August 28, 1828 at his father's estate, Yasnaya Polyana, in the Tula province. Tolstoy is an old Russian noble family; one representative of this family, the head of the Petrine secret police Petr Tolstoy, was promoted to graphs. Tolstoy's mother was born Princess Volkonskaya. His father and mother served as models for Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya in War and Peace(see summary and analysis of this novel). They belonged to the highest Russian aristocracy, and belonging to the highest stratum of the ruling class, distinguishes Tolstoy from other writers of his time. He never forgot about it (even when this realization of his became completely negative), he always remained an aristocrat and kept aloof from the intelligentsia.

The childhood and adolescence of Leo Tolstoy passed between Moscow and Yasnaya Polyana, in big family where there were several brothers. He left unusually vivid memories of his early environment, of his relatives and servants, in wonderful autobiographical notes that he wrote for his biographer P. I. Biryukov. His mother died when he was two years old, his father when he was nine years old. His further upbringing was in charge of his aunt, Mademoiselle Yergolskaya, who supposedly served as the prototype for Sonya in War and Peace.

Leo Tolstoy in his youth. Photo 1848

In 1844 Tolstoy entered Kazan University, where he first studied oriental languages ​​and then law, but in 1847 he left the university without receiving a diploma. In 1849, he settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where he tried to be useful to his peasants, but soon realized that his efforts were of no use, because he lacked knowledge. IN student years and after leaving the university, as was the custom with young people of his class, he led a hectic life filled with the pursuit of pleasures - wine, cards, women - somewhat similar to the life that Pushkin led before being exiled to the south. But Tolstoy was incapable of accepting life as it is with a light heart. From the very beginning, his diary (existing since 1847) testifies to an unquenchable thirst for the intellectual and moral justification of life, a thirst that has forever remained the guiding force of his thought. The same diary was the first attempt to develop that technique of psychological analysis, which later became Tolstoy's main literary weapon. His first attempt to try himself in a more purposeful and creative kind writing dates back to 1851.

The tragedy of Leo Tolstoy. Documentary

In the same year, disgusted by his empty and useless life in Moscow, he went to the Caucasus to the Terek Cossacks, where he entered the garrison artillery cadet (junker means volunteer, volunteer, but of noble birth). The next year (1852) he completed his first story ( Childhood) and sent it to Nekrasov for publication in Contemporary. Nekrasov immediately accepted it and wrote about it to Tolstoy in very encouraging tones. The story was an immediate success, and Tolstoy immediately rose to prominence in literature.

On the battery, Leo Tolstoy led a rather easy and unburdensome life of a cadet with means; the place to stay was nice too. He had a lot of free time, most of which he spent hunting. In the few fights in which he had to participate, he showed himself very well. In 1854, he received an officer's rank and, at his request, was transferred to the army that fought the Turks in Wallachia (see Crimean War), where he took part in the siege of Silistria. In the autumn of that year, he joined the Sevastopol garrison. There Tolstoy saw real war. He participated in the defense of the famous Fourth Bastion and in the battle on the Black River and ridiculed bad command in a satirical song - the only work of his in verse known to us. In Sevastopol, he wrote the famous Sevastopol stories that appeared in Contemporary when the siege of Sevastopol was still ongoing, which greatly increased interest in their author. Shortly after leaving Sevastopol, Tolstoy went on vacation to St. Petersburg and Moscow, and the next year he left the army.

Only in these years, after Crimean War, Tolstoy communicated with the literary world. The writers of St. Petersburg and Moscow met him as an outstanding master and colleague. As he later admitted, success was very flattering to his vanity and pride. But he did not get along with writers. He was too aristocratic to like this semi-bohemian intelligentsia. For him, they were too awkward plebeians, they were indignant that he clearly preferred the light to their company. On this occasion, he and Turgenev exchanged sharp epigrams. On the other hand, his very mindset was not to the liking of progressive Westerners. He did not believe in progress or culture. In addition, his dissatisfaction with the literary world intensified due to the fact that his new works disappointed them. Everything he wrote after Childhood, did not show any movement towards innovation and development, and Tolstoy's critics failed to understand the experimental value of these imperfect works (for more details, see the article Tolstoy's Early Works). All this contributed to his termination of relations with the literary world. The culmination was a noisy quarrel with Turgenev (1861), whom he challenged to a duel, and then apologized for this. This whole story is very typical, and it showed the character of Leo Tolstoy, with his secret embarrassment and sensitivity to insults, with his intolerance for the imaginary superiority of other people. The only writers with whom he maintained friendly relations were the reactionary and "land lord" Fet (in whose house the quarrel with Turgenev broke out) and the democrat-Slavophile Strakhov- people who did not sympathize with the main direction of the then progressive thought.

The years 1856-1861 Tolstoy spent between St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yasnaya Polyana and abroad. He traveled abroad in 1857 (and again in 1860-1861) and brought back a disgust for the selfishness and materialism of European bourgeois civilization. In 1859 he opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana and in 1862 he began publishing a pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, in which the progressive world was surprised by the assertion that it is not the intellectuals who should teach the peasants, but rather the peasants the intellectuals. In 1861 he accepted the post of conciliator, a post introduced to oversee how the emancipation of the peasants was carried out. But the unsatisfied thirst for moral strength continued to torment him. He abandoned the revelry of his youth and began to think about marriage. In 1856 he made his first unsuccessful attempt to marry (Arsenyeva). In 1860, he was deeply shocked by the death of his brother Nicholas - it was his first encounter with the inevitable reality of death. Finally, in 1862, after long hesitation (he was convinced that since he was old - thirty-four years old! - and ugly, not a single woman would love him) Tolstoy made an offer to Sofya Andreevna Bers, and it was accepted. They got married in September of the same year.

Marriage is one of the two main milestones in Tolstoy's life; the second milestone was his appeal. He was always pursued by one concern - how to justify his life before his conscience and achieve lasting moral well-being. When he was a bachelor, he oscillated between two opposing desires. The first was a passionate and hopeless striving for that integral and unreasoning, “natural” state that he found among the peasants and especially among the Cossacks, in whose village he lived in the Caucasus: this state does not strive for self-justification, for it is free from self-consciousness, this justification demanding. He tried to find such an unquestioning state in conscious obedience to animal impulses, in the lives of his friends, and (and here he came closest to achieving it) in his favorite pastime, hunting. But he was unable to be satisfied with this forever, and another equally passionate desire - to find a rational justification for life - led him aside every time he seemed to have already achieved contentment with himself. Marriage was for him the gateway to a more stable and lasting "state of nature." It was the self-justification of life and the solution of a painful problem. Family life, unreasoning acceptance of it and submission to it, henceforth became his religion.

For the first fifteen years of his married life, Tolstoy lived in a blissful state of contented vegetation, with a peaceful conscience and a hushed need for higher rational justification. The philosophy of this plant conservatism is expressed with great creative power in War and Peace(see summary and analysis of this novel). In family life, he was extremely happy. Sofya Andreevna, almost still a girl, when he married her, without difficulty became what he wanted to make her; he explained his new philosophy to her, and she was her indestructible stronghold and unchanging guardian, which eventually led to the breakup of the family. The writer's wife turned out to be an ideal wife, mother and mistress of the house. In addition, she became a devoted assistant to her husband in literary work - everyone knows that she copied seven times War and peace from the beginning to the end. She bore Tolstoy many sons and daughters. She had no personal life: all of it was dissolved in family life.

Thanks to Tolstoy's prudent management of estates (Yasnaya Polyana was just a place of residence; a large Zavolzhsky estate brought income) and the sale of his works, the family's fortune increased, as did the family itself. But Tolstoy, although absorbed and satisfied with his self-justified life, although he glorified it with unsurpassed artistic power in his best novel, was still not able to completely dissolve in family life, as his wife dissolved. "Life in Art" also did not absorb him as much as his brothers. The worm of moral thirst, though brought to tiny sizes, never died. Tolstoy was constantly worried about the questions and demands of morality. In 1866 he defended (unsuccessfully) before a military court a soldier accused of hitting an officer. In 1873, he published articles on public education, on the basis of which the insightful critic Mikhailovsky managed to predict further development his ideas.

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Born: September 9, 1828
Died: November 10, 1910

Biography

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on August 28 (September 9 n.s.) in the Yasnaya Polyana estate of the Tula province. By origin, he belonged to the most ancient aristocratic families of Russia. Received home education and upbringing.

After the death of parents (mother died in 1830, father in 1837) future writer with three brothers and a sister he moved to Kazan, to the guardian P. Yushkova. At the age of sixteen, he entered Kazan University, first at the Faculty of Philosophy in the category of Arabic-Turkish literature, then studied at law school(1844 - 47). In 1847, without completing the course, he left the university and settled in Yasnaya Polyana, which he received as his father's inheritance.

The future writer spent the next four years in search: he tried to reorganize the life of the peasants of Yasnaya Polyana (1847), lived social life in Moscow (1848), at St. Petersburg University he took exams for the degree of candidate of law (spring 1849), decided to serve as a clerical employee in the Tula noble deputy assembly (autumn 1849).

In 1851 he left Yasnaya Polyana for the Caucasus, the place of service of his older brother Nikolai, and volunteered to take part in hostilities against the Chechens. Episodes of the Caucasian War are described by him in the stories "Raid" (1853), "Cutting down the forest" (1855), in the story "Cossacks" (1852 - 63). He passed the cadet exam, preparing to become an officer. In 1854, being an artillery officer, he transferred to the Danube army, which acted against the Turks.

In the Caucasus Tolstoy seriously began to engage in literary creativity, writes the story "Childhood", which was approved by Nekrasov and published in the journal "Contemporary". Later, the story "Boyhood" (1852 - 54) was printed there.

Shortly after the start of the Crimean War Tolstoy at his personal request, he was transferred to Sevastopol, where he participated in the defense of the besieged city, showing rare fearlessness. Awarded the Order of St. Anna with the inscription "For Courage" and medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol". In "Sevastopol Tales" he created a mercilessly reliable picture of the war, which made a huge impression on Russian society. In the same years he wrote the last part of the trilogy - "Youth" (1855 - 56), in which he declared himself not just a "poet of childhood", but a researcher of human nature. This interest in man and the desire to understand the laws of mental and spiritual life will continue in his future work.

In 1855, having arrived in Petersburg, Tolstoy became close to the staff of the Sovremennik magazine, met Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Chernyshevsky.

In the autumn of 1856 he retired ("Military career - not mine ..." - he writes in his diary) and in 1857 went on a six-month trip abroad to France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany.

In 1859 he opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana, where he taught classes himself. He helped open more than 20 schools in the surrounding villages. In order to study the organization of school affairs abroad in 1860 - 1861 Tolstoy made a second trip to Europe, visited schools in France, Italy, Germany, and England. In London, he met Herzen, attended a lecture by Dickens.

In May 1861 (the year of the abolition of serfdom) he returned to Yasnaya Polyana, assumed the position of mediator and actively defended the interests of the peasants, resolving their disputes with the landowners about the land, for which the Tula nobility, dissatisfied with his actions, demanded his removal from office. In 1862 the Senate issued a decree dismissing Tolstoy. A secret surveillance of him by the III Section began. In the summer, the gendarmes carried out a search in his absence, confident that they would find a secret printing house, which the writer allegedly acquired after meetings and long conversations with Herzen in London.

In 1862 life Tolstoy, his life was ordered to long years: he married the daughter of a Moscow doctor Sofya Andreevna Bers and began a patriarchal life on his estate as the head of an ever-increasing family. thick raised nine children.

The 1860s - 1870s were marked by the appearance of two works by Tolstoy, which immortalized his name: "War and Peace" (1863 - 69), "Anna Karenina" (1873 - 77).

In the early 1880s, the Tolstoy family moved to Moscow to educate their growing children. From this time of winter Tolstoy spent in Moscow. Here, in 1882, he participated in the census of the Moscow population, became closely acquainted with the life of the inhabitants of the city's slums, which he described in the treatise "So what should we do?" (1882 - 86), and concluded: "... You can't live like that, you can't live like that, you can't!"

New worldview Tolstoy expressed in the work "Confession" (1879), where he spoke about the revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in the break with the ideology of the noble class and the transition to the side of the "simple working people". This fracture has led Tolstoy to the denial of the state, official church and property. The consciousness of the meaninglessness of life in the face of inevitable death led him to believe in God. He bases his teaching on the moral precepts of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil by force constitute the meaning of the so-called "Tolstoyism", which is becoming popular not only in Russia, but also abroad.

During this period, he came to a complete denial of his previous literary activity, took up physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright on all his writings written after 1880.

Influenced by friends and true admirers of his talent, as well as personal need for literary activity Tolstoy in the 1890s changed his negative attitude to art. During these years he created the drama "The Power of Darkness" (1886), the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment" (1886 - 90), the novel "Resurrection" (1889 - 99).

In 1891, 1893, 1898 he participated in helping the peasants of the starving provinces, organized free canteens.

IN last decade engaged, as always, in intense creative work. The story "Hadji Murad" (1896 - 1904), the drama "The Living Corpse" (1900), the story "After the Ball" (1903) were written.

At the beginning of 1900 he wrote a number of articles exposing the entire system of state administration. The government of Nicholas II issued a decree according to which the Holy Synod (the highest church institution in Russia) excommunicated Tolstoy from the church, which caused a wave of indignation in society.

In 1901 Tolstoy lived in the Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

IN last years life, when Tolstoy made a will, he found himself in the center of intrigue and strife between the "Tolstoyites", on the one hand, and his wife, who defended the well-being of her family and children, on the other. Trying to bring his way of life in line with his beliefs and burdened by the lordly way of life in the estate. On November 10, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. The health of the 82-year-old writer could not stand the trip. He caught a cold and, falling ill, died on November 20 on the way at the Astapovo station of the Ryazan-Ural railway.

Buried at Yasnaya Polyana.

Novels

1859 - Family happiness
1884 - Decembrists
1873 - War and Peace
1875 - Anna Karenina

Trilogy: Childhood, Boyhood and Youth

1852 - Childhood
1854 - Boyhood
1864 - Youth

Tale

1856 - Two hussars
1856 - Morning of the landowner
1858 - Albert
1862 - Idyll
1862 - Polikushka
1863 - Cossacks
1886 - Death of Ivan Ilyich
1903 - Notes of a madman
1891 - Kreutzer Sonata
1911 - Devil
1891 - Mother
1895 - Master and worker
1912 - Father Sergius
1912 - Hadji Murad

stories

1851 - History of yesterday
1853 - Raid
1853 - Christmas night
1854 - Uncle Zhdanov and Chevalier Chernov
1854 - How Russian soldiers die
1855 - Marker notes
1855 - Wood cutting
1856 - The cycle "Sevastopol stories"
1856 - Blizzard
1856 - Demoted
1857 - Lucerne
1859 - Three deaths
1887 - Surat coffee shop
1891 - Francoise
1911 - Who is right?
1894 - Karma
1894 - Dream of a young king
1911 - After the ball
1911 - Fake Coupon
1911 - Alyosha Pot
1905 - Poor people
1906 - Korney Vasiliev
1906 - Berries
1906 - For what?
1906 - Divine and Human
1911 - What I saw in a dream
1906 - Father Vasily
1908 - The power of childhood
1909 - Conversation with a passerby
1909 - Traveler and peasant
1909 - Songs in the village
1909 - Three days in the countryside
1912 - Khodynka
1911 - Unintentionally
1910 - Grateful soil

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is one of the five most widely read writers. His work made Russian literature recognizable abroad. Even if you have not read these works, you probably know Natasha Rostova, Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky at least from films or jokes. The biography of Lev Nikolaevich can be of interest to every person, because the personal life of a famous person is always of interest, parallels are drawn with his creative activity. Let's try to trace the life of Leo Tolstoy.

The future classic came from a noble family known since the 14th century. Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy, the writer's ancestor on his father's side, earned the favor of Peter I by investigating the case of his son, who was suspected of treason. Then Pert Andreevich headed the Secret Chancellery, his career went uphill. Nikolai Ilyich, the father of the classic, received a good education. However, it was combined with unshakable principles that did not allow him to advance at court.

The condition of the father of the future classic was upset because of the debts of his parent, and he married the middle-aged but wealthy Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. Despite the initial calculation, they were happy in marriage and had five children.

Childhood

Lev Nikolayevich was born fourth (there was also the younger Maria and the elders Nikolai, Sergey and Dmitry), but he received little attention after birth: his mother died two years after the birth of the writer; the father briefly moved with the children to Moscow, but soon also died. The impressions from the trip were so strong that the young Leva created the first composition "Kremlin".

Several guardians brought up children at once: first, T.A. Ergolskaya and A. M. Osten-Saken. A. M. Osten-Saken died in 1840, and the children went to Kazan to P. I. Yushkova.

adolescence

Yushkova's house was secular and cheerful: receptions, evenings, outward brilliance, high society It was all very important for the family. Tolstoy himself strove to shine in society, to be "comme il faut", but shyness did not allow him to turn around. Real entertainment to Lev Nikolaevich was replaced by reflection and introspection.

The future classic studied at home: first under the guidance of the German tutor Saint-Thomas, and then with the French Reselman. Following the example of the brothers, Lev decides to enter the Imperial Kazan University, where Kovalevsky and Lobachevsky worked. In 1844, Tolstoy began to study at the Oriental Faculty (the admission committee was amazed by the knowledge of the "Turkish-Tatar language"), and later transferred to the Faculty of Law.

Youth

The young man was in conflict with the home history teacher, so the grades in the subject were unsatisfactory, at the university it was necessary to take the course again. In order to avoid repeating what he had gone through, Lev switched to law school, but did not finish, left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana, his parents' estate. Here he is trying to manage the economy using new technologies, he tried, but unsuccessfully. In 1849 the writer went to Moscow.

During this period, the diary begins, the entries will continue until the death of the writer. They are the most important document, in the diaries of Lev Nikolayevich and describes the events of his life, and is engaged in introspection, and argues. Also here were described the goals and rules that he tried to follow.

History of success

The creative world of Leo Tolstoy took shape as early as adolescence, in his emerging need for constant psychoanalysis. Systemically, this quality manifested itself in diary entries. It was as a result of constant introspection that Tolstoy's famous "dialectics of the soul" appeared.

First works

Children's work was written in Moscow, and real works were also written there. Tolstoy creates stories about gypsies, about his daily routine (unfinished manuscripts have been lost). In the early 50s, the story "Childhood" was also created.

Leo Tolstoy - a participant in the Caucasian and Crimean wars. Military service gave the writer many new plots and emotions, described in the stories "Raid", "Cutting the Forest", "Degraded", in the story "Cossacks". Here is completed and "Childhood", which brought fame. Impressions from the battle for Sevastopol helped to write the cycle "Sevastopol stories". But in 1856, Lev Nikolaevich parted ways with the service forever. The personal history of Leo Tolstoy taught him a lot: having seen enough bloodshed in the war, he realized the importance of peace and real values ​​- family, marriage, his people. It was these thoughts that he later put into his works.

Confession

The story "Childhood" was created in the winter of 1850-51, and published a year later. This work and its sequels "Boyhood" (1854), "Youth" (1857) and "Youth" (was never written) were supposed to make up the novel "Four Epochs of Development" about the spiritual development of man.

The trilogies tell about the life of Nikolenka Irteniev. He has parents, older brother Volodya and sister Lyubochka, he is happy in his home world, but suddenly the father announces the decision to move to Moscow, Nikolenka and Volodya go with him. Just as suddenly, their mother dies. A severe blow of fate ends childhood. In adolescence, the hero is in conflict with others and with himself, trying to comprehend himself in this world. Nikolenka's grandmother dies, he not only mourns for her, but also notes with bitterness that some care only about her inheritance. In the same period, the hero begins to prepare for the university and meets Dmitry Nekhlyudov. Having entered the university, he feels like an adult and rushes into the maelstrom of secular pleasures. This pastime does not leave time for study, the hero fails the exams. This event led him to think about the incorrectness of the chosen path, leading to self-improvement.

Personal life

Families of writers are always difficult: creative person may be impossible in everyday life, and even he is always not up to earthly things, he is engulfed in new ideas. But how did the family of Leo Tolstoy live?

Wife

Sofya Andreevna Bers was born in the family of a doctor, she was smart, educated, simple. The writer met his future wife when he was 34 and she was 18. A clear, bright and pure girl attracted the experienced Lev Nikolaevich, who had already seen a lot and was ashamed of his past.

After the wedding, the Tolstoys began to live in Yasnaya Polyana, where Sofya Andreevna took care of the household, children and helped her husband in all matters: she copied manuscripts, published works, was a secretary and translator. After the opening of the hospital in Yasnaya Polyana, she also helped there, examining the sick. Tolstoy's family rested on her worries, because it was she who conducted all the economic activities.

During a spiritual crisis, Tolstoy came up with a special charter of life and decided to renounce property, depriving children of their fortune. Sofya Andreevna opposed this, family life cracked. Nevertheless, Lev Nikolaevich's wife is the only one, and she made a great contribution to his work. He treated her ambivalently: on the one hand, he respected and idolized, on the other, he reproached her for the fact that she was engaged in material matters more than spiritual ones. This conflict was continued in his prose. For example, in the novel "War and Peace" the surname of the negative hero, evil, indifferent and obsessed with hoarding, is Berg, which is very consonant with maiden name wives.

Children

Leo Tolstoy had 13 children, 9 boys and 4 girls, but five of them died in childhood. The image of the great father lived in his children, all of them were associated with his work.

Sergei was engaged in the work of his father (founded a museum, commented on works), and also became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Tatyana was a follower of her father's teachings and also became a writer. Ilya led a hectic life: he dropped out of school, did not find a suitable job, and after the revolution he emigrated to the United States, where he lectured on the worldview of Lev Nikolayevich. Lev, too, at first followed the ideas of Tolstoyism, but later became a monarchist, so he also emigrated and was engaged in creativity. Maria shared the ideas of her father, refused the world and was engaged in educational work. Andrei highly valued his noble origin, participated in the Russo-Japanese War, then took his wife away from the boss, and soon died suddenly. Mikhail was musical, but became a military man and wrote memoirs about life in Yasnaya Polyana. Alexandra helped her father in all matters, then she became the keeper of his museum, but due to emigration, her achievements in Soviet time tried to forget.

Creative crisis

In the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s, Tolstoy experienced a painful spiritual crisis. For several years, the writer was accompanied by panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, fear of death. Lev Nikolaevich could not find an answer to the questions of life that tormented him anywhere, and he created his own philosophical doctrine.

Change of outlook

The way of victory over the crisis was unusual: Leo Tolstoy created his own moral teaching. His thoughts were set forth by him in books and articles: "Confession", "So what should we do", "What is art", "I can not be silent."

The writer's teaching was anti-Orthodox in nature, since Orthodoxy, according to Lev Nikolaevich, perverted the essence of the commandments, his dogmas are not permissible, from the point of view of morality, and are imposed by centuries-old traditions, forcibly instilled in the Russian people. Tolstoyism resonated with the common people and the intelligentsia, and pilgrims from different classes began to come to Yasnaya Polyana for advice. The church reacted sharply to the spread of Tolstoyism: in 1901 the writer was excommunicated from it.

Tolstoyanism

Morality, morality and philosophy are combined in the teachings of Tolstoy. God is the best in man, his moral center. That is why it is impossible to follow dogmas and justify any violence (which the Church did, according to the author of the doctrine). The brotherhood of all people and the victory over world evil are the ultimate goals of mankind, which can be achieved through the self-improvement of each of us.

Lev Nikolaevich took a different look not only at his personal life, but also at his work. Only the common people are close to the truth, and art should only separate good and evil. And this role is played by one folk art. This leads Tolstoy to abandon past works and simplify new works to the maximum, adding edification to them (Kholstomer, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Master and Worker, Resurrection).

Death

Since the beginning of the 80s, family relations have been aggravated: the writer wants to give up copyright on his books, his property and distribute everything to the poor. The wife sharply opposed, promising to accuse her husband of being crazy. Tolstoy realized that the problem could not be solved peacefully, so he came up with the idea of ​​leaving his home, going abroad and becoming a peasant.

Accompanied by Dr. D.P. Makovitsky, the writer left the estate (later his daughter Alexandra also joined). However, the plans of the writer were not destined to come true. Tolstoy had a fever, he stopped at the head of the Astapovo station. After ten days of illness, the writer died.

creative heritage

Researchers distinguish three periods in the work of Leo Tolstoy:

1. Creativity of the 50s ("young Tolstoy")- during this period, the style of the writer, his famous "dialectics of the soul" develops, he accumulates impressions, military service also helps in this.
2. Creativity of the 60s-70s ( classical period) - it was at this time that the most famous works of the writer were written.
3. 1880-1910 (Tolstoyan period)- bear the imprint of a spiritual upheaval: renunciation of past creativity, new spiritual beginnings and problems. The style is simplified, as are the plots of the works.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

The Russian writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, the fourth child in a wealthy aristocratic family. Tolstoy lost his parents early, his distant relative T. A. Ergolskaya was engaged in his further education. In 1844 Tolstoy entered Kazan University in the Department of Oriental Languages ​​of the Faculty of Philosophy, but since. classes did not arouse any interest in him, in 1847. submitted a letter of resignation from the university. At the age of 23, Tolstoy, together with his older brother Nikolai, left for the Caucasus, where he took part in the hostilities. These years of the writer's life were reflected in the autobiographical story "The Cossacks" (1852-63), in the stories "Raid" (1853), "Cutting the Forest" (1855), as well as in the late story "Hadji Murad" (1896-1904, published in 1912). In the Caucasus, Tolstoy began to write the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth".

During the Crimean War, he went to Sevastopol, where he continued to fight. After the end of the war, he left for St. Petersburg and immediately joined the Sovremennik circle (N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Turgenev, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. A. Goncharov, etc.), where he was greeted as " great hope of Russian literature" (Nekrasov), published "Sevastopol Tales", which clearly reflected his outstanding talent as a writer. In 1857, Tolstoy went on a trip to Europe, which he was later disappointed with..

In the autumn of 1856, having retired, Tolstoy decided to interrupt his literary activity and become a landowner, went to Yasnaya Polyana, where he was engaged in educational work, opened a school, and created his own system of pedagogy. Tolstoy was so fascinated by this occupation that in 1860 he even went abroad in order to get acquainted with the schools of Europe.

In September 1862, Tolstoy married the eighteen-year-old daughter of a doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers, and immediately after the wedding, he took his wife from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana, where he completely devoted himself to family life and household chores, but by the autumn of 1863 he was captured by a new literary plan, as a result of which he was born the fundamental work "War and Peace" appeared. In 1873-1877 wrote the novel Anna Karenina. In the same years, the writer's worldview, known as "Tolstoyism", was fully formed, the essence of which can be seen in the works: "Confession", "What is my faith?", "The Kreutzer Sonata".

From all over Russia and the world, admirers of the writer's work came to Yasnaya Polyana, whom they treated as a spiritual mentor. In 1899, the novel "Resurrection" was published.

The last works of the writer were the stories "Father Sergius", "After the Ball", " Posthumous notes Elder Fyodor Kuzmich” and the drama “The Living Corpse”.

In the late autumn of 1910, at night, secretly from his family, 82-year-old Tolstoy, accompanied only by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana, fell ill on the way and was forced to leave the train at the small Astapovo railway station of the Ryazan-Ural railway. Here, in the house of the head of the station, he spent the last seven days of his life. November 7 (20) Leo Tolstoy died.

Lev Tolstoy

aliases: L.N., L.N.T.

one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers, one of the greatest writers in the world; participant in the defense of Sevastopol

short biography

- the greatest Russian writer, writer, one of the largest writers in the world, thinker, educator, publicist, corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Thanks to him, not only works that are part of the treasury of world literature appeared, but also a whole religious and moral trend - Tolstoyism.

Tolstoy was born in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, located in the Tula province, on September 9 (August 28, O.S.), 1828. Being the fourth child in the family of Count N.I. Tolstoy and Princess M.N. Volkonskaya, Lev was left an orphan early and was brought up by a distant relative T. A. Ergolskaya. Childhood years remained in the memory of Lev Nikolaevich as a happy time. Together with his family, 13-year-old Tolstoy moved to Kazan, where his relative and new guardian P.I. Yushkov. After receiving home education, Tolstoy becomes a student of the Faculty of Philosophy (Department of Oriental Languages) at Kazan University. Studying within the walls of this institution lasted less than two years, after which Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana.

In the autumn of 1847, Leo Tolstoy moved first to Moscow, later to St. Petersburg - to pass the university candidate's exams. These years of his life were special, priorities and hobbies changed each other like in a kaleidoscope. Intense study gave way to revelry, gambling at cards, a passionate interest in music. Tolstoy either wanted to become an official, or saw himself as a cadet in the Horse Guards Regiment. At this time, he made a lot of debts, which he managed to pay off only after many years. Nevertheless, this period helped Tolstoy to better understand himself, to see his shortcomings. At this time, for the first time, he had a serious intention to engage in literature, he began to try himself in artistic creativity.

Four years after leaving the university, Leo Tolstoy succumbed to the persuasion of his older brother Nikolai, an officer, to leave for the Caucasus. The decision did not come immediately, but a major loss in cards contributed to his adoption. In the autumn of 1851, Tolstoy ended up in the Caucasus, where for almost three years he lived on the banks of the Terek in a Cossack village. Subsequently, he was accepted into military service, participated in hostilities. During this period, the first published work appeared: the Sovremennik magazine in 1852 published the story Childhood. It was part of a conceived autobiographical novel, for which the stories Boyhood (1852-1854) and composed in 1855-1857 were subsequently written. "Youth"; part of "Youth" Tolstoy never wrote.

Having received an appointment in 1854 in Bucharest, in the Danube army, Tolstoy, at his personal request, was transferred to the Crimean army, fought as a battery commander in the besieged Sevastopol, receiving medals and the Order of St. Anna. The war did not prevent them from continuing their studies in the literary field: it was here that they were written throughout 1855-1856. Sevastopol Stories were published in Sovremennik, which were a huge success and secured Tolstoy's reputation as a prominent representative of a new generation of writers.

As the great hope of Russian literature, according to Nekrasov, he was met in the Sovremennik circle when he arrived in St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1855. Despite the warm welcome, active participation in readings, discussions, and dinners, Tolstoy did not feel at home in the literary environment. In the autumn of 1856 he retired and after a short stay in Yasnaya Polyana in 1857 he went abroad, but in the autumn of that year he returned to Moscow, and then to his estate. Disappointment in the literary community, social life, dissatisfaction with creative achievements led to the fact that in the late 50s. Tolstoy decides to leave writing and gives priority to activities in the field of education.

Returning to Yasnaya Polyana in 1859, he opened a school for peasant children. This occupation aroused such enthusiasm in him that he even specially traveled abroad in order to study advanced pedagogical systems. In 1862, the count began publishing the journal Yasnaya Polyana with pedagogical content, supplemented by children's books for reading. Educational activities were suspended due to an important event in his biography - his marriage in 1862 to S.A. Bers. After the wedding, Lev Nikolaevich moved his young wife from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana, where he was completely absorbed by family life and household chores. Only in the early 70s. he will briefly return to educational work, write the ABC and the New ABC.

In the autumn of 1863, he came up with the idea of ​​a novel, which in 1865 would be published in Russkiy Vestnik as War and Peace (part one). The work caused a huge resonance, the skill with which Tolstoy painted a large-scale epic canvas, combining it with amazing accuracy with psychological analysis, did not escape the public. privacy heroes in the canvas of historical events. The epic novel Lev Nikolaevich wrote until 1869, and during 1873-1877. worked on another novel, included in the golden fund of world literature - "Anna Karenina".

Both of these works glorified Tolstoy as the greatest artist of the word, but the author himself in the 80s. loses interest in literary work. A most serious change takes place in his soul, in his worldview, and during this period the thought of suicide comes to him more than once. The doubts and questions that tormented him led to the need to start with the study of theology, and works of a philosophical and religious nature began to come out from under his pen: in 1879-1880 - "Confession", "Study of dogmatic theology"; in 1880-1881 - "Combining and translating the Gospels", in 1882-1884. - "What is my faith?" In parallel with theology, Tolstoy studied philosophy, analyzed the achievements of the exact sciences.

Outwardly, the change in his consciousness manifested itself in simplification, i.e. in rejecting the opportunities of a secure life. The count dresses in folk clothes, refuses food of animal origin, from the rights to his works and from the state in favor of the rest of the family, and works a lot physically. His worldview is characterized by a sharp rejection of the social elite, the idea of ​​statehood, serfdom and bureaucracy. They are combined with the famous slogan of non-resistance to evil by violence, the ideas of forgiveness and universal love.

The turning point was also reflected in the literary work of Tolstoy, which takes on the character of exposing the existing state of affairs with a call to people to act at the behest of reason and conscience. His novels The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata, The Devil, the dramas The Power of Darkness and The Fruits of Enlightenment, and the treatise What is Art belong to this time. Eloquent evidence of a critical attitude towards the clergy, the official church and its teachings was the novel Resurrection published in 1899. Complete disagreement with the position of the Orthodox Church turned for Tolstoy into an official excommunication; this happened in February 1901, and the decision of the Synod led to a loud public outcry.

At the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. In Tolstoy's works of art, the theme of cardinal life changes, departure from the former way of life ("Father Sergius", "Hadji Murad", "The Living Corpse", "After the Ball", etc.) prevails. Lev Nikolayevich himself also came to the decision to change lifestyle, to live the way he wanted, in accordance with the current views. Being the most authoritative writer, the head of national literature, he breaks with his environment, goes to the deterioration of relations with his family and loved ones, experiencing a deep personal drama.

At the age of 82, secretly from the household on an autumn night in 1910, Tolstoy leaves Yasnaya Polyana; his companion was the personal doctor Makovitsky. On the way, the writer was overtaken by an illness, as a result of which they were forced to get off the train at the Astapovo station. Here he was sheltered by the head of the station, and the last week of the life of a world-famous writer, known, among other things, as a preacher of a new doctrine, a religious thinker, passed in his house. The whole country followed his health, and when he died on November 10 (October 28, O.S.), 1910, his funeral turned into an event of an all-Russian scale.

The influence of Tolstoy, his ideological platform and artistic manner on the development of the realistic trend in world literature is difficult to overestimate. In particular, its impact can be traced in the works of E. Hemingway, F. Mauriac, Rolland, B. Shaw, T. Mann, J. Galsworthy and other prominent literary figures.

Biography from Wikipedia

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy(September 9, 1828, Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, Russian Empire - November 20, 1910, Astapovo station, Ryazan province, Russian Empire) - one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers, one of the greatest writers in the world. Member of the defense of Sevastopol. Enlightener, publicist, religious thinker, his authoritative opinion was the reason for the emergence of a new religious and moral trend - Tolstoyism. Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1873), honorary academician in the category of fine literature (1900). Was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

A writer who, during his lifetime, was recognized as the head of Russian literature. The work of Leo Tolstoy marked new stage in Russian and world realism, acting as a bridge between the classic novel of the 19th century and the literature of the 20th century. Leo Tolstoy had a strong influence on the evolution of European humanism, as well as on the development of realistic traditions in world literature. The works of Leo Tolstoy were repeatedly filmed and staged in the USSR and abroad; his plays have been staged all over the world. Leo Tolstoy was the most published writer in the USSR in 1918-1986: the total circulation of 3199 publications amounted to 436.261 million copies.

The most famous works of Tolstoy are the novels War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, the autobiographical trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, the stories The Cossacks, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Kreutzerov sonata", "Hadji Murad", a series of essays "Sevastopol Tales", dramas "The Living Corpse", "The Fruits of Enlightenment" and "The Power of Darkness", autobiographical religious and philosophical works "Confession" and "What is my faith?" and etc.

Origin

Genealogical tree of L. N. Tolstoy

Representative of the Count's branch of the noble family of Tolstoy, descended from Peter's associate P. A. Tolstoy. The writer had extensive family ties in the world of the highest aristocracy. Among the cousins ​​​​of the father are the adventurer and breteur F.I. Tolstoy, the artist F.P. Tolstoy, the beauty M.I. Lopukhina, the socialite A.F. Zakrevskaya, the chamber-maid of honor A.A. Tolstaya. The poet A. K. Tolstoy was his second cousin. Among the mother's cousins ​​are Lieutenant General D. M. Volkonsky and a wealthy emigrant N. I. Trubetskoy. A.P. Mansurov and A.V. Vsevolozhsky were married to their mother's cousins. Tolstoy was connected by property with the ministers A. A. Zakrevsky and L. A. Perovsky (married to cousins ​​of his parents), the generals of 1812 L. I. Depreradovich (married to his grandmother’s sister) and A. I. Yushkov (brother-in-law of one of aunts), as well as with Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov (brother of the husband of another aunt). common ancestor Leo Tolstoy and Pushkin was Admiral Ivan Golovin, who helped Peter I create the Russian fleet.

The features of Ilya Andreevich's grandfather are given in War and Peace to the good-natured, impractical old Count Rostov. The son of Ilya Andreevich, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794-1837), was the father of Lev Nikolaevich. In some character traits and biography facts, he was similar to Nikolenka's father in "Childhood" and "Boyhood" and partly to Nikolai Rostov in "War and Peace". However, in real life, Nikolai Ilyich differed from Nikolai Rostov not only in his good education, but also in his convictions that did not allow him to serve under Nicholas I. A participant in the foreign campaign of the Russian army against Napoleon, including participating in the “Battle of the Nations” near Leipzig and was captured from the French, but was able to escape, after the conclusion of peace, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment. Soon after his resignation, he was forced to go to official service so as not to end up in a debtor's prison because of the debts of his father, the Kazan governor, who died under investigation for official abuse. The negative example of his father helped Nikolai Ilyich work out his life ideal - a private independent life with family joys. To put his frustrated affairs in order, Nikolai Ilyich (like Nikolai Rostov) married the already not very young Princess Maria Nikolaevna of the Volkonsky family in 1822, the marriage was happy. They had five children: Nikolai (1823-1860), Sergei (1826-1904), Dmitry (1827-1856), Lev, Maria (1830-1912).

Tolstoy's maternal grandfather, Catherine's General, Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, had some resemblance to the stern rigorist - the old Prince Bolkonsky in War and Peace. Lev Nikolayevich's mother, similar in some respects to Princess Marya depicted in War and Peace, possessed a wonderful gift for storytelling.

Childhood

The silhouette of M. N. Volkonskaya is the only image of the writer's mother. 1810s

Leo Tolstoy was born on August 28, 1828 in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province, in the hereditary estate of his mother - Yasnaya Polyana. He was the fourth child in the family. The mother died in 1830 from "delivery fever", as they said then, six months after the birth of her daughter, when Leo was not yet 2 years old.

The house where Leo Tolstoy was born, 1828. In 1854, the house was sold by order of the writer for export to the village of Dolgoe. Broken down in 1913

A distant relative, T. A. Ergolskaya, took up the upbringing of orphaned children. In 1837, the family moved to Moscow, settling on Plyushchikha, as the eldest son had to prepare to enter the university. Soon, his father, Nikolai Ilyich, suddenly died, leaving affairs (including some lawsuits related to the family’s property) in an unfinished state, and the three younger children again settled in Yasnaya Polyana under the supervision of Yergolskaya and his paternal aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Saken appointed guardian of the children. Here Lev Nikolaevich remained until 1840, when Osten-Saken died, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - the father's sister P. I. Yushkova.

The Yushkovs' house was considered one of the most cheerful in Kazan; all members of the family highly valued external brilliance. "My good aunt- says Tolstoy, - the purest being, always said that she would want nothing more for me than for me to have a relationship with a married woman ”.

Lev Nikolaevich wanted to shine in society, but his natural shyness and lack of external attractiveness prevented him. The most diverse, as Tolstoy himself defines them, "thinking" about the main issues of our existence - happiness, death, God, love, eternity - left an imprint on his character in that era of his life. What he told in "Adolescence" and "Youth", in the novel "Resurrection" about the aspirations of Irtenyev and Nekhlyudov for self-improvement, was taken by Tolstoy from the history of his own ascetic attempts of this time. All this, wrote the critic S. A. Vengerov, led to the fact that Tolstoy created, according to the expression from his story “Boyhood”, “ the habit of constant moral analysis, which destroyed the freshness of feeling and clarity of mind". Citing examples of introspection of this period, he ironically speaks of the exaggeration of his adolescent philosophical pride and greatness, and at the same time notes the insurmountable inability to “get used to not being ashamed of every simple word and movement of his” when confronted with real people, whose benefactor he himself then seemed.

Education

His education was initially carried out by the French tutor Saint-Thomas (the prototype of St.-Jérôme in the story "Boyhood"), who replaced the good-natured German Reselman, whom Tolstoy portrayed in the story "Childhood" under the name of Karl Ivanovich.

In 1843, P. I. Yushkova, taking on the role of guardian of her underage nephews (only the eldest, Nikolai, was an adult) and niece, brought them to Kazan. Following the brothers Nikolai, Dmitry and Sergei, Lev decided to enter the Imperial Kazan University (the most famous at that time), where Lobachevsky worked at the mathematical faculty, and Kovalevsky at the Vostochny. On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student in the category of oriental (Arabic-Turkish) literature as a self-paying student. At the entrance exams, in particular, he showed excellent results in the obligatory "Turkish-Tatar language" for admission. According to the results of the year, he had poor progress in the relevant subjects, did not pass the transitional exam and had to re-take the first-year program.

In order to avoid a complete repetition of the course, he moved to the Faculty of Law, where his problems with grades in some subjects continued. The transitional exams in May 1846 were passed satisfactorily (he received one five, three fours and four threes; the average output was three), and Lev Nikolayevich was transferred to the second year. Leo Tolstoy spent less than two years at the Faculty of Law: “It was always difficult for him to have any education imposed by others, and everything he learned in life, he learned himself, suddenly, quickly, with hard work,” writes S. A. Tolstaya in his “Materials for the biography of Leo Tolstoy”. In 1904, he recalled: “... for the first year I ... did nothing. In the second year, I began to study ... there was Professor Meyer, who ... gave me a job - a comparison of Catherine's "Instruction" with Esprit des lois <«Духом законов» (рус.)фр.>Montesquieu. ... I was carried away by this work, I went to the village, began to read Montesquieu, this reading opened up endless horizons for me; I began to read Rousseau and left the university, precisely because I wanted to study.

The beginning of literary activity

From March 11, 1847, Tolstoy was in the Kazan hospital, on March 17 he began to keep a diary, where, imitating Benjamin Franklin, he set goals and objectives for self-improvement, noted successes and failures in completing these tasks, analyzed his shortcomings and train of thought, motives for their actions. He kept this diary with short breaks throughout his life.

Leo Tolstoy kept his diary from a young age until the end of his life. Notebook entries 1891-1895

Having completed his treatment, in the spring of 1847 Tolstoy left his studies at the university and left for Yasnaya Polyana, which he inherited under the division; his activities there are partly described in the work “The Morning of the Landowner”: Tolstoy tried to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. His attempt to somehow alleviate the young landowner's guilt before the people dates back to the same year when the story “Anton-Goremyk” by D. V. Grigorovich and the beginning of “Notes of a Hunter” by I. S. Turgenev appeared.

In his diary, Tolstoy formulated for himself a large number of life rules and goals, but he managed to follow only a small part of them. Among the successful ones are serious studies in English, music, and jurisprudence. In addition, neither the diary nor the letters reflected the beginning of Tolstoy's studies in pedagogy and charity, although in 1849 he first opened a school for peasant children. The main teacher was Foka Demidovich, a serf, but Lev Nikolayevich himself often conducted classes.

In mid-October 1848, Tolstoy left for Moscow, settling where many of his relatives and friends lived - in the Arbat area. He rented Ivanova's house on Sivtsev Vrazhek for living. In Moscow, he was going to start preparing for the candidate's exams, but the classes were never started. Instead, he was attracted to a completely different side of life - social life. In addition to his passion for social life, in Moscow, in the winter of 1848-1849, Lev Nikolayevich first developed a passion for a card game. But since he played very recklessly and not always thinking about his moves, he often lost.

Having left for St. Petersburg in February 1849, he spent time in revelry with K. A. Islavin, the uncle of his future wife (“My love for Islavin ruined for me the whole 8 months of my life in St. Petersburg”). In the spring, Tolstoy began to take the exam for a candidate of rights; he passed two exams, from criminal law and criminal proceedings, but he did not take the third exam and went to the village.

Later he came to Moscow, where he often spent time gambling, which often had a negative effect on his financial situation. During this period of his life, Tolstoy was especially passionately interested in music (he himself played the piano well and greatly appreciated his favorite works performed by others). Passion for music prompted him later to write the Kreutzer Sonata.

Tolstoy's favorite composers were Bach, Handel and Chopin. The development of Tolstoy's love for music was also facilitated by the fact that during a trip to St. Petersburg in 1848, he met in a very unsuitable dance class environment with a gifted, but astray German musician, whom he later described in the story "Albert". In 1849, Lev Nikolaevich settled the musician Rudolf in Yasnaya Polyana, with whom he played four hands on the piano. Carried away by music at that time, he played works by Schumann, Chopin, Mozart, Mendelssohn for several hours a day. In the late 1840s, Tolstoy, in collaboration with his acquaintance Zybin, composed a waltz, which he performed in the early 1900s with the composer S. I. Taneyev, who made musical notation this piece of music (the only one composed by Tolstoy). Waltz sounds in the film Father Sergius, based on the novel by L. N. Tolstoy.

A lot of time was also spent on carousing, playing and hunting.

In the winter of 1850-1851 began to write "Childhood". In March 1851, he wrote The History of Yesterday. Four years after he left the university, Nikolay Nikolayevich's brother, who had served in the Caucasus, arrived in Yasnaya Polyana and invited his younger brother to join military service in the Caucasus. Lev agreed not immediately, until a major loss in Moscow hastened the final decision. The writer's biographers note the significant and positive influence of brother Nikolai on the young and inexperienced in worldly affairs Leo. The older brother, in the absence of his parents, was his friend and mentor.

In order to pay off the debts, it was necessary to reduce their expenses to a minimum - and in the spring of 1851 Tolstoy hurriedly left Moscow for the Caucasus without a specific goal. Soon he decided to enter the military service, but for this he lacked the necessary documents left in Moscow, in anticipation of which Tolstoy lived for about five months in Pyatigorsk, in a simple hut. He spent a significant part of his time hunting, in the company of the Cossack Epishka, the prototype of one of the heroes of the story "The Cossacks", appearing there under the name Eroshka.

In the fall of 1851, having passed an exam in Tiflis, Tolstoy entered the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade, stationed in the Cossack village of Starogladovskaya on the banks of the Terek, near Kizlyar, as a cadet. With some changes in details, she is depicted in the story "Cossacks". The story reproduces a picture of the inner life of a young gentleman who fled from Moscow life. In the Cossack village, Tolstoy began to write again and in July 1852 sent the first part of the future autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, signed only with the initials L. N. T. When sending the manuscript to the journal, Leo Tolstoy enclosed a letter that said: ...I look forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or make me burn everything I started.».

Having received the manuscript of Childhood, the editor of Sovremennik, N. A. Nekrasov, immediately recognized its literary value and wrote a kind letter to the author, which had a very encouraging effect on him. In a letter to I. S. Turgenev, Nekrasov noted: “This is a new talent and, it seems, reliable.” The manuscript, by an as yet unknown author, was published in September of the same year. Meanwhile, the novice and inspired author began to continue the tetralogy "Four Epochs of Development", the last part of which - "Youth" - did not take place. He pondered the plot of The Morning of the Landowner (the finished story was only a fragment of The Novel of the Russian Landowner), The Raid, The Cossacks. Published in Sovremennik on September 18, 1852, Childhood was an extraordinary success; after the publication of the author, they immediately began to rank among the leading figures of the young literary school along with I. S. Turgenev, Goncharov, D. V. Grigorovich, Ostrovsky, who already enjoyed loud literary fame. Critics Apollon Grigoriev, Annenkov, Druzhinin, Chernyshevsky appreciated the depth of psychological analysis, the seriousness of the author's intentions and the bright convexity of realism.

The relatively late beginning of the career is very characteristic of Tolstoy: he never considered himself a professional writer, understanding professionalism not in the sense of a profession that provides a livelihood, but in the sense of the predominance of literary interests. He did not take the interests of literary parties to heart, he was reluctant to talk about literature, preferring to talk about issues of faith, morality, and social relations.

Military service

As a cadet, Lev Nikolaevich remained for two years in the Caucasus, where he participated in many skirmishes with the highlanders, led by Shamil, and was exposed to the dangers of military life in the Caucasus. He had the right to the St. George Cross, however, in accordance with his convictions, he “conceded” to his fellow soldier, believing that a significant improvement in the conditions of service of a colleague was higher than personal vanity. With the outbreak of the Crimean War, Tolstoy transferred to the Danube army, participated in the battle of Oltenitsa and the siege of Silistria, and from November 1854 to the end of August 1855 was in Sevastopol.

Stele in memory of a participant in the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855. L. N. Tolstoy at the fourth bastion

For a long time he lived on the 4th bastion, which was often attacked, commanded a battery in the battle of Chernaya, was bombarded during the assault on Malakhov Kurgan. Tolstoy, despite all the hardships of life and the horrors of the siege, at that time wrote the story "Cutting a Forest", which reflected Caucasian impressions, and the first of the three "Sevastopol Stories" - "Sevastopol in December 1854". He sent this story to Sovremennik. It was quickly published and read with interest throughout Russia, making a stunning impression of the horrors that befell the defenders of Sevastopol. The story was seen by Russian Emperor Alexander II; he ordered to take care of the gifted officer.

Even during the life of Emperor Nicholas I, Tolstoy intended to publish together with artillery officers " cheap and popular"The magazine" Military List ", however, Tolstoy failed to implement the project of the magazine:" For the project, my Sovereign, the Emperor, most mercifully deigned to allow our articles to be printed in Invalid", - Tolstoy bitterly sneered about this.

For being at the time of the bombardment on the Yazonovsky redoubt of the fourth bastion, composure and diligence.

From the presentation to the Order of St. Anne 4th Art.

For the defense of Sevastopol, Tolstoy was awarded the Order of St. Anna 4th degree with the inscription "For Courage", medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" and "In Memory of the War of 1853-1856." Subsequently, he was awarded two medals "In memory of the 50th anniversary of the defense of Sevastopol": silver as a participant in the defense of Sevastopol and bronze as the author of Sevastopol Tales.

Tolstoy, enjoying the reputation of a brave officer and surrounded by the splendor of fame, had every chance of a career. However, his career was blighted by writing several satirical songs stylized as soldiers. One of these songs was dedicated to the failure during the battle near the Chernaya River on August 4 (16), 1855, when General Read, having misunderstood the order of the commander-in-chief, attacked the Fedyukhin Heights. A song called “Like the fourth number, it was not easy to take the mountains to take us away,” which touched on a number of important generals, was a huge success. For her, Lev Nikolaevich had to answer to the assistant chief of staff A. A. Yakimakh. Immediately after the assault on August 27 (September 8), Tolstoy was sent by courier to St. Petersburg, where he completed Sevastopol in May 1855. and wrote "Sevastopol in August 1855", published in the first issue of Sovremennik for 1856, already with the author's full signature. "Sevastopol Tales" finally strengthened his reputation as a representative of a new literary generation, and in November 1856 the writer left military service forever with the rank of lieutenant.

Travel Europe

In St. Petersburg, the young writer was warmly welcomed in high-society salons and in literary circles. He became closest friends with I. S. Turgenev, with whom they lived for some time in the same apartment. Turgenev introduced him to the Sovremennik circle, after which Tolstoy established friendly relations with such famous writers, as N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Goncharov, I. I. Panaev, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin, V. A. Sollogub.

At this time, "Snowstorm", "Two Hussars" were written, "Sevastopol in August" and "Youth" were completed, the writing of future "Cossacks" was continued.

However, a cheerful and eventful life left a bitter aftertaste in Tolstoy's soul, at the same time he began to have a strong discord with a circle of writers close to him. As a result, “people got sick of him, and he got sick of himself” - and at the beginning of 1857 Tolstoy left Petersburg without any regret and went on a trip.

On his first trip abroad, he visited Paris, where he was horrified by the cult of Napoleon I (“Deification of the villain, terrible”), at the same time he attended balls, museums, admired the “sense of social freedom”. However, the presence at the guillotining made such a painful impression that Tolstoy left Paris and went to places associated with French writer and thinker J.-J. Rousseau - on Lake Geneva. In the spring of 1857, I. S. Turgenev described his meetings with Leo Tolstoy in Paris after his sudden departure from St. Petersburg as follows:

« Indeed, Paris is not at all in harmony with its spiritual system; He is a strange man, I have never met such people and do not quite understand. A mixture of a poet, a Calvinist, a fanatic, a barich - something reminiscent of Rousseau, but more honest than Rousseau - a highly moral and at the same time unsympathetic creature».

I. S. Turgenev, Poln. coll. op. and letters. Letters, vol. III, p. 52.

Trips around Western Europe- Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Italy (in 1857 and 1860-1861) made a rather negative impression on him. He expressed his disappointment in the European way of life in the story "Lucerne". Tolstoy was disillusioned by the deep contrast between wealth and poverty, which he was able to see through the magnificent outer veil of European culture.

Lev Nikolaevich writes the story "Albert". At the same time, friends never cease to be amazed at his eccentricities: in his letter to I. S. Turgenev in the fall of 1857, P. V. Annenkov told Tolstoy’s project to plant all of Russia with forests, and in his letter to V. P. Botkin, Leo Tolstoy reported how he was very happy the fact that he did not become only a writer, contrary to the advice of Turgenev. However, in the interval between the first and second trips, the writer continued to work on The Cossacks, wrote the story Three Deaths and the novel Family Happiness.

Russian writers of the circle of the Sovremennik magazine. I. A. Goncharov, I. S. Turgenev, L. N. Tolstoy, D. V. Grigorovich, A. V. Druzhinin and A. N. Ostrovsky. February 15, 1856 Photo by S. L. Levitsky

His last novel was published by Mikhail Katkov in Russkiy Vestnik. Tolstoy's collaboration with the Sovremennik magazine, which had lasted since 1852, ended in 1859. In the same year, Tolstoy took part in the organization of the Literary Fund. But his life was not limited to literary interests: on December 22, 1858, he almost died on a bear hunt.

Around the same time, he began an affair with a peasant woman, Aksinya Bazykina, and marriage plans are ripening.

On his next trip, he was mainly interested in public education and institutions aimed at raising educational level working population. He closely studied the issues of public education in Germany and France, both theoretically and practically - in conversations with specialists. Of the outstanding people of Germany, he was most interested in Berthold Auerbach as the author of the Black Forest Tales dedicated to folk life and as a publisher of folk calendars. Tolstoy paid him a visit and tried to get closer to him. In addition, he also met with the German teacher Diesterweg. During his stay in Brussels, Tolstoy met Proudhon and Lelewel. In London, he visited A. I. Herzen, was at a lecture by Charles Dickens.

Tolstoy's serious mood during his second trip to the south of France was also facilitated by the fact that his beloved brother Nikolai died of tuberculosis almost in his arms. The death of his brother made a huge impression on Tolstoy.

Gradually, criticism for 10-12 years cools towards Leo Tolstoy, until the very appearance of War and Peace, and he himself did not seek rapprochement with writers, making an exception only for Afanasy Fet. One of the reasons for this alienation was the quarrel between Leo Tolstoy and Turgenev, which occurred at a time when both prose writers were visiting Fet at the Stepanovka estate in May 1861. The quarrel almost ended in a duel and spoiled the relationship between the writers for a long 17 years.

Treatment in the Bashkir nomad camp Karalyk

In May 1862, Lev Nikolayevich, suffering from depression, on the recommendation of doctors, went to the Bashkir farm Karalyk, Samara province, to be treated with a new and fashionable at that time method of koumiss treatment. Initially, he was going to stay in the Postnikov koumiss clinic near Samara, but, having learned that many high-ranking officials were to arrive at the same time (a secular society that the young count could not stand), he went to the Bashkir nomad camp Karalyk, on the Karalyk River, in 130 miles from Samara. There Tolstoy lived in a Bashkir wagon (yurt), ate lamb, sunbathed, drank koumiss, tea, and also had fun playing checkers with the Bashkirs. The first time he stayed there for a month and a half. In 1871, when he had already written "War and Peace", he returned there due to deteriorating health. He wrote of his experience as follows: Longing and indifference have passed, I feel myself coming into a Scythian state, and everything is interesting and new ... Many things are new and interesting: the Bashkirs, who smell of Herodotus, and Russian peasants, and villages, especially charming for the simplicity and kindness of the people».

Fascinated by Karalyk, Tolstoy bought an estate in these places, and the next summer, 1872, he spent with his whole family in it.

Pedagogical activity

In 1859, even before the liberation of the peasants, Tolstoy was actively engaged in organizing schools in his Yasnaya Polyana and throughout the Krapivensky district.

The Yasnaya Polyana school belonged to the number of original pedagogical experiments: in the era of admiration for the German pedagogical school, Tolstoy resolutely rebelled against any regulation and discipline in the school. According to him, everything in teaching should be individual - both the teacher and the student, and their mutual relations. In the Yasnaya Polyana school, the children sat where they wanted, for as long as they wanted, and as they wanted. There was no set curriculum. The teacher's only job was to keep the class interested. The lessons went well. They were led by Tolstoy himself with the help of several permanent teachers and a few random ones, from the closest acquaintances and visitors.

L. N. Tolstoy, 1862. Photograph by M. B. Tulinov. Moscow

Since 1862, Tolstoy began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, where he himself was the main contributor. Not experiencing the vocation of a publisher, Tolstoy managed to publish only 12 issues of the magazine, the last of which appeared with a lag in 1863. In addition to theoretical articles, he also wrote a number of stories, fables and adaptations adapted for elementary school. Put together, Tolstoy's pedagogical articles made up an entire volume of his collected works. At the time, they went unnoticed. No one paid attention to the sociological basis of Tolstoy's ideas about education, to the fact that Tolstoy saw in education, science, art, and the successes of technology only facilitated and improved ways of exploiting the people by the upper classes. Not only that: from Tolstoy's attacks on European education and "progress" many have deduced the conclusion that Tolstoy is a "conservative."

Soon Tolstoy left pedagogy. Marriage, the birth of his own children, plans related to writing the novel "War and Peace" pushed back his pedagogical activities for ten years. Only in the early 1870s did he begin to create his own "Azbuka" and published it in 1872, and then released the "New ABC" and a series of four "Russian books for reading", approved as a result of long ordeals by the Ministry of Public Education as manuals for elementary schools. In the early 1870s, classes at the Yasnaya Polyana school were again restored for a short time.

The experience of the Yasnaya Polyana school was subsequently useful to some domestic teachers. So S. T. Shatsky, creating in 1911 his own school-colony "Cheerful Life", repelled from the experiments of Leo Tolstoy in the field of pedagogy of cooperation.

Public activity in the 1860s

Upon his return from Europe in May 1861, Leo Tolstoy was offered to become a mediator in the 4th section of the Krapivensky district of the Tula province. Unlike those who looked at the people as a younger brother who needed to be raised to their own level, Tolstoy thought, on the contrary, that the people are infinitely higher than cultural classes and that the masters need to borrow the heights of the spirit from the peasants, therefore, having accepted the position of an intermediary, he actively defended the land the interests of the peasants, often violating the royal decrees. “Mediation is interesting and exciting, but it’s not good that all the nobility hated me with all the strength of their souls and thrust me des bâtons dans les roues (French spokes in wheels) from all sides.” The work as an intermediary expanded the range of the writer's observations on the life of the peasants, giving him material for artistic creativity.

In July 1866, Tolstoy spoke at a court-martial as the defender of Vasil Shabunin, company clerk of the Moscow Infantry Regiment stationed near Yasnaya Polyana. Shabunin hit the officer, who ordered to punish him with rods for being drunk. Tolstoy proved Shabunin's insanity, but the court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Shabunin was shot. This episode made a great impression on Tolstoy, because in this terrible phenomenon he saw a merciless force, which was a state based on violence. On this occasion, he wrote to his friend, publicist P.I. Biryukov:

« This incident had far more influence on my whole life than all the seemingly more important events of life: the loss or improvement of fortune, success or failure in literature, even the loss of loved ones.».

The heyday of creativity

L. N. Tolstoy (1876)

During the first 12 years after his marriage, he created War and Peace and Anna Karenina. At the turn of this second era of Tolstoy's literary life, there are Cossacks, conceived back in 1852 and completed in 1861-1862, the first of the works in which the talent of the mature Tolstoy was most realized.

The main interest of creativity for Tolstoy manifested itself " in the "history" of characters, in their continuous and complex movement, development". His goal was to show the ability of the individual to moral growth, improvement, opposition to the environment based on the strength of his own soul.

"War and Peace"

The release of "War and Peace" was preceded by work on the novel "The Decembrists" (1860-1861), to which the author repeatedly returned, but which remained unfinished. And the share of "War and Peace" was an unprecedented success. An excerpt from the novel entitled "1805" appeared in the "Russian Messenger" of 1865; in 1868, three of its parts were published, followed soon by the other two. The first four volumes of War and Peace quickly sold out, and a second edition was needed, which was released in October 1868. The fifth and sixth volumes of the novel were published in one edition, already printed in an increased edition.

"War and Peace" has become a unique phenomenon both in Russian and foreign literature. This work has absorbed all the depth and secrecy of the psychological novel with the scope and multi-figures of the epic fresco. The writer, according to V. Ya. Lakshin, turned to "a special state of the people's consciousness in the heroic time of 1812, when people from different segments of the population united in resistance to foreign invasion", which, in turn, "created the ground for the epic."

The author showed the national Russian features in " hidden warmth of patriotism”, in disgust for ostentatious heroics, in a calm faith in justice, in the modest dignity and courage of ordinary soldiers. He portrayed Russia's war with the Napoleonic troops as a nationwide war. The epic style of the work is conveyed through the fullness and plasticity of the image, the branching and intersection of destinies, incomparable pictures of Russian nature.

In Tolstoy's novel, the most diverse strata of society are widely represented, from emperors and kings to soldiers, all ages and all temperaments in the space of the reign of Alexander I.

Tolstoy was pleased with his own work, but already in January 1871 he sent a letter to A. A. Fet: “How happy I am ... that I will never write verbose rubbish like “War” again”. However, Tolstoy hardly crossed out the importance of his previous creations. To the question of Tokutomi Roca in 1906, which of his works Tolstoy loves the most, the writer replied: "The novel "War and Peace"".

"Anna Karenina"

No less dramatic and serious work was the novel about tragic love "Anna Karenina" (1873-1876). Unlike the previous work, there is no place in it for the infinitely happy intoxication with the bliss of being. In the almost autobiographical novel of Levin and Kitty there are still joyful experiences, but in the depiction of Dolly's family life there is already more bitterness, and in the unfortunate end of the love of Anna Karenina and Vronsky there is so much anxiety of spiritual life that this novel is essentially a transition to the third period of Tolstoy's literary activity. dramatic.

It has less simplicity and clarity of spiritual movements characteristic of the heroes of "War and Peace", more heightened sensitivity, inner alertness and anxiety. The characters of the main characters are more complex and sophisticated. The author sought to show the subtlest nuances of love, disappointment, jealousy, despair, spiritual enlightenment.

The problematics of this work directly led Tolstoy to the ideological turning point of the late 1870s.

Other works

Waltz composed by Tolstoy and recorded by S. I. Taneyev on February 10, 1906

In March 1879, in Moscow, Leo Tolstoy met Vasily Petrovich Shchegolyonok, and in the same year, at his invitation, he came to Yasnaya Polyana, where he stayed for about a month and a half. The dandy told Tolstoy many folk tales, epics and legends, of which more than twenty were recorded by Tolstoy (these records were published in vol. XLVIII of the Jubilee edition of Tolstoy's works), and the plots of some Tolstoy, if he did not write down on paper, then remembered: six works written by Tolstoy are sourced from the stories of Schegolyonok ( 1881 - " How people live", 1885 -" Two old men" And " Three elders", 1905 -" Korney Vasiliev" And " Prayer", 1907 -" old man in church"). In addition, Tolstoy diligently wrote down many sayings, proverbs, individual expressions and words told by Schegolyonok.

Tolstoy's new worldview was most fully expressed in his works "Confession" (1879-1880, published in 1884) and "What is my faith?" (1882-1884). To the theme of the Christian beginning of love, devoid of any self-interest and rising above sensual love in the struggle with the flesh, Tolstoy dedicated the story The Kreutzer Sonata (1887-1889, published in 1891) and The Devil (1889-1890, published in 1911). In the 1890s, trying to theoretically substantiate his views on art, he wrote a treatise "What is art?" (1897-1898). But the main artistic work of those years was his novel Resurrection (1889-1899), the plot of which was based on a genuine court case. The sharp criticism of church rites in this work became one of the reasons for the excommunication of Tolstoy by the Holy Synod from the Orthodox Church in 1901. The highest achievements of the early 1900s were the story "Hadji Murad" and the drama "The Living Corpse". In "Hadji Murad" the despotism of Shamil and Nicholas I is equally exposed. In the story, Tolstoy glorified the courage of the struggle, the strength of resistance and love of life. The play "The Living Corpse" became evidence of Tolstoy's new artistic quest, objectively close to Chekhov's drama.

Literary criticism of Shakespeare's works

In his critical essay "On Shakespeare and Drama", based on a detailed analysis of some of the most popular works of Shakespeare, in particular, "King Lear", "Othello", "Falstaff", "Hamlet", etc., Tolstoy sharply criticized Shakespeare's abilities like a playwright. At the performance of "Hamlet" he experienced " special suffering" for that " fake artwork».

Participation in the Moscow census

L. N. Tolstoy in his youth, maturity, old age

L. N. Tolstoy took part in the Moscow census of 1882. He wrote about it this way: “I suggested using the census in order to find out poverty in Moscow and help her with business and money, and to make sure that there were no poor in Moscow.”

Tolstoy believed that the interest and significance of the census for society is that it gives it a mirror in which you want it, you don’t want it, the whole society and each of us will look. He chose one of the most difficult sites for himself, Protochny Lane, where there was a rooming house, among the Moscow squalor, this gloomy two-story building was called the Rzhanov Fortress. Having received an order from the Duma, Tolstoy, a few days before the census, began to bypass the site according to the plan that was given to him. Indeed, the dirty rooming house, filled with destitute, desperate people who had sunk to the very bottom, served as a mirror for Tolstoy, reflecting the terrible poverty of the people. Under the fresh impression of what he saw, L. N. Tolstoy wrote his famous article "On the census in Moscow." In this article, he pointed out that the purpose of the census was scientific, and was a sociological study.

Despite Tolstoy's declared good intentions of the census, the population was suspicious of this event. Tolstoy wrote about this: When they explained to us that the people had already found out about the rounds of the apartments and were leaving, we asked the owner to lock the gate, and we ourselves went to the yard to persuade the people who were leaving". Lev Nikolaevich hoped to arouse sympathy for urban poverty in the rich, to raise money, to recruit people who wanted to contribute to this cause, and together with the census to go through all the dens of poverty. In addition to fulfilling the duties of a copyist, the writer wanted to enter into communication with the unfortunate, find out the details of their needs and help them with money and work, expulsion from Moscow, placing children in schools, old men and women in shelters and almshouses.

In Moscow

As Muscovite Alexander Vaskin writes, Leo Tolstoy came to Moscow more than one hundred and fifty times.

The general impressions made by him from his acquaintance with Moscow life were, as a rule, negative, and the reviews about the social situation in the city were sharply critical. So, on October 5, 1881, he wrote in his diary:

“Stink, stones, luxury, poverty. Depravity. The villains who robbed the people gathered, recruited soldiers, judges to protect their orgy. And they feast. The people have nothing more to do than, using the passions of these people, to lure back the loot from them.

Many buildings associated with the life and work of the writer have been preserved on Plyushchikha, Sivtsev Vrazhek, Vozdvizhenka, Tverskaya, Nizhny Kislovsky lane, Smolensky Boulevard, Zemledelchesky lane, Voznesensky lane and, finally, Dolgokhamovnichesky lane (modern Leo Tolstoy street) and others. The writer often visited the Kremlin, where the family of his wife, Bersa, lived. Tolstoy loved to walk around Moscow on foot, even in winter. The last time the writer came to Moscow was in 1909.

In addition, along Vozdvizhenka Street, 9, there was the house of Lev Nikolayevich's grandfather, Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, bought by him in 1816 from Praskovya Vasilievna Muravyova-Apostol (daughter of Lieutenant General V.V. Grushetsky, who built this house, the wife of the writer Senator I. M. Muravyov-Apostol, mother of the three Decembrist brothers Muravyov-Apostol). Prince Volkonsky owned the house for five years, which is why the house is also known in Moscow as the main house of the estate of the Volkonsky princes or as the “Bolkonsky house”. The house is described by Leo Tolstoy as the house of Pierre Bezukhov. This house was well known to Lev Nikolaevich - he often visited young balls here, where he courted the charming Princess Praskovya Shcherbatova: “ With boredom and drowsiness I went to the Ryumins, and suddenly it washed over me. P[raskovya] Sh[erbatova] charm. It hasn't been fresh for a long time.". In Anna Karenina, he endowed Kitty Shcherbatskaya with the features of the beautiful Praskovya.

In 1886, 1888 and 1889, Leo Tolstoy walked three times from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana. On the first such journey, his companions were the politician Mikhail Stakhovich and Nikolai Ge (the son of the artist N. N. Ge). In the second - also Nikolai Ge, and from the second half of the way (from Serpukhov) A.N. Dunaev and S.D. Sytin (publisher's brother) joined. During the third journey, Lev Nikolaevich was accompanied by a new friend and like-minded 25-year-old teacher Evgeny Popov.

Spiritual crisis and preaching

In his work "Confession" Tolstoy wrote that from the end of the 1870s he often began to be tormented by insoluble questions: " Well, all right, you will have 6,000 acres in the Samara province - 300 heads of horses, and then?»; in the field of literature: Well, well, you will be more glorious than Gogol, Pushkin, Shakespeare, Moliere, all the writers in the world - so what!". Starting to think about raising children, he asked himself: For what?»; reasoning " about how people can achieve prosperity", He " suddenly he said to himself: what does it matter to me?"In general, he" felt that what he stood on had given way, that what he had lived for was gone". The natural result was the thought of suicide:

« I, a happy man, hid the string from me so as not to hang myself on the crossbar between the cupboards in my room, where I was alone every day, undressing, and stopped going hunting with a gun, so as not to be tempted by a too easy way to rid myself of life. I myself did not know what I wanted: I was afraid of life, strove to get away from it and, meanwhile, hoped for something else from it..

Leo Tolstoy at the opening of the People's Library of the Moscow Literacy Society in the village of Yasnaya Polyana. Photo by A. I. Savelyev

In order to find an answer to the questions and doubts that constantly worried him, Tolstoy first of all took up the study of theology and wrote and published in 1891 in Geneva his “Study of Dogmatic Theology”, in which he criticized the “Orthodox Dogmatic Theology” of Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov). He had conversations with priests and monks, went to the elders in Optina Pustyn (in 1877, 1881 and 1890), read theological treatises, talked with the elder Ambrose, K. N. Leontiev, an ardent opponent of Tolstoy's teachings. In a letter to T. I. Filippov dated March 14, 1890, Leontiev reported that during this conversation he said to Tolstoy: “It’s a pity, Lev Nikolaevich, that I have little fanaticism. But it would be necessary to write to Petersburg, where I have connections, that you be exiled to Tomsk and that neither the countess nor your daughters would even be allowed to visit you, and that they would send you little money. And then you are positively harmful. To this, Lev Nikolayevich exclaimed with fervor: “Darling, Konstantin Nikolayevich! Write, for God's sake, to be exiled. This is my dream. I do my best to compromise myself in the eyes of the government, and I get away with everything. Please write." In order to study the original sources of Christian teaching in the original, he studied ancient Greek and Hebrew (in the study of the latter he was helped by the Moscow rabbi Shlomo Minor). At the same time, he kept an eye on the Old Believers, became close to the peasant preacher Vasily Syutaev, talked with Molokans, Stundists. Lev Nikolaevich sought the meaning of life in the study of philosophy, in acquaintance with the results of the exact sciences. He tried to simplify as much as possible, to live a life close to nature and agricultural life.

Gradually, Tolstoy renounces the whims and conveniences of a rich life (simplification), does a lot of physical labor, dresses in the simplest clothes, becomes a vegetarian, gives his family all his large fortune, renounces literary property rights. On the basis of a sincere desire for moral improvement, the third period of Tolstoy's literary activity is being created, hallmark which is the denial of all established forms of state, social and religious life.

At the beginning of the reign of Alexander III, Tolstoy wrote to the emperor with a request to pardon the regicides in the spirit of the gospel forgiveness. Since September 1882, a secret supervision was established for him to clarify relations with sectarians; in September 1883, he refuses to serve as a juror, citing incompatibility with his religious worldview. Then he received a ban on public speaking on the death of Turgenev. Gradually, the ideas of Tolstoyanism begin to penetrate society. At the beginning of 1885, a precedent was set in Russia for refusing military service, citing Tolstoy's religious beliefs. A significant part of Tolstoy's views could not be openly expressed in Russia and was presented in full only in foreign editions of his religious and social treatises.

There was no unanimity in relation to Tolstoy's works of art written during this period. So, in a long series of short stories and legends, intended mainly for popular reading(“What makes people alive”, etc.), Tolstoy, in the opinion of his unconditional admirers, reached the pinnacle of artistic power. At the same time, according to people who reproach Tolstoy for turning from an artist into a preacher, these artistic teachings, written with a specific purpose, were rudely tendentious. The high and terrible truth of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, according to fans, which puts this work on a par with the main works of the genius of Tolstoy, according to others, is deliberately harsh, it sharply emphasized the soullessness of the upper strata of society in order to show the moral superiority of a simple "kitchen peasant » Gerasim. The Kreutzer Sonata (written in 1887-1889, published in 1890) also caused opposite reviews - an analysis of marital relations made us forget about the amazing brightness and passion with which this story was written. The work was banned by censorship, it was printed thanks to the efforts of S. A. Tolstaya, who achieved a meeting with Alexander III. As a result, the story was published in a censored form in the Collected Works of Tolstoy by the personal permission of the tsar. Alexander III was pleased with the story, but the queen was shocked. On the other hand, the folk drama The Power of Darkness, in the opinion of Tolstoy's admirers, became a great manifestation of his artistic power: in the narrow framework of the ethnographic reproduction of Russian peasant life, Tolstoy managed to fit so many universal features that the drama went around all the stages of the world with tremendous success.

LN Tolstoy and his assistants make lists of peasants in need of help. From left to right: P. I. Biryukov, G. I. Raevsky, P. I. Raevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, I. I. Raevsky, A. M. Novikov, A. V. Tsinger, T. L. Tolstaya . The village of Begichevka, Ryazan province. Photo by P.F. Samarin, 1892

During the famine of 1891-1892. Tolstoy organized institutions in the Ryazan province to help the starving and the needy. He opened 187 canteens, in which 10 thousand people were fed, as well as several canteens for children, firewood was distributed, seeds and potatoes were distributed for sowing, horses were bought and distributed to farmers (almost all farms became horseless in a famine year), in the form of donations was collected almost 150,000 rubles.

The treatise “The Kingdom of God is within you ...” was written by Tolstoy with short breaks for almost 3 years: from July 1890 to May 1893. The treatise, which aroused the admiration of the critic V. V. Stasov (“ first book of the 19th century"") and I. E. Repin (" this thing of terrifying power”) could not be published in Russia due to censorship, and it was published abroad. The book began to be illegally distributed in a huge number of copies in Russia. In Russia itself, the first legal edition appeared in July 1906, but even after that it was withdrawn from sale. The treatise was included in the collected works of Tolstoy, published in 1911, after his death.

In the last major work, the novel Resurrection, published in 1899, Tolstoy condemned judicial practice and high society life, portrayed the clergy and worship as worldly and united with secular power.

On December 6, 1908, Tolstoy wrote in his diary: People love me for those trifles - "War and Peace", etc., which seem to them very important».

In the summer of 1909, one of the visitors to Yasnaya Polyana expressed his delight and gratitude for the creation of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy replied: It's like someone came to Edison and said: "I respect you very much because you are good at dancing the mazurka." I attribute meaning to my very different books (religious!)". In the same year, Tolstoy described the role of his works of art as follows: They draw attention to my serious things».

Some critics of the last stage of Tolstoy's literary activity declared that his artistic strength had suffered from the predominance of theoretical interests, and that now Tolstoy needed creativity only in order to propagate his public opinion in a public form. religious views. On the other hand, Vladimir Nabokov, for example, denies that Tolstoy has preaching specifics and notes that the strength and universal meaning of his work have nothing to do with politics and simply crowd out his teaching: “ In essence, Tolstoy the thinker was always occupied with only two topics: Life and Death. And no artist can escape these themes.". It has been suggested that in his work What is Art? The Tolstoy part completely denies and partly significantly diminishes the artistic significance of Dante, Raphael, Goethe, Shakespeare, Beethoven, etc., he directly comes to the conclusion that “ the more we give ourselves to beauty, the more we move away from good”, asserting the priority of the moral component of creativity over aesthetics.

Excommunication

After his birth, Leo Tolstoy was baptized into Orthodoxy. Like most members of the educated society of his time, in his youth and youth he was indifferent to religious matters. But when he was 27 years old, the following entry appears in his diary:

« The conversation about divinity and faith led me to a great, enormous idea, the realization of which I feel capable of devoting my life to. This thought is the foundation of a new religion, corresponding to the development of mankind, the religion of Christ, but purified from faith and mystery, a practical religion that does not promise future bliss, but gives bliss on earth.».

At the age of 40, having achieved great success in literary activity, literary fame, prosperity in family life and a prominent position in society, he begins to experience a sense of the meaninglessness of life. He is haunted by thoughts of suicide, which seemed to him "the release of strength and energy." He did not accept the way out offered by faith, it seemed to him "the denial of reason." Tolstoy later saw manifestations of truth in folk life and felt the desire to unite with the faith of the common people. To this end, during the year he observes fasts, participates in divine services and performs the rites of the Orthodox Church. But the main thing in this faith was the recollection of the event of the resurrection, the reality of which Tolstoy, according to own confession, and during this period of his life "could not imagine". And about many other things, he "tried not to think then, so as not to deny." The first communion after many years brought him an unforgettably painful feeling. The last time Tolstoy took communion was in April 1878, after which he ceased to participate in church life due to complete disappointment in the church faith. The second half of 1879 became a turning point in the direction of the teachings of the Orthodox Church for him. In 1880-1881, Tolstoy wrote "The Four Gospels: The Connection and Translation of the Four Gospels", fulfilling his long-standing desire to give the world faith without superstitions and naive dreams, to remove from the sacred texts of Christianity what he considered a lie. Thus, in the 1880s, he took the position of an unequivocal denial of church doctrine. The publication of some of Tolstoy's works was banned by both spiritual and secular censorship. In 1899, Tolstoy's novel "Resurrection" was published, in which the author showed the life of various social strata of contemporary Russia; the clergy were depicted mechanically and hastily performing rituals, and the cold and cynical Toporov was taken by some for a caricature of K. P. Pobedonostsev, chief procurator of the Holy Synod.

There are various assessments of Leo Tolstoy's lifestyle. It is widely believed that the practice of simplification, vegetarianism, manual labor and extensive charity are a sincere expression of his teachings in relation to own life. Along with this, there are critics of the writer who question the seriousness of his moral position. Denying the state, he continued to enjoy many class privileges of the upper stratum of the aristocracy. The transfer of management of the estate to the wife, according to critics, is also far from "relinquishing property." John of Kronstadt saw Count Tolstoy as the source of Count Tolstoy's "radical godlessness" in "ill manners and scattered, idle life with adventures in the summer of youth". He denied ecclesiastical interpretations of immortality and rejected ecclesiastical authority; he did not recognize the rights of the state, since it is built (in his opinion) on violence and coercion. He criticized the church teaching, which, in his understanding, is that " life as it is here on earth, with all its joys, beauties, with all the struggle of the mind against darkness - the life of all the people who lived before me, my whole life with my inner struggle and victories of the mind is not a true life, but a fallen life , hopelessly spoiled; life is true, sinless - in faith, that is, in imagination, that is, in madness". Leo Tolstoy did not agree with the teaching of the church that a person from his birth, in essence, is vicious and sinful, since, in his opinion, such a teaching " under the root cuts down everything that is best in human nature". Seeing how the church quickly lost its influence on the people, the writer, according to K. N. Lomunov, came to the conclusion: “ All living things - regardless of the church».

In February 1901, the Synod finally inclined to the idea of ​​publicly condemning Tolstoy and declaring him outside the church. Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) played an active role in this. As it appears in the cameras-furier magazines, on February 22, Pobedonostsev was with Nicholas II in winter palace and talked to him for about an hour. Some historians believe that Pobedonostsev came to the tsar directly from the Synod with a ready definition.

On February 24 (old style), 1901, the official organ of the synod “Church Gazette published under the Holy Governing Synod” published “ Determination of the Holy Synod of February 20-22, 1901 No. 557, with a message to the faithful children of the Greek Orthodox Church about Count Leo Tolstoy».

<…> known to the world the writer, Russian by birth, Orthodox by his baptism and upbringing, Count Tolstoy, in the seduction of his proud mind, boldly rebelled against the Lord and His Christ and His holy heritage, clearly before everyone renounced the Mother who nurtured and raised him, the Orthodox Church, and devoted his literary activity and the talent given to him by God to the spread among the people of teachings that are contrary to Christ and the Church, and to the extermination in the minds and hearts of people of the paternal faith, the Orthodox faith, which affirmed the universe, by which our ancestors lived and were saved, and which hitherto held and strong was holy Russia.

In his writings and letters, in many scattered by him and his disciples all over the world, especially within the borders of our dear Fatherland, he preaches, with the zeal of a fanatic, the overthrow of all the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and the very essence of the Christian faith; rejects the personal living God, glorified in the Holy Trinity, Creator and Provider of the universe, denies the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, Redeemer and Savior of the world, who suffered for us for the sake of men and for our salvation and rose from the dead, denies the seedless conception according to humanity of Christ the Lord and virginity before of the birth and after the birth of the Most Pure Theotokos, Ever-Virgin Mary, does not recognize the afterlife and retribution, rejects all the sacraments of the Church and the grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit in them, and, scolding the most sacred objects of the faith of the Orthodox people, did not shudder to mock the greatest of the sacraments, the holy Eucharist. All this is preached by Count Tolstoy continuously, in word and writing, to the temptation and horror of the entire Orthodox world, and thus openly, but clearly in front of everyone, consciously and intentionally, he himself rejected himself from any communion with the Orthodox Church..

Former same to his admonition attempts were unsuccessful. Therefore, the Church does not consider him a member and cannot count him until he repents and restores his communion with her.<…>Therefore, bearing witness to his falling away from the Church, we pray together that the Lord grant him repentance into the knowledge of truth (2 Tim. 2:25). We pray, merciful Lord, do not want the death of sinners, hear and have mercy and turn him to Your holy Church. Amen.

From the point of view of theologians, the decision of the Synod regarding Tolstoy is not a curse on the writer, but a statement of the fact that he own will no longer a member of the Church. Anathema, which means for believers a complete ban on any communication, was not committed against Tolstoy. The synodal act of February 20-22 stated that Tolstoy could return to the Church if he repented. Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky), who at that time was a leading member of the Holy Synod, wrote to Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy: “All of Russia mourns for your husband, we mourn for him. Do not believe those who say that we are seeking his repentance for political purposes.” Nevertheless, the writer's entourage and part of the public who sympathizes with him felt that this definition was an unjustifiably cruel act. The writer himself was clearly annoyed by what had happened. When Tolstoy arrived at Optina Hermitage, when asked why he did not go to the elders, he replied that he could not go, as he was excommunicated.

In Response to the Synod, Leo Tolstoy confirmed his break with the Church: The fact that I renounced the church that calls itself Orthodox is absolutely fair. But I renounced it not because I rebelled against the Lord, but on the contrary, only because with all the strength of my soul I wanted to serve him". Tolstoy objected to the accusations brought against him in the ruling of the synod: The resolution of the Synod in general has many shortcomings. It is illegal or deliberately ambiguous; it is arbitrary, unfounded, untrue and, moreover, contains slander and incitement to bad feelings and actions". In the text of the Answer to the Synod, Tolstoy elaborates on these theses, recognizing a number of significant discrepancies between the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and his own understanding of the teachings of Christ.

The synodal definition aroused the indignation of a certain part of society; Numerous letters and telegrams were sent to Tolstoy expressing sympathy and support. At the same time, this definition provoked a flood of letters from another part of society - with threats and abuse. Tolstoy's religious and preaching activities were criticized from Orthodox positions long before his excommunication. It was very sharply assessed, for example, by St. Theophan the Recluse:

« In his writings there is blasphemy against God, against Christ the Lord, against the Holy Church and its sacraments. He is the destroyer of the kingdom of truth, the enemy of God, the servant of Satan... This son of demons dared to write a new gospel, which is a distortion of the true gospel».

In November 1909, Tolstoy wrote down a thought that indicated his broad understanding of religion:

« I do not want to be a Christian, just as I did not advise and would not want there to be Brahmanists, Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, Mohammedans and others. We must all find, each in our own faith, what is common to all, and, refusing the exclusive, our own, hold on to what is common.».

At the end of February 2001, the great-grandson of Count Vladimir Tolstoy, who manages the museum-estate of the writer in Yasnaya Polyana, sent a letter to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' with a request to revise the synodal definition. In response to the letter, the Moscow Patriarchate stated that the decision to excommunicate Leo Tolstoy from the Church, made exactly 105 years ago, cannot be reconsidered, since (according to the Secretary for Church Relations Mikhail Dudko), this would be wrong in the absence of a person against whom ecclesiastical courts apply.

Leo Tolstoy's letter to his wife, left before leaving Yasnaya Polyana.

My departure will upset you. I regret this, but understand and believe that I could not have done otherwise. My position in the house is becoming, has become unbearable. Apart from everything else, I can no longer live in the conditions of luxury in which I lived, and I do what old people of my age usually do: they leave worldly life to live in solitude and quiet for the last days of their lives.

Please understand this and don't follow me if you find out where I am. Such your arrival will only worsen your and my situation, but will not change my decision. I thank you for your honest 48-year life with me and ask you to forgive me for everything that I was guilty of before you, just as I forgive you with all my heart for everything that you could be guilty of before me. I advise you to make peace with the new position in which my departure puts you, and not to have an unkind feeling against me. If you want to tell me something, tell Sasha, she will know where I am and will send me what I need; she cannot say where I am, because I made her promise not to tell this to anyone.

Lev Tolstoy.

I instructed Sasha to collect my things and manuscripts and send them to me.

V. I. Rossinsky. Tolstoy says goodbye to his daughter Alexandra. Paper, pencil. 1911

On the night of October 28 (November 10), 1910, L. N. Tolstoy, fulfilling his decision to live his last years in accordance with his views, secretly left Yasnaya Polyana forever, accompanied only by his doctor D. P. Makovitsky. At the same time, Tolstoy did not even have a definite plan of action. He began his last journey at Shchyokino station. On the same day, having changed trains at the Gorbachevo station, I reached the city of Belev, Tula province, after that, in the same way, but on another train to the Kozelsk station, hired a coachman and went to Optina Pustyn, and from there the next day to Shamordinsky monastery, where he met his sister, Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya. Later, Tolstoy's daughter Alexandra Lvovna secretly arrived in Shamordino.

On the morning of October 31 (November 13), L. N. Tolstoy and his companions set off from Shamordino to Kozelsk, where they boarded train No. 12, which had already approached the station, with the Smolensk - Ranenburg message, heading east. We did not have time to buy tickets when boarding; having reached Belev, we bought tickets to the Volovo station, where we intended to transfer to some train heading south. Those who accompanied Tolstoy later also testified that the journey had no specific purpose. After the meeting, they decided to go to his niece, Elena Sergeevna Denisenko, in Novocherkassk, where they wanted to try to get foreign passports and then go to Bulgaria; if this fails, go to the Caucasus. However, on the way, L. N. Tolstoy felt unwell, the cold turned into lobar pneumonia, and the escorts were forced to interrupt the trip on the same day and take the sick Lev Nikolayevich out of the train at the first large station near the settlement. This station was Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region).

The news of Leo Tolstoy's illness caused a great stir both in the highest circles and among the members of the Holy Synod. On the state of his health and the state of affairs, encrypted telegrams were systematically sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Moscow Gendarme Directorate of Railways. An emergency secret meeting of the Synod was convened, at which, on the initiative of Chief Procurator Lukyanov, the question was raised about the attitude of the church in the event of the sad outcome of Lev Nikolayevich's illness. But the issue has not been positively resolved.

Six doctors tried to save Lev Nikolaevich, but he only replied to their offers to help: “ God will arrange everything". When asked what he himself wanted, he said: I want no one to bother me". His last meaningful words, which he uttered a few hours before his death to his eldest son, which he could not make out from excitement, but which doctor Makovitsky heard, were: “ Seryozha... the truth... I love a lot, I love everyone...»

On November 7 (20), 1910, after a serious and painful illness (suffocated), at the age of 83, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy died in the house of the head of the station, Ivan Ozolin.

When Leo Tolstoy came to Optina Pustyn before his death, Elder Varsonofy was the abbot of the monastery and the head of the skete. Tolstoy did not dare to go to the skete, and the elder followed him to the Astapovo station in order to give him the opportunity to reconcile with the Church. He had spare Holy Gifts, and he received instructions: if Tolstoy whispered in his ear just one word “I repent”, he had the right to take communion. But the elder was not allowed to see the writer, just as his wife and some of his closest relatives from among the Orthodox believers were not allowed to see him.

On November 9, 1910, several thousand people gathered in Yasnaya Polyana for the funeral of Leo Tolstoy. Among those gathered were the writer's friends and admirers of his work, local peasants and Moscow students, as well as representatives of government agencies and local police sent to Yasnaya Polyana by the authorities, who feared that the farewell ceremony for Tolstoy might be accompanied by anti-government statements, and perhaps even turns into a demonstration. In addition - in Russia it was the first public funeral famous person, which were not supposed to pass according to the Orthodox rite (without priests and prayers, without candles and icons), as Tolstoy himself wished. The ceremony was peaceful, as noted in police reports. The mourners, observing complete order, with quiet singing, escorted Tolstoy's coffin from the station to the estate. People lined up, silently entered the room to say goodbye to the body.

On the same day, the newspapers published the resolution of Nicholas II on the report of the Minister of the Interior on the death of Leo Tolstoy: “ I sincerely regret the death of the great writer, who, during the heyday of his talent, embodied in his works the images of one of the glorious years of Russian life. Lord God be his merciful judge».

On November 10 (23), 1910, Leo Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, on the edge of a ravine in the forest, where, as a child, he and his brother were looking for a “green stick” that kept the “secret” how to make all people happy. When the coffin with the deceased was lowered into the grave, all those present reverently knelt down.

In January 1913, a letter was published by Countess S. A. Tolstaya dated December 22, 1912, in which she confirmed the news in the press that a funeral was performed at her husband’s grave by a certain priest in her presence, while she denied rumors about that the priest was not real. In particular, the Countess wrote: I also declare that Lev Nikolaevich never before his death expressed a desire not to be buried, but earlier wrote in his diary of 1895, as if a testament: “If possible, then (bury) without priests and funerals. But if it is unpleasant for those who will bury, then let them bury as usual, but as cheaply and simply as possible.". The priest, who voluntarily wished to violate the will of the Holy Synod and secretly bury the excommunicated count, turned out to be Grigory Leontyevich Kalinovsky, a priest of the village of Ivankov, Pereyaslavsky district, Poltava province. Soon he was removed from office, but not for the illegal funeral of Tolstoy, but " due to the fact that he is under investigation for the drunken murder of a peasant<…>, moreover, the aforementioned priest Kalinovsky of behavior and moral qualities is rather disapproving, that is, a bitter drunkard and capable of all sorts of dirty deeds", - as reported in intelligence gendarmerie reports.

Report of the head of the St. Petersburg security department, Colonel von Cotten, to the Minister of the Interior Russian Empire :

« In addition to the reports of November 8, I report to Your Excellency information about the unrest of young students that took place on November 9 ... on the occasion of the day of the burial of the deceased Leo Tolstoy. At 12 noon, a memorial service for the late L. N. Tolstoy was served in the Armenian Church, which was attended by about 200 people praying, mostly Armenians, and a small part of the student youth. At the end of the memorial service, the worshipers dispersed, but a few minutes later students and female students began to arrive at the church. It turned out that on entrance doors University and the Higher Women's Courses, announcements were posted that a memorial service for L. N. Tolstoy would take place on November 9 at one in the afternoon in the aforementioned church.
The Armenian clergy performed a panikhida for the second time, by the end of which the church could no longer accommodate all the worshipers, a significant part of whom stood on the porch and in the courtyard at the Armenian Church. At the end of the memorial service, all those who were on the porch and in the churchyard sang “Eternal Memory” ...»

« Yesterday there was a bishop<…>It is especially unpleasant that he asked me to let him know when I would die. No matter how they came up with something to assure people that I "repented" before death. And therefore I declare, it seems, I repeat that I cannot return to the church, take communion before death, just as I cannot speak obscene words or look obscene pictures before death, and therefore everything that will be said about my dying repentance and communion, - lie».

The death of Leo Tolstoy was reacted not only in Russia, but all over the world. In Russia, student and worker demonstrations were held with portraits of the deceased, which became a response to the death of the great writer. To honor the memory of Tolstoy, the workers of Moscow and St. Petersburg stopped the work of several plants and factories. There were legal and illegal gatherings, meetings, leaflets were issued, concerts and evenings were canceled, theaters and cinemas were closed at the time of mourning, trade was suspended bookstores and shops. Many people wanted to take part in the funeral of the writer, but the government, fearing spontaneous unrest, prevented this in every possible way. People could not carry out their intention, so Yasnaya Polyana was literally bombarded with telegrams of condolence. Democratic part Russian society was outraged by the behavior of the government, which for many years treated Tolstoy, banned his works, and, finally, prevented the honoring of his memory.

Family

Sisters S. A. Tolstaya (left) and T. A. Bers (right), 1860s

Lev Nikolaevich from his youthful years was familiar with Lyubov Alexandrovna Islavina, in marriage Bers (1826-1886), loved to play with her children Lisa, Sonya and Tanya. When the Bers daughters grew up, Lev Nikolaevich thought about marrying eldest daughter Lisa, hesitated for a long time until he made a choice in favor of the middle daughter Sophia. Sofya Andreevna agreed when she was 18 years old, and the count was 34 years old, and on September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married her, having previously confessed to his premarital affairs.

For some time in his life, the brightest period begins - he is truly happy, largely due to the practicality of his wife, material well-being, outstanding literary creativity and in connection with it all-Russian and world fame. In the person of his wife, he found an assistant in all matters, practical and literary - in the absence of a secretary, she several times rewrote his drafts. However, very soon happiness is overshadowed by the inevitable small disagreements, fleeting quarrels, mutual misunderstanding, which only worsened over the years.

For his family, Leo Tolstoy proposed some “life plan”, according to which he intended to give part of the income to the poor and schools, and to significantly simplify his family’s lifestyle (life, food, clothes), while also selling and distributing " everything is superfluous»: piano, furniture, carriages. His wife, Sofya Andreevna, was clearly not satisfied with such a plan, on the basis of which their first serious conflict broke out and the beginning of it " undeclared war» for a secure future for their children. And in 1892, Tolstoy signed a separate act and transferred all the property to his wife and children, not wanting to be the owner. However, together they lived in great love for almost fifty years.

In addition, his older brother Sergei Nikolaevich Tolstoy was going to marry Sofya Andreevna's younger sister, Tatyana Bers. But Sergei's unofficial marriage to the gypsy singer Maria Mikhailovna Shishkina (who had four children from him) made the marriage of Sergei and Tatyana impossible.

In addition, the father of Sofya Andreevna, medical doctor Andrey Gustav (Evstafievich) Bers, even before his marriage to Islavina, had a daughter, Varvara, from Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva, the mother of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. By mother, Varya was the sister of Ivan Turgenev, and by father - S. A. Tolstoy, thus, together with marriage, Leo Tolstoy acquired kinship with I. S. Turgenev.

LN Tolstoy with his wife and children. 1887

From the marriage of Lev Nikolayevich with Sofia Andreevna, 9 sons and 4 daughters were born, five of thirteen children died in childhood.

• Sergei (1863-1947), composer, musicologist. The only one of all the writer's children who survived the October Revolution who did not emigrate. Cavalier of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
• Tatiana (1864-1950). Since 1899 she has been married to Mikhail Sukhotin. In 1917-1923 she was the curator of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate. In 1925 she emigrated with her daughter. Daughter Tatyana Sukhotina-Albertini (1905-1996).
• Ilya (1866-1933), writer, memoirist. In 1916 he left Russia and went to the USA.
• Lev (1869-1945), writer, sculptor. Since 1918 in exile - in France, Italy, then in Sweden.
• Maria (1871-1906). Since 1897 she has been married to Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (1872-1934). She died of pneumonia. Buried in the village Kochaki of the Krapivensky district (modern Tul. region, Shchekinsky district, village of Kochaki).
• Peter (1872-1873)
• Nicholas (1874-1875)
• Barbara (1875-1875)
• Andrei (1877-1916), official for special assignments under the Tula governor. Participant Russo-Japanese War. He died in Petrograd from a general blood poisoning.
• Mikhail (1879-1944). In 1920 he emigrated and lived in Turkey, Yugoslavia, France and Morocco. He died on October 19, 1944 in Morocco.
• Alexey (1881-1886)
• Alexandra (1884-1979). From the age of 16 she became an assistant to her father. Head of the military medical detachment during the First World War. In 1920, the Cheka was arrested in the case of the "Tactical Center", sentenced to three years, after her release she worked in Yasnaya Polyana. In 1929 she emigrated from the USSR, in 1941 she received US citizenship. She died on September 26, 1979 in the state of New York at the age of 95, the last of all the children of Leo Tolstoy.
• Ivan (1888-1895).

As of 2010 in total there were more than 350 descendants of Leo Tolstoy (including both living and already deceased), who lived in 25 countries of the world. Most of them are descendants of Leo Tolstoy, who had 10 children. Since 2000, Yasnaya Polyana has hosted meetings of the writer's descendants every two years.

Family perspectives. Family in the work of Tolstoy

L. N. Tolstoy tells the tale of the cucumber to his grandchildren Ilyusha and Sonya, 1909, Krekshino, photo by V. G. Chertkov. Sofia Andreevna Tolstaya in the future - last wife Sergei Yesenin

Leo Tolstoy, both in his personal life and in his work, assigned the central role to the family. According to the writer, the main institution of human life is not the state or the church, but the family. From the very beginning of his creative activity, Tolstoy was absorbed in thoughts about the family and dedicated his first work, Childhood, to this. Three years later, in 1855, he writes the story "Marker's Notes", where the writer's craving for gambling and women can already be seen. The same is reflected in his novel "Family Happiness", in which the relationship between a man and a woman is strikingly similar to the marital relationship between Tolstoy himself and Sofya Andreevna. During the period of happy family life (1860s), which created a stable atmosphere, spiritual and physical balance and became a source of poetic inspiration, two of the writer's greatest works were written: "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina". But if in "War and Peace" Tolstoy firmly defends the value of family life, being convinced of the fidelity of the ideal, then in "Anna Karenina" he already expresses doubts about its attainability. When relations in his personal family life became more difficult, these aggravations were expressed in such works as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata, The Devil and Father Sergius.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy paid great attention to the family. His reflections are not limited to the details of marital relations. In the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood" and "Youth", the author gave a bright artistic description the world of a child in whose life important role play the love of a child for his parents, and vice versa - the love that he receives from them. In "War and Peace" Tolstoy has already most fully revealed different types family relationships and love. And in "Family Happiness" and "Anna Karenina" various aspects of love in the family are simply lost behind the power of "eros". Critic and philosopher N. N. Strakhov after the release of the novel "War and Peace" noted that all of Tolstoy's previous works can be classified as preliminary studies, culminating in the creation of a "family chronicle".

Philosophy

The religious and moral imperatives of Leo Tolstoy were the source of the Tolstoy movement, built on two fundamental theses: "simplification" and "non-resistance to evil by violence." The latter, according to Tolstoy, is recorded in a number of places in the Gospel and is the core of the teachings of Christ, as, indeed, of Buddhism. The essence of Christianity, according to Tolstoy, can be expressed in a simple rule: Be kind and do not resist evil with violence- "The Law of Violence and the Law of Love" (1908).

The most important basis of Tolstoy's teachings were the words of the Gospel " Love your enemies and the Sermon on the Mount. The followers of his teachings - the Tolstoyans - honored the five commandments proclaimed by Lev Nikolaevich: do not be angry, do not commit adultery, do not swear, do not resist evil with violence, love your enemies as your neighbor.

Among the adherents of the doctrine, and not only, Tolstoy's books “What is my faith”, “Confession”, etc. were very popular. Various ideological currents influenced Tolstoy’s life teaching: Brahmanism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, as well as the teachings of moral philosophers (Socrates, late Stoics, Kant, Schopenhauer).

Tolstoy developed a special ideology of non-violent anarchism (it can be described as Christian anarchism), which was based on a rationalistic understanding of Christianity. Considering coercion to be evil, he concluded that it was necessary to abolish the state, but not through a revolution based on violence, but through voluntary refusal each member of society from the performance of any public duties, whether it be military service, paying taxes, etc. L. N. Tolstoy believed: “ Anarchists are right in everything: both in the denial of the existing, and in the assertion that, given the existing mores, nothing can be worse than the violence of power; but they are grossly mistaken in thinking that anarchy can be established by revolution. Anarchy can only be established by the fact that there will be more and more people who do not need the protection of government power and more and more people who will be ashamed to exercise this power.».

The ideas of nonviolent resistance outlined by L. N. Tolstoy in his work “The Kingdom of God is within you” influenced Mahatma Gandhi, who corresponded with the Russian writer.

According to the historian of Russian philosophy V.V. Zenkovsky, the great philosophical significance of Leo Tolstoy, and not only for Russia, is in his desire to build a culture on a religious basis and in his personal example of liberation from secularism. In Tolstoy's philosophy, he notes the coexistence of heteropolar forces, the "sharp and unobtrusive rationalism" of his religious and philosophical constructions, and the irrationalistic insurmountability of his "panmoralism": "Although Tolstoy does not believe in the Deity of Christ, Tolstoy believed His words in the way that only those who who sees God in Christ”, “follows him as God”. One of the key features of Tolstoy's worldview is the search for and expression of "mystical ethics", to which he considers it necessary to subordinate all secularized elements of society, including science, philosophy, art, considers it "blasphemy" to put them on the same level with good. The ethical imperative of the writer explains the lack of contradiction between the titles of the chapters of the book "The Way of Life": "It is impossible for a reasonable person not to recognize God" and "God cannot be known by reason". In contrast to the patristic, and later Orthodox, identification of beauty and goodness, Tolstoy emphatically declares that "goodness has nothing to do with beauty." In the book Reading Circle, Tolstoy quotes John Ruskin: “Art is only in its proper place when its goal is moral perfection.<…>If art does not help people to discover the truth, but only provides a pleasant pastime, then it is a shameful, not sublime thing. On the one hand, Zenkovsky characterizes Tolstoy's divergence with the church not so much as a reasonably justified result, but as a "fatal misunderstanding", since "Tolstoy was an ardent and sincere follower of Christ." Tolstoy explains the denial of the church's view of dogma, the Divinity of Christ and His Resurrection by the contradiction between "rationalism, internally completely inconsistent with its mystical experience." On the other hand, Zenkovsky himself notes that “already in Gogol, for the first time, the theme of the internal heterogeneity of the aesthetic and moral sphere is raised;<…>for reality is alien to the aesthetic principle.

In the sphere of ideas about the proper economic structure of society, Tolstoy adhered to the ideas of the American economist Henry George, advocated the proclamation of land as the common property of all people and the introduction of a single tax on land.

Bibliography

Of the writings of Leo Tolstoy, 174 of his works of art have survived, including unfinished compositions and rough sketches. Tolstoy himself considered 78 of his works to be completely finished works; only they were printed during his lifetime and were included in collected works. The remaining 96 of his works remained in the archive of the writer himself, and only after his death they saw the light.

The first of his published works is the story "Childhood", 1852. The first lifetime published book of the writer - "Military stories of Count L. N. Tolstoy" 1856, St. Petersburg; in the same year, his second book, Childhood and Adolescence, was published. The last work of art published during Tolstoy's lifetime is the artistic essay "Grateful Soil", dedicated to Tolstoy's meeting with a young peasant in Meshchersky on June 21, 1910; The essay was first published in 1910 in the Rech newspaper. A month before his death, Leo Tolstoy worked on the third version of the story "There are no guilty in the world."

Lifetime and posthumous editions of collected works

In 1886, the wife of Lev Nikolaevich for the first time published the collected works of the writer. For literary science, the publication was a milestone Complete (anniversary) collected works of Tolstoy in 90 volumes(1928-58), which included many new literary texts, letters and diaries of the writer.

Currently, IMLI them. A. M. Gorky RAS is preparing a 100-volume collected works (in 120 books) for publication.

In addition, and later, collected works of his works were repeatedly published:

• in 1951-1953 "Collected works in 14 volumes" (M.: Goslitizdat),
• in 1958-1959 "Collected works in 12 volumes" (M.: Goslitizdat),
• in 1960-1965 "Collected works in 20 volumes" (M .: Khud. literature),
• in 1972 "Collected works in 12 volumes" (M.: Art. Literature),
• in 1978-1985 "Collected Works in 22 volumes (in 20 books)" (M.: Artistic Literature),
• in 1980 "Collected works in 12 volumes" (M.: Sovremennik),
• in 1987 "Collected works in 12 volumes" (M.: Pravda).

Translations of works

During the time of the Russian Empire, for 30 years before the October Revolution, 10 million copies of Tolstoy's books were published in Russia in 10 languages. Over the years of the existence of the USSR, Tolstoy's works were published in the Soviet Union in an amount of over 60 million copies in 75 languages.

Translation complete collection Tolstoy's writings Chinese was carried out by Cao Ying, the work took 20 years.

World recognition. Memory

Four museums dedicated to the life and work of Leo Tolstoy have been created on the territory of Russia. The estate of Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana, together with all the surrounding forests, fields, gardens and lands, has been turned into a museum-reserve, its branch is the museum-estate of L. N. Tolstoy in the village of Nikolskoye-Vyazemskoye. Under the protection of the state is Tolstoy's estate in Moscow (Leo Tolstoy Street, 21), which, on the personal instructions of Vladimir Lenin, was turned into a memorial museum. Also turned into a museum house at the station Astapovo, Moscow-Kursk-Donbass railway. (now Lev Tolstoy station, South-Eastern railway), where the writer died. The largest of the museums of Tolstoy, as well as the center of research work on the life and work of the writer, is the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow (Prechistenka street, house number 11/8). Many schools, clubs, libraries and other cultural institutions are named after the writer in Russia. His name is the regional center and the railway station (former Astapovo) Lipetsk region; district and district center Kaluga region; the village (formerly Stary Yurt) of the Grozny region, where Tolstoy visited in his youth. In many Russian cities there are squares and streets named after Leo Tolstoy. Monuments to the writer have been erected in different cities of Russia and the world. In Russia, monuments to Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy were erected in a number of cities: in Moscow, in Tula (as a native of the Tula province), in Pyatigorsk, Orenburg.

To the cinema

• In 1912, the young director Yakov Protazanov made a 30-minute silent film The Departure of the Great Old Man, based on testimonies about the last period of Leo Tolstoy's life, using documentary footage. In the role of Leo Tolstoy - Vladimir Shaternikov, in the role of Sophia Tolstoy - British-American actress Muriel Harding, who used the pseudonym Olga Petrova. The film was received very negatively by the writer's relatives and his entourage and was not released in Russia, but was shown abroad.
• Leo Tolstoy and his family is dedicated to the Soviet full-length feature film directed by Sergei Gerasimov "Leo Tolstoy" (1984). The film tells about the last two years of the writer's life and his death. The main role of the film was played by the director himself, in the role of Sofya Andreevna - Tamara Makarova.
• In the Soviet TV movie “The Shore of His Life” (1985), about the fate of Nikolai Miklukho-Maclay, the role of Tolstoy was played by Alexander Vokach.
• In the television film "Young Indiana Jones: Traveling with Father" (USA, 1996) in the role of Tolstoy - Michael Gough.
• IN Russian TV series"Farewell, Doctor Chekhov!" (2007) the role of Tolstoy was played by Alexander Pashutin.
• In the 2009 film The Last Sunday by American director Michael Hoffman, the role of Leo Tolstoy was played by Canadian Christopher Plummer, for this work he was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. British actress Helen Mirren, whose Russian ancestors were mentioned by Tolstoy in War and Peace, played the role of Sophia Tolstaya and was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
• In the film What Else Men Talk About (2011) episodic role Leo Tolstoy was ironically played by Vladimir Menshov.
• Ivan Krasko starred as a writer in the film Admirer (2012).
• In the film in the genre of historical fantasy "Duel. Pushkin - Lermontov "(2014) in the role of young Tolstoy - Vladimir Balashov.
• IN comedy film 2015 directed by Rene Feret "Anton Chekhov - 1890" (fr.) Leo Tolstoy was played by Frederic Pierrot (Russian) French.

The meaning and impact of creativity

The nature of the perception and interpretation of Leo Tolstoy's work, as well as the nature of his influence on individual artists and on the literary process, was largely determined by the characteristics of each country, its historical and artistic development. So, the French writers perceived him, first of all, as an artist who opposed naturalism and knew how to combine truthful image life with spirituality and high moral purity. English writers relied on his work in the fight against traditional "Victorian" hypocrisy, they saw in him an example of high artistic courage. In the United States, Leo Tolstoy became a mainstay for writers who asserted acute social themes in art. In Germany, his anti-militarist speeches acquired the greatest importance; German writers studied his experience in a realistic depiction of the war. The writers of the Slavic peoples were impressed by his sympathy for the "small" oppressed nations, as well as the national-heroic theme of his works.

Leo Tolstoy had a huge impact on the evolution of European humanism, on the development of realistic traditions in world literature. His influence affected the work of Romain Rolland, François Mauriac and Roger Martin du Gard in France, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe in the USA, John Galsworthy and Bernard Shaw in England, Thomas Mann and Anna Zegers in Germany, August Strindberg and Arthur Lundqvist in Sweden, Rainer Rilke in Austria, Eliza Orzeszko, Boleslaw Prus, Yaroslav Ivashkevich in Poland, Maria Puimanova in Czechoslovakia, Lao She in China, Tokutomi Roca in Japan, and each of them experienced this influence in their own way.

Western humanist writers, such as Romain Rolland, Anatole France, Bernard Shaw, the brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann, listened attentively to the accusing voice of the author in his works Resurrection, Fruits of Enlightenment, Kreutzer Sonata, Death of Ivan Ilyich ". Tolstoy's critical worldview penetrated their consciousness not only through his journalism and philosophical works, but also through his works of art. Heinrich Mann said that the works of Tolstoy were for the German intelligentsia an antidote to Nietzscheism. For Heinrich Mann, Jean-Richard Blok, Hamlin Garland, Leo Tolstoy was a model of great moral purity and intransigence towards social evil and attracted them as an enemy of the oppressors and a defender of the oppressed. The aesthetic ideas of Tolstoy's worldview were reflected in one way or another in Romain Rolland's book "People's Theatre", in articles by Bernard Shaw and Boleslav Prus (treatise "What is Art?") and in Frank Norris's book "The Responsibility of a Novelist", in which the author repeatedly refers to Tolstoy .

For Western European writers of the generation of Romain Rolland, Leo Tolstoy was an older brother, a teacher. It was the center of attraction for democratic and realistic forces in the ideological and literary struggle of the beginning of the century, but also the subject of daily heated debate. At the same time, for later writers, the generation of Louis Aragon or Ernest Hemingway, Tolstoy's work became part of the cultural riches that they assimilated in their youth. Today, many foreign prose writers, who do not even consider themselves students of Tolstoy and do not define their attitude towards him, at the same time assimilate elements of his creative experience, which has become the common property of world literature.

Leo Tolstoy was nominated 16 times for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902-1906. and 4 times for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1909.

Writers, thinkers and religious figures about Tolstoy

• The French writer and member of the Académie française André Mauroy argued that Leo Tolstoy is one of the three greatest writers in the history of culture (along with Shakespeare and Balzac).
• The German writer, Nobel Prize winner in literature Thomas Mann said that the world did not know another artist in whom the epic, Homeric beginning would be as strong as that of Tolstoy, and that the elements of the epic and indestructible realism live in his works.
• The Indian philosopher and politician Mahatma Gandhi spoke of Tolstoy as the most honest man of his time, who never tried to hide the truth, embellish it, fearing neither spiritual nor secular power, supporting his preaching with deeds and making any sacrifices for the sake of truth.
• The Russian writer and thinker Fyodor Dostoevsky said in 1876 that only Tolstoy shines because, apart from the poem, “ knows to the smallest accuracy (historical and current) depicted reality».
• Russian writer and critic Dmitry Merezhkovsky wrote about Tolstoy: His face is the face of mankind. If the inhabitants of other worlds asked our world: who are you? - humanity could answer by pointing to Tolstoy: here I am"".
• The Russian poet Alexander Blok spoke of Tolstoy: "Tolstoy is the greatest and the only genius of modern Europe, the highest pride of Russia, a man whose only name is fragrance, a writer of great purity and holiness".
• The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, in his English Lectures on Russian Literature, wrote: “Tolstoy is an unsurpassed Russian prose writer. Leaving aside his predecessors Pushkin and Lermontov, all the great Russian writers can be built in the following sequence: the first is Tolstoy, the second is Gogol, the third is Chekhov, the fourth is Turgenev..
• Russian religious philosopher and writer Vasily Rozanov about Tolstoy: “Tolstoy is only a writer, but not a prophet, not a saint, and therefore his teaching does not inspire anyone”.
• The famous theologian Alexander Men said that Tolstoy is still the voice of conscience and a living reproach for people who are sure that they live in accordance with moral principles.

Criticism

Many newspapers and magazines of all political trends wrote about Tolstoy during his lifetime. Thousands of critical articles and reviews have been written about him. His early works found appreciation in revolutionary democratic criticism. However, "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection" did not receive real disclosure and coverage in contemporary criticism. His novel "Anna Karenina" was not well received by the critics of the 1870s; the ideological and figurative system of the novel remained undiscovered, as well as its amazing artistic power. At the same time, Tolstoy himself wrote, not without irony: If myopic critics think that I wanted to describe only what I like, how Oblonsky eats and what kind of shoulders Karenina has, then they are mistaken.».

Literary criticism

The critic was the first to respond favorably to Tolstoy's literary debut " Domestic notes» S. S. Dudyshkin in 1854 in an article devoted to the stories “Childhood” and “Boyhood”. However, two years later, in 1856, the same critic wrote a negative review of the book edition of Childhood and Boyhood, Military Tales. In the same year, a review of N. G. Chernyshevsky on these books of Tolstoy appeared, in which the critic draws attention to the writer's ability to depict human psychology in its contradictory development. In the same place, Chernyshevsky writes about the absurdity of reproaches to Tolstoy by S. S. Dudyshkin. In particular, objecting to the critic's remark that Tolstoy does not depict female characters in his works, Chernyshevsky draws attention to the image of Lisa from The Two Hussars. In 1855-1856, one of the theorists " pure art» P. V. Annenkov, noting the depth of thought in the works of Tolstoy and Turgenev and the fact that thought and its expression by means of art in Tolstoy are merged into one. At the same time, another representative of "aesthetic" criticism, A. V. Druzhinin, in reviews of "The Snowstorm", "Two Hussars" and "Military Stories" described Tolstoy as a deep connoisseur of social life and a subtle researcher of the human soul. Meanwhile, the Slavophile K. S. Aksakov in 1857 in the article “Review of Modern Literature” found in the work of Tolstoy and Turgenev, along with “truly beautiful” works, the presence of unnecessary details, due to which “the general line is lost, connecting them into one whole ".

In the 1870s, P. N. Tkachev, who believed that the writer’s task was to express the liberating aspirations of the “progressive” part of society in his work, in his article “Salon Art”, dedicated to the novel “Anna Karenina”, spoke sharply negatively about the work of Tolstoy.

N. N. Strakhov compared the novel "War and Peace" in its scale with the work of Pushkin. The genius and innovation of Tolstoy, according to the critic, manifested itself in the ability of "simple" means to create a harmonious and comprehensive picture of Russian life. The writer's inherent objectivity allowed him to "deeply and truthfully" depict the dynamics of the characters' inner life, which is not subject to any initially given schemes and stereotypes in Tolstoy. The critic also noted the author's desire to find the best features in a person. What Strakhov especially appreciates in the novel is that the writer is interested not only in the spiritual qualities of the individual, but also in the problem of supra-individual - family and communal - consciousness.

The philosopher K. N. Leontiev, in the pamphlet Our New Christians published in 1882, expressed doubts about the socio-religious viability of the teachings of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. According to Leontiev, Dostoevsky's Pushkin speech and Tolstoy's story "What makes people alive" show the immaturity of their religious thinking and the insufficient familiarity of these writers with the content of the works of the Church Fathers. Leontiev believed that Tolstoy's "religion of love", adopted by the majority of "neo-Slavophiles", distorts the true essence of Christianity. Leontiev's attitude to Tolstoy's works of art was different. The novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" the critic announced greatest works world literature "for the last 40-50 years". Considering the main shortcoming of Russian literature to be the “humiliation” of Russian reality dating back to Gogol, the critic believed that only Tolstoy managed to overcome this tradition by depicting “higher Russian society ... finally in a human way, that is, impartially, and in places with obvious love.” N. S. Leskov in 1883 in the article “Count L. N. Tolstoy and F. M. Dostoevsky as Heresiarchs (The Religion of Fear and the Religion of Love)” criticized Leontiev’s pamphlet, convicting him of “convenience”, ignorance of patristic sources and misunderstanding the only argument chosen from them (which Leontiev himself admitted).

N. S. Leskov shared the enthusiastic attitude of N. N. Strakhov to the works of Tolstoy. Contrasting Tolstoy's "religion of love" with K. N. Leontiev's "religion of fear", Leskov believed that it was the former that was closer to the essence of Christian morality.

Tolstoy's later work was highly appreciated, unlike most democratic critics, by Andreevich (E. A. Solovyov), who published his articles in the journal of "legal Marxists" Life. In the late Tolstoy, he especially appreciated the “inaccessible truth of the image”, the realism of the writer, tearing the veils “from the conventions of our cultural and social life”, revealing “its lie, covered with lofty words” (“Life”, 1899, No. 12).

Critic I. I. Ivanov in literature late XIX centuries found "naturalism", dating back to Maupassant, Zola and Tolstoy and being an expression of a general moral decline.

In the words of K. I. Chukovsky, “in order to write“ War and Peace ”- just think with what terrible greed it was necessary to pounce on life, grab everything around with eyes and ears, and accumulate all this immeasurable wealth ...” (article “Tolstoy as artistic genius", 1908).

The representative of Marxist literary criticism, which was developed at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, V. I. Lenin believed that Tolstoy in his works was the spokesman for the interests of the Russian peasantry.

The Russian poet and writer, Nobel Prize winner in literature Ivan Bunin, in his study “The Liberation of Tolstoy” (Paris, 1937), characterized Tolstoy’s artistic nature as an intense interaction of “animal primitiveness” and a refined taste for the most complex intellectual and aesthetic quests.

Religious criticism

Opponents and critics of Tolstoy's religious views were Church historian Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Vladimir Solovyov, Christian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev, historian-theologian Georgy Florovsky, candidate of theology John of Kronstadt.

The writer's contemporary, the religious philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, strongly disagreed with Leo Tolstoy and condemned his doctrinal activity. He noted the rudeness of Tolstoy's attacks on the church. For example, in a letter to N. N. Strakhov in 1884, he writes: “The other day I read Tolstoy’s “What is my faith”. Does the beast roar in the deaf forest?” Solovyov points out the main point of his disagreement with Leo Tolstoy in a long letter to him dated July 28 - August 2, 1894:

"All our disagreement can be concentrated on one specific point - the resurrection of Christ".

After long fruitless efforts spent on the cause of reconciliation with Leo Tolstoy, Vladimir Solovyov writes “Three Conversations”, in which he sharply criticizes Tolstoyism. save me, my hole. ”Soloviev calls the words “Christianity” and “gospel” a deception, under the guise of which the supporters of Tolstoy’s teachings preach views that are directly hostile Christian faith. From Solovyov's point of view, the Tolstoyans could have avoided obvious lies by simply ignoring Christ, who is alien to them, especially since their faith does not need external authorities, "rests on itself." If, nevertheless, they want to refer to any figure from religious history, then the honest choice for them would be not Christ, but Buddha. Tolstoy's idea of ​​non-resistance to evil by violence, according to Solovyov, in practice means the failure to provide effective assistance to the victims of evil. It is based on the false notion that evil is illusory, or that evil is simply a lack of good. In fact, evil is real, its extreme physical expression is death, in the face of which the successes of good in the personal, moral and social fields (to which the Tolstoyans limit their efforts) cannot be considered serious. A genuine victory over evil must necessarily be a victory over death, this is the event of the resurrection of Christ, witnessed historically. Solovyov also criticizes Tolstoy's idea of ​​following the voice of conscience as a sufficient means for embodying the gospel ideal in human life. Conscience only warns against improper deeds, but does not prescribes how and what to do. In addition to conscience, a person needs assistance from above, the direct action of a good beginning within him. This good inspiration followers of Tolstoy's teaching deprive themselves. They only hope moral rules not noticing that they are serving a false "god of this world."

In addition to Tolstoy's doctrinal activity, his personal way of relating to God attracted the attention of his Orthodox critics many years after the writer's death. For example, St. John of Shanghai spoke about it this way:

“[Leo] Tolstoy carelessly, self-confidently, and not in the fear of God, approached God, took communion unworthily and became an apostate”

The modern Orthodox theologian Georgy Orekhanov believes that Tolstoy followed a false principle, which is still dangerous today. He considered the teachings of different religions and singled out the common thing in them - morality, which he considered true. Everything that is different - the mystical part of the creeds - was discarded by him. In this sense, many modern people are followers of Leo Tolstoy, although they do not consider themselves Tolstoyans. For them, Christianity is reduced to moral teaching, and Christ for them is nothing more than a teacher of morality. In fact, the foundation of the Christian life is faith in the resurrection of Christ.

Criticism of the social views of the writer

In Russia, the opportunity to openly discuss in the press the social and philosophical views of the late Tolstoy appeared in 1886 in connection with the publication in the 12th volume of his collected works of an abridged version of the article “So what should we do?”.

The controversy around the 12th volume was opened by A. M. Skabichevsky, condemning Tolstoy for his views on art and science. H. K. Mikhailovsky, on the contrary, expressed support for Tolstoy's views on art: “In the XII volume of the Works of gr. Tolstoy much is said about the absurdity and illegitimacy of the so-called "science for the sake of science" and "art for the sake of art" ... Gr. Tolstoy says a lot of things that are true in this sense, and in relation to art, this is extremely significant in the mouth of a first-class artist.

Romain Rolland, William Howells, Emile Zola responded to Tolstoy's article abroad. Later, Stefan Zweig, highly appreciating the first, descriptive part of the article (“... hardly ever social criticism more ingeniously demonstrated on an earthly phenomenon than in the depiction of these rooms of beggars and degraded people”), at the same time he noted: “but as soon as, in the second part, the utopian Tolstoy passes from diagnosis to therapy and tries to preach objective methods of correction, each concept becomes vague , the contours fade, thoughts, urging one another, stumble. And this confusion grows from problem to problem.”

V. I. Lenin in the article “L. N. Tolstoy and the Modern Labor Movement" wrote about Tolstoy's "powerless curses" against capitalism and "the power of money". According to Lenin, Tolstoy's critique of the modern order "reflects a turning point in the views of millions of peasants who have just emerged from serfdom and saw that this freedom means new horrors of ruin, starvation, homeless life ...". Earlier, in Leo Tolstoy as a Mirror of the Russian Revolution (1908), Lenin wrote that Tolstoy was ridiculous, like a prophet who discovered new recipes for the salvation of mankind. But at the same time, he is great as a spokesman for the ideas and moods that had developed among the Russian peasantry at the time of the onset of the bourgeois revolution in Russia, and also that Tolstoy is original, since his views express the features of the revolution as a peasant bourgeois revolution. In the article "L. N. Tolstoy" (1910) Lenin points out that the contradictions in Tolstoy's views reflect "contradictory conditions and traditions that determined the psychology of various classes and strata of Russian society in the post-reform but pre-revolutionary era."

G. V. Plekhanov in his article "Confusion of Ideas" (1911) highly appreciated Tolstoy's criticism of private property.

Plekhanov also noted that Tolstoy's doctrine of non-resistance to evil is based on the opposition of the eternal and the temporal, is metaphysical, and therefore internally contradictory. It leads to a rupture of morality with life and a retreat into the wilderness of quietism. He noted that Tolstoy's religion is based on belief in spirits (animism).

At the heart of Tolstoy's religiosity is teleology, and all the good that is in the human soul, he attributes to God. His teaching on morality is purely negative. The main attraction of folk life for Tolstoy was in religious faith.

V. G. Korolenko wrote about Tolstoy in 1908 that his beautiful dream of establishing the first centuries of Christianity can have a strong effect on simple souls, but the rest cannot follow him to this “dreamed” country. According to Korolenko, Tolstoy knew, saw and felt only the very bottom and the very heights of the social system, and it is easy for him to refuse "one-sided" improvements, such as a constitutional system.

Maxim Gorky was enthusiastic about Tolstoy as an artist, but condemned his teachings. After Tolstoy spoke out against the Zemstvo movement, Gorky, expressing the dissatisfaction of his like-minded people, wrote that Tolstoy was captured by his idea, separated from Russian life and stopped listening to the voice of the people, hovering too high above Russia.

Sociologist and historian M. M. Kovalevsky said that Tolstoy’s economic doctrine (the main idea of ​​which is borrowed from the Gospels) shows only that the social doctrine of Christ, perfectly adapted to the simple customs, rural and pastoral life of Galilee, cannot serve as a rule behavior of modern civilizations.

A detailed polemic with the teachings of Tolstoy is contained in the study of the Russian philosopher I. A. Ilyin "On resistance to evil by force" (Berlin, 1925).