"To live honestly." The beginning of the creative path.
“It’s funny for me to remember how I thought and how you seem to think that you can arrange for yourself a happy and honest little world in which you can live calmly, without mistakes, without repentance, without confusion, and do everything slowly, carefully, only good things. It's funny!.. To live honestly, you have to tear, get confused, fight, make mistakes, start "and quit, and start again and quit again, and always fight and lose. And peace is spiritual meanness."
These words of Tolstoy from his letter (1857) explain a lot in his life and work. Glimpses of these ideas arose early in Tolstoy's mind. He repeatedly recalled the game, which he loved very much as a child. It was invented by the eldest of the Tolstoy brothers - Nikolenka. “So, when my brothers and I were - I was five, Mitenka was six, Seryozha was seven years old, he announced to us that he had a secret, through which, when it was revealed, all people would become happy; there will be no illnesses, no troubles, no one will be angry with anyone, and everyone will love each other, everyone will become ant brothers. (Probably these were the "Moravian brothers" 1 ; whom he heard or read about, but in our language they were ant brothers.) And I remember that the word "ant" was especially liked, reminiscent of ants in a tussock.
The secret of human happiness was, according to Nikolenka, "written by him on a green stick, and this stick was buried by the road on the edge of the ravine of the Old Order." To learn the secret, it was necessary to fulfill many difficult conditions...
The ideal of the "ant" brothers - the brotherhood of people from all over the world - Tolstoy carried through his whole life. “We called it a game,” he wrote at the end of his life, “and yet everything in the world is a game, except for this ...”
Tolstoy's childhood years were spent in the Tula estate of his parents - Yasnaya Polyana. Tolstoy did not remember his mother: she died when he was not two years old. At the age of 9, he also lost his father. A participant in foreign campaigns during the Patriotic War, Tolstoy's father was one of the nobles who were critical of the government: he did not want to serve either at the end of the reign of Alexander I, or under Nicholas. “Of course, I didn’t understand anything about this in my childhood,” Tolstoy recalled much later, “but I understood that my father never humiliated himself before anyone, did not change his lively, cheerful and often mocking tone. And this self-esteem, which I saw in him, increased my love, my admiration for him.
The teacher of the orphaned children of the Tolstoys (four brothers and sister Mashenka) was a distant relative of the family, T. A. Yergolskaya. “The most important person in terms of influence on my life,” the writer said about her. Auntie, as her pupils called her, was a person of a decisive and selfless character. Tolstoy knew that Tatyana Alexandrovna loved his father and his father loved her, but circumstances separated them.
Tolstoy's children's poems dedicated to "dear aunt" have been preserved. He began writing at the age of seven. A notebook for 1835 has come down to us, entitled: “Children's fun. The first division... Here are the different breeds of birds.
Tolstoy received his initial education at home, as was customary then in noble families, and at the age of seventeen he entered Kazan University. But classes at the university did not satisfy the future writer. A powerful spiritual energy awakened in him, which he himself, perhaps, was not yet aware of. The young man read a lot, thought. “... For some time,” T. A. Ergolskaya wrote in her diary, “the study of philosophy occupies his days and nights. He only thinks about how to delve into the mysteries of human existence. Apparently, for this reason, the nineteen-year-old Tolstoy left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana, which he inherited.
Here he tries to find a use for his powers. He keeps a diary in order to give himself “a report every day from the point of view of those weaknesses from which you want to improve”, draws up “rules for the development of the will”, takes up the study of many sciences, decides to improve the life of the peasants.
But the plans for self-education turn out to be too grandiose, and the peasants do not understand the young master and do not want to accept his good deeds.
Tolstoy rushes about, looking for goals in life. He is either going to go to Siberia, then he goes to Moscow and spends several months there - by his own admission, “very carelessly, without service, without employment, without a goal”; then he goes to St. Petersburg, where he successfully passes the exams for the degree of candidate at the university, but does not complete this undertaking either; then he is going to enter the Horse Guards Regiment; then suddenly decides to rent a postal station...
In the same years, Tolstoy was seriously engaged in music, opened a school for peasant children, took up the study of pedagogy ...
In a painful search, Tolstoy gradually comes to the main thing to which he devoted the rest of his life - to literary creativity. The first ideas arise, "the first sketches appear.
In 1851, together with his brother Nikolai Tolstoy, he went; ; to the Caucasus, where there was an endless war with the highlanders, he went, however, with the firm intention of becoming a writer. He participates in battles and campaigns, gets close to people new to him and at the same time works hard.
Tolstoy conceived to create a novel about the spiritual development of man. In the first year of the Caucasian service, he wrote "Childhood". The story has been revised four times. In July 1852, Tolstoy sent his first completed work to Nekrasov in Sovremennik. This testified to the young writer's great respect for the magazine. An insightful editor, Nekrasov highly appreciated the talent of the novice author, noted the important advantage of his work - "the simplicity and reality of the content." The story was published in the September issue of the magazine.
So a new outstanding writer appeared in Russia - it was obvious to everyone.
Later, "Boyhood" (1854) and "Youth" (1857) were published, which, together with the first part, constituted an autobiographical trilogy.
The protagonist of the trilogy is spiritually close to the author, endowed with autobiographical features. This feature of Tolstoy's work was first noted and explained by Chernyshevsky. "Self-deepening", tireless observation of oneself was for the writer a school of knowledge of the human psyche. Tolstoy's diary (the writer kept it from the age of 19 throughout his life) was a kind of creative laboratory.
The study of human consciousness, prepared by self-observation, allowed Tolstoy to become a deep psychologist. In the images he created, the inner life of a person is exposed - a complex, contradictory process, usually hidden from prying eyes. Tolstoy reveals, according to Chernyshevsky, "dialectics of the human soul", i.e., "hardly perceptible phenomena ... of inner life, succeeding one another with extraordinary rapidity and inexhaustible variety."
The story "Childhood" begins with a trifling event. Karl Ivanovich killed a fly over Nikolenka's head and woke him up. But this event immediately reveals the inner life of a ten-year-old man: it seems to him that the teacher deliberately offends him, he bitterly experiences this injustice. The affectionate words of Karl Ivanovich make Nikolenka repent: he no longer understands how, a minute before, “could not love Karl Ivanovich
and find disgusting his dressing gown, cap and tassel. Niko-Lenka cries out of annoyance at himself. The boy cannot answer the sympathetic questions of the teacher and invents that he had a bad dream: “as if the tatap had died and they were carrying her to bury.” And now gloomy thoughts about a fictitious dream do not leave the frustrated Nikolenka ...
But this is only morning, and how many other events of the day leave a mark in the soul of a child! He no longer gets acquainted with an imaginary, but with a real injustice: his father wants to fire Karl Ivanovich, who lived in the family for twelve years, taught his children everything he knew himself, and now he is no longer needed. Nikolenka worries about the impending separation from her mother. He ponders over the strange words and deeds of the holy fool Grisha; boils with the delight of the hunt and burns with shame, frightening the hare; experiences "something like first love" for dear Katenka, the governess's daughter; boasts to her of skillful riding and, much to his embarrassment, nearly falls off his horse...
Before the reader, the image is revealed not only of a little boy who grows up, becomes a teenager, then a young man. In the trilogy, the image of another Nikolai Irteniev, the narrator, also appears. It is he, having become an adult, who again experiences and analyzes his life in order to find answers to the main questions for each person: what should one be? What to strive for?
Irteniev the narrator most closely and severely analyzes his attitude towards people of the "lower strata", towards the "common people". Obviously, this question seemed to both Tolstoy and his hero the most important in determining the future path of life.
One of the chapters of "Childhood" is dedicated to Natalya Savishna. She nursed Nikolenka's mother, then became a housekeeper. Nikolenka, like all his relatives, was so accustomed to the love and devotion of Natalia Savishna that he did not feel any sense of gratitude and never asked himself questions: is she happy, satisfied? And so it happened that Natalya Savishna dared to punish her pet for the soiled tablecloth. Nikolenka burst into tears with anger. "How! - I said to myself, walking around the hall and choking with tears. - Natalya Savishna, just Natalia He speaks me you and also beats me in the face with a wet tablecloth, like a yard boy. No, it's terrible! The timid, affectionate apology of Natalya Savishna made the boy cry again - "not from anger, but from love and shame."
The life and work of Leo Tolstoy is still relevant today. The writer became the author of many immortal works. For example, "War and Peace", etc. To this day, Lev Nikolayevich is one of the great writers in the world.
Childhood
Tolstoy was born on 08/26/1828 in the Tula region, was the 4th child. His family was noble, large. Mother was from an ancient noble family - Princess Volkonskaya. She died in 1830. Then Lev Nikolaevich's cousin uncle began to raise children.
His father was a count. He died after 7 years. As a result, Lev Nikolaevich's aunt became the official guardian. After her death, the future writer, his sisters and brothers went to relatives in Kazan.
Education
At first, the future writer was educated at home. His teachers were Germans and French. In 1843 he entered the university, the faculty for the study of Oriental languages, then switched to law. Difficulties arose only in studies, and Leo dropped out of school in 1847, never having received a specialty.
Searching for yourself
He returned to his parental estate and tried to become a farmer. It was just a failed attempt. Young Tolstoy often wandered either to Moscow or to Tula. However, the habit of keeping a personal diary continued into adulthood. This prompted Tolstoy to write most of his works.
His older brother, having arrived home for a short while, convinced that Leo should go as a cadet to the army service. He agreed and in 1854 was sent to Sevastopol. He fought there until the autumn of 1855.
First publications
While Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose life and work is still relevant, was in the service, he often had free time. Then he wrote the story "Childhood". It includes the most vivid memories of the writer. In 1852, a new story by Tolstoy appeared in Sovremennik. It was his very first publication.
After that, he became as popular as other famous writers. After "Childhood" Lev Nikolaevich began to write about army service. In 1862, the work "Cossacks" appeared. Tolstoy managed to write even during periods of fierce battles. Then, in 1854, the work "" appeared.
It became a continuation of "Childhood". Then "Sevastopol Tales" appeared, Tolstoy returned back to Russia and gained great popularity. In 1857 he went to live in Paris, spent all his savings and returned home. In 1857, the work "" appeared.
Late creativity
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy: life and work briefly. In 1862, he published the first issue of Yasnaya Polyana and married Sophia Bers. They settled in Tolstoy's estate, the couple had children. The writer was happy. Then he was already writing the first volume of War and Peace. One part of it was published in 1865. Until 1868, Tolstoy wrote 3 more chapters. The work was completed in full a year later.
In 1873 Tolstoy began working on Anna Karenina. Partially, the work is based on real life events of the author. For example, the relationship between Levin and Kitty is a reflection of Lev Nikolaevich's courtship for his future wife. The novel was deeply appreciated by readers.
However, this did not particularly please Lev Nikolaevich - the author was in a deep depression. He created the Mediator. He tried to find strength in faith, but he was excommunicated from Orthodoxy. At some point, Tolstoy wanted to donate all his savings, but his wife categorically prevented such an impulse. Then a compromise followed - Lev Nikolaevich gave the copyright to his wife.
The last works of the writer
Tolstoy wrote a number of religious treatises. Among his last works were short stories about morality. The work "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" was very successful. In 1898, "Father Sergius" appeared, then - "Resurrection", "Living Corpse", "Hadji Murad", "After the Ball". Some of the works were published after the death of the writer.
The last years of the writer
In the last thirty years, Lev Nikolaevich has become a religious and even spiritual leader. However, his wife did not agree with his worldview, did not recognize the students who visited Tolstoy. In 1910, he went on a pilgrimage with his youngest daughter. They traveled the world incognito.
The classic of Russian literature, Leo Tolstoy, was born on September 9, 1828, into the noble family of Nikolai Tolstoy and his wife Maria Nikolaevna. The father and mother of the future writer were nobles and belonged to revered families, so the family lived comfortably in their own estate, Yasnaya Polyana, located in the Tula region.
Leo Tolstoy spent his childhood in the family estate. In these places, for the first time, he saw the course of life of the working people, heard the abundance of old legends, parables, fairy tales, and here his first attraction to literature arose. Yasnaya Polyana is a place to which the writer returned at all stages of his life, drawing wisdom, beauty, and inspiration.
Despite his noble origin, Tolstoy had to learn the bitterness of orphanhood since childhood, because the mother of the future writer died when the boy was only two years old. The father passed away not much later, when Leo was seven years old. First, the grandmother took custody of the children, and after her death - aunt Palageya Yushkova, who took the four children of the Tolstoy family with her to Kazan.
growing up
Six years of living in Kazan became the informal years of the writer's growing up, because at this time his character and worldview are formed. In 1844, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, first at the eastern department, then, not finding himself in the study of Arabic and Turkish, at the Faculty of Law.
The writer did not show significant interest in studying law, but he understood the need for a diploma. After passing the exams externally, in 1847 Lev Nikolayevich received a long-awaited document and returned to Yasnaya Polyana, and then to Moscow, where he began to engage in literary work.
Military service
Not having time to finish the two conceived stories, in the spring of 1851 Tolstoy went to the Caucasus with his brother Nikolai and began military service. The young writer takes part in the military operations of the Russian army, acts among the defenders of the Crimean peninsula, liberates his native land from Turkish and Anglo-French troops. Years of service gave Leo Tolstoy invaluable experience, knowledge of the life of ordinary soldiers and citizens, their characters, heroism, aspirations.
The years of service are vividly reflected in Tolstoy's stories "The Cossacks", "Hadji Murad", as well as in the stories "Degraded", "Cutting the Forest", "Raid".
Literary and social activities
Returning to St. Petersburg in 1855, Leo Tolstoy was already well-known in literary circles. Remembering the respectful attitude towards serfs in his father's house, the writer strongly supports the abolition of serfdom, clarifying this issue in the stories "Polikushka", "Morning of the landowner", etc.
In an effort to see the world, in 1857 Lev Nikolayevich went on a trip abroad, visiting the countries of Western Europe. Getting acquainted with the cultural traditions of the peoples, the master of the word fixes the information in his memory in order to display the most important moments in his work later.
Actively engaged in social activities, Tolstoy opens a school in Yasnaya Polyana. The writer strongly criticizes corporal punishment, which was widely practiced at that time in educational institutions in Europe and Russia. In order to improve the educational system, Lev Nikolaevich publishes a pedagogical magazine called Yasnaya Polyana, and in the early 70s he compiled several textbooks for younger students, including Arithmetic, ABC, Books for Reading. These developments were effectively used in the education of several more generations of children.
Personal life and creativity
In 1862, the writer connected his fate with the daughter of the doctor Andrei Bers, Sophia. The young family settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where Sofya Andreevna diligently tried to provide an atmosphere for her husband's literary work. At this time, Leo Tolstoy is actively working on the creation of the epic "War and Peace", and also, reflecting life in Russia after the reform, writes the novel "Anna Karenina".
In the 1980s, Tolstoy moved with his family to Moscow, seeking to educate his growing children. Observing the hungry life of ordinary people, Lev Nikolayevich contributes to the opening of about 200 free tables for those in need. Also at this time, the writer publishes a number of topical articles about the famine, vividly condemning the policies of the rulers.
The period of literature of the 80-90s includes: the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", the drama "The Power of Darkness", the comedy "The Fruits of Enlightenment", the novel "Sunday". For a bright attitude against religion and autocracy, Leo Tolstoy is excommunicated from the church.
last years of life
In 1901-1902 the writer was seriously ill. For the purpose of a speedy recovery, the doctor strongly recommends a trip to the Crimea, where Leo Tolstoy spends six months. The prose writer's last trip to Moscow took place in 1909.
Beginning in 1881, the writer seeks to leave Yasnaya Polyana and retire, but remains, not wanting to hurt his wife and children. On October 28, 1910, Leo Tolstoy still decides to take a conscious step and live the rest of the years in a simple hut, refusing all honors.
An unexpected illness on the road becomes an obstacle to the writer's plans and he spends his last seven days of his life in the house of the head of the station. The day of death of an outstanding literary and public figure was November 20, 1910.
The house in Yasnaya Polyana, where Leo Tolstoy spent most of his life.
Modern look. Here is the writer's museum with a collection of memorial items.
In Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828. He was the fourth child in the family, he had three older brothers - Nikolai, Sergey and Dmitry, and a younger sister Maria. The atmosphere that reigned in the Tolstoy house is accurately reflected in the work of Lev Nikolaevich “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth". The young Tolstoys were orphaned early. At the birth of Maria, her mother, Maria Nikolaevna, died, and in 1837 her father, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, also died. Orphaned children moved to Kazan to live with their relatives. Tolstoy's elder brothers became students of the mathematical department of the philosophical faculty of Kazan University. Leo Tolstoy was not attracted to mathematics, and after a long preparation he entered the faculty of Oriental languages. However, he forgot his studies for the sake of secular entertainment, and Leo Tolstoy did not pass the exams for the first year. This circumstance remained forever in his memory, he experienced his “shame” so hard. Thanks to the patronage of relatives, he managed to transfer to the Faculty of Law. The young man was carried away by the works of Montesquieu and Rousseau, and as a result, his thirst for knowledge turned into a paradox - Leo Tolstoy left the university in order to devote himself entirely to the study of subjects of interest to him.
He left for Yasnaya Polyana and tried to engage in economic transformations and at the same time work on himself. Having failed in business activities. Tolstoy returned to Kazan, passed two exams at the Faculty of Law, but soon left the university again. In 1850 he entered the office of the Tula provincial government. But the routine service also could not satisfy the young Tolstoy.
I. Pokhitonov. Yasnaya Polyana. 1900
In the summer of 1851 Tolstoy again made an attempt to change his life. He went to the Caucasus to his older brother Nikolai, who served as an officer there. Leo Tolstoy joined the Caucasian army as a volunteer. Arriving at the village of Starogladovskaya, Tolstoy was struck by the new world of ordinary Cossacks that opened up for him, which was reflected in his later story The Cossacks. At this time, an important event took place in the life of Tolstoy. He completed the long-conceived part of the trilogy (“Childhood”) and sent it to the Sovremennik magazine, which Nekrasov was the editor at that time. "Childhood" was published and earned rave reviews from readers and critics (the other two parts - "Boyhood" and "Youth" - were published in 1854 and 1857).
In 1853, the Russian-Turkish war began. In a patriotic impulse, Leo Tolstoy transferred to the active Danube army with the rank of ensign, dreaming of military exploits and a military career. However, he soon became disillusioned with the poor organization of the Russian army and its military failures. At this time, he became interested in the world of a simple soldier. During the Sevastopol campaign of 1854-1855, Tolstoy wrote the essay "Sevastopol in December", which is the core of "Sevastopol Tales". This cycle is interesting for its approach to describing the events of the war, which simultaneously gives both a holistic image and an image of specific heroes. Already in this early work, the nationality of Tolstoy's creativity was manifested.
Lev Nikolaevich left the army with the rank of lieutenant of artillery and returned to St. Petersburg, where he was enthusiastically received by the editors of Sovremennik. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy undertook two trips abroad, and when he returned, he devoted himself to social work. Having studied the system of public education in Europe, he began to publish a pedagogical journal and opened a public school in Yasnaya Polyana. Being a staunch supporter of the abolition of serfdom, he was dissatisfied with the reform carried out in 1861 and called the "Regulations" on the emancipation of the peasants "completely useless chatter." Tolstoy became a mediator in one of the districts of the Tula province in order to be able to take part in the protection of peasant interests in the division of land. This, of course, caused extreme displeasure of the Tula nobility, and a denunciation was written against Tolstoy, which spoke of his revolutionary activities. In Yasnaya Polyana, in the absence of Lev Nikolaevich, a search was carried out.
In 1862, Tolstoy married the daughter of a famous Moscow doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers, who became Leo Nikolayevich's guardian angel throughout his life. For the next twenty years the Tolstoys lived in Yasnaya Polyana, making only occasional trips to Moscow. It was during these years that such great works as "War and Peace" (1863-1869) and "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877) were written. "War and Peace", in Tolstoy's own words, was the result of "an insane effort by the author". This novel, immediately after its publication, became widely known not only in Russia, but also abroad, having won unprecedented success. After the completion of War and Peace, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy decided to write a historical work about the era of Peter the Great and began to collect material for it. At the same time, he writes the "ABC", consisting of short stories for children. In 1873, Tolstoy abandoned his idea of a historical novel and turned to contemporary life, starting work on Anna Karenina.
However, Tolstoy's further spiritual quest was not approved by the authorities, and his "Confession" (1882), containing sharp criticism of the existing state and social structure, was banned by censorship. Tolstoy came to create his own religious and philosophical system, the foundations of which were outlined in the work "What is my faith?". The core of this system was the idea of non-resistance to evil by violence. Followers of Lev Nikolaevich, who called themselves "Tolstoyites", existed not only in Russia, but also in Europe and America, and even in India and Japan.
Tolstoy's ideas were also reflected in his latest novel, Resurrection, in which correction of one's guilt and an appeal to the gospel commandments are indicated as a path to moral perfection.
In the last years of his life, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, in his desire for self-improvement and in his critical attitude towards himself, experienced severe mental anguish, believing that he himself did not quite follow the way of life that he preaches. The writer repeatedly expressed a desire to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but could not resolve the internal contradiction between the voice of his conscience and his duty to his family. Back in 1894, he transferred all his property to his wife and children, but he continued to doubt whether he had done the right thing by not giving the land to the Yasnaya Polyana peasants. On the estate, surrounded by his family, Lev Nikolaevich could not lead the way of life close to the common people that he aspired to. His relationship with his family became complicated, and on the night of October 28, 1910, Tolstoy left Yasnaya Polyana, accompanied by his beloved daughter Alexandra Lvovna (the only one in the whole large family who fully shared her father's convictions) and boarded the train of the Ryazan railway. On the way, he caught a cold and contracted pneumonia. He had to get off the train at the Astapovo station, and on November 7 he died surrounded by his relatives.
Surmina I.O., Usova Yu.V. The most famous dynasties of Russia. Moscow, "Veche", 2001
This is how the main house of the estate looked until 1855. It was sold for export.
Memorial sign.
Tolstoy, Lev Nikolaevich(Count; 1828-1910) - the most famous writer in the history of general literature. W eminent writer, who reached an unprecedented level in the history of literature of the 19th century. glory. In his face, a great artist and a great moralist were powerfully united.
The personal life of Leo Tolstoy, his perseverance, tirelessness, responsiveness, animation in defending his ideals, his attempt to abandon the blessings of this world, to live a new, good life, based on only high, ideal goals and knowledge of the truth - all this brings the charm of the name of Tolstoy to legendary proportions.
The rich and noble family to which he belongs, already in the time of Peter the Great, occupied a prominent position. It is not devoid of peculiar interest that great-great-grandfather Peter Andreevich The forerunner of such humane ideals had a sad role in the history of Tsarevich Alexei. Great-grandson of Peter Andreevich, Ilya Andreevich, is described in "War and Peace" in the face of the most good-natured, impractical old Count Rostov. Son of Ilya Andreevich, Nikolai Ilyich, was the father of Lev Nikolaevich. He is depicted quite close to reality in "Childhood" and "Boyhood" in the person of Father Nikolinka and partly in "War and Peace" in the person of Nikolai Rostov. In the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Pavlograd hussar regiment, he took part in the war of 1812 and after the conclusion of peace he retired. Having spent his youth merrily, Nikolai Ilyich lost a lot of money and completely upset his affairs. The passion for the game also passed to Leo Tolstoy, who, already being a famous writer, gambled recklessly.
To put his frustrated affairs in order, Nikolai Ilyich, like Nikolai Rostov, married the ugly and no longer very young Princess Volkonskaya. The marriage, however, was a happy one. They had four sons: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry and Lev, and a daughter, Maria. In addition to Leo, Nikolai was an outstanding person, whose death (abroad, in 1860) Tolstoy so amazingly described in one of his letters to Fet.
Tolstoy's maternal grandfather, Catherine's General, is brought to the stage in "War and Peace" in the face of a stern rigorist - the old Prince Bolkonsky. The best features of his moral temper, Lev Nikolaevich undoubtedly borrowed from the Volkonskys.
The writer's mother, depicted with great accuracy in "War and Peace" in the face of Princess Mary, possessed a wonderful gift for storytelling, for which, with her shyness passed on to her son, she had to lock herself with a large number of listeners who gathered around her in a dark room.
In addition to the Volkonskys, Tolstoy is closely related to a number of other aristocratic families - the princes Gorchakov, Trubetskoy and others.
Lev Nikolayevich was born on August 28, 1828 in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province. (15 versts from Tula), in the hereditary magnificent estate of her mother, Yasnaya Polyana, which has now gained worldwide fame.
Tolstoy was not even two years old when his mother died. A distant relative, T. A. Ergolskaya, took up the upbringing of orphaned children. In 1837 the family moved to Moscow, because the eldest son had to prepare for entering the university; but soon the father died suddenly, leaving affairs in a rather disorganized state, and the three younger children again settled in Yasnaya Polyana under the supervision of T.A. Ergolskaya and paternal aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Saken. Here Lev Nikolayevich remained until 1840, when c. Osten-Saken and the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - the father's sister P. I. Yushkova.
This ends the first period of Tolstoy's life, described by him in "Childhood" with great accuracy in the transfer of thoughts and impressions and only with a slight change in external details. The Yushkovs' house, somewhat provincial in style, but typically secular, was one of the most cheerful in Kazan; all members of the family highly valued comme il faut and outward brilliance. " My good aunt Leo Tolstoy says the purest being, always said that she would want nothing more for me than that I have a relationship with a married woman"The two main principles of Tolstoy's nature - great pride and the desire to achieve something real, to know the truth - now entered into a struggle.
At the same time, a tense internal struggle and the development of a strict moral ideal were going on in him. The whole subsequent life of Leo Tolstoy is a painful struggle with the contradictions of life. If Belinsky can rightfully be called great heart, then the epithet fits Tolstoy great conscience.
Receiving higher education, he studied at the Oriental and Law faculties. He was only enrolled at the university, studying very little and getting deuces and ones in exams. The failure of Tolstoy's university studies is hardly a mere accident. Being one of the truly great sages in the sense of the ability to think about the purpose and purpose of human life, Tolstoy at the same time lacks the ability to think scientifically, that is, to subordinate his thought to the results of research. Having left the university even before the transitional exams for the 3rd year of law. faculty, Tolstoy from the spring of 1847 settled in Yasnaya Polyana.
Tolstoy was very fond of Rousseau. With no one does he have so many points of contact as with the great hater of civilization and preacher of a return to primitive simplicity. The peasants, however, did not completely capture Tolstoy, he soon left for St. Petersburg and in the spring of 1848 began to take an exam for a candidate of jurisprudence. He successfully passed two exams, from criminal law and criminal proceedings, then he got tired of studying, and he again took it and simply left for the village. Later, he traveled to Moscow, where he often succumbed to an inherited passion for the game, which greatly upset his financial affairs.
During this period of life Leo Tolstoy. he was especially passionately interested in music (he played the piano not badly and was very fond of classical composers). Much time was also spent on carousing, playing and hunting.
Soon he decided to enter the military service, but there were obstacles in the form of a lack of necessary papers that were difficult to obtain, and Tolstoy lived for about 5 months in complete seclusion in Pyatigorsk, in a simple hut. In the autumn of 1851, having passed an exam in Tiflis, Tolstoy entered the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade, stationed in the Cossack village of Starogladovo, on the banks of the Terek, near Kizlyar, as a cadet. In a remote village, Tolstoy found the best part of himself: he began to write and in 1852 sent the first part of an autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, to the editors of Sovremennik.
Tolstoy, who was soon promoted to officer, remained in the Caucasus for two years, participating in many skirmishes and being exposed to all the dangers of military life in the Caucasus. He had the rights and claims to the St. George Cross, but did not receive it, which, apparently, was upset. When the Crimean War broke out at the end of 1853, Tolstoy transferred to the Danube army, participated in the battle of Oltenitsa and in the siege of Silistria, and from November 1854 to the end of August 1855 was in Sevastopol. All the horrors, hardships and suffering that befell his heroic defenders were also endured by Tolstoy. He lived for a long time on the terrible 4th bastion, commanded a battery in the battle of Chernaya, was during the hellish bombardment during the assault on Malakhov Kurgan.
Drinking parties and cards, carousing with gypsy friends took Tolstoy whole days and even nights. He was criticized for this by former comrades from the writers' circle. 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 abroad. Western Europe made an unexpected impression on him - Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Italy - where Tolstoy spent only about 1½ years. And when he returned home, he actively engaged in the organization of schools in his Yasnaya Polyana.
Tolstoy resolutely rebelled against all regulation and discipline in the school; the only method of teaching and education that he recognized was that no methods were needed. Everything in teaching should be individual - both the teacher and the student, and their mutual relationship. In the Yasnaya Polyana school, the children sat where they wanted, for as long as they wanted, and as they wanted. There was no specific curriculum. The teacher's only job was to keep the class interested. Despite this extreme pedagogical anarchism, the classes were going great. They were led by Tolstoy himself with the help of several permanent teachers and a few random ones, from the closest acquaintances and visitors.
At that time he began to have a strong feeling for Sofia Andreevna Bers, daughters of a Moscow doctor from Baltic Germans. He was already in his fourth decade, Sofya Andreevna was only 17 years old. Having endured passion for Sofya Andreevna in his heart for three years, Tolstoy married her in the autumn of 1862, and the greatest fullness of family happiness fell to his lot, which only happens on earth. In the person of his wife, he found not only the most faithful and devoted friend, but also an indispensable assistant in all matters, practical and literary.
Tolstoy revels in the happiness of family life. During the first 10-12 years after his marriage, he creates "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina".
The horror lay in the fact that, being in the flower of strength and health, Leo Tolstoy lost all desire to enjoy the prosperity achieved; he had "nothing to live with", because he could not understand the purpose and meaning of life. In the sphere of material interests, he began to say to himself: “Well, all right, you will have 6,000 acres in the Samara province. - 300 heads of horses, and then? in the literary sphere: "Well, all right, 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: “why?”; discussing “how the people can achieve prosperity,” he “suddenly said to himself: what does it matter to me?” In general, he “felt that what he stood on had given way, that what he lived by was no longer there.».
The natural result was the thought of suicide.. « I, a happy man, hid the cord from me so as not to hang myself on the crossbar between the closets 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, still hoped for something from it.". In order to find an answer to the questions and doubts that tormented him, Tolstoy first of all frantically rushed into the realm of theology. He began to conduct conversations with priests and monks, went to the elders in Optina Pustyn, read theological treatises, studied ancient Greek and Hebrew languages in order to learn in the original the primary sources of Christian teaching.
At the same time, he kept an eye on the schismatic Old Believers, became close to the thoughtful peasant sectarian Syutaev, and talked with Molokans and Stundists. With the same feverishness he sought the meaning of life in the study of philosophy and in acquaintance with the results of the exact sciences. He made a series of attempts at greater and greater simplification, striving to live a life close to nature and agricultural life. Gradually he gives up the whims and comforts of a rich life, does a lot of manual labor, dresses in the simplest clothes, becomes a vegetarian, gives his family all his large fortune, renounces the rights of literary property.
In the opinion of people who are indignant at Tolstoy for turning from an artist into a preacher, these artistic teachings, written for a specific purpose, are grossly tendentious. But everyone understood that in the words of Tolstoy, the lofty and terrible truth.
Tolstoy directly comes to the conclusion that " the more we give ourselves to artistic beauty, the more we move away from good". Tolstoy pursues his new religious worldview, which was the fruit of many years of painful work of his deep analytical mind.The foundations of his worldview are in the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by violence, in saving the world with goodness and love, in saving a person through personal free self-improvement, in the denial of all coercive forms of society acting by an external force. (state, church hierarchy, military organization and war, etc.). Tolstoy attracted a huge number of followers in Russia
The latest fact of Tolstoy's biography is the decision of the Holy Synod of February 20-22, 1901. " A writer known to the whole world, - we read in this definition, - 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 property, clearly in front of everyone having renounced his Mother, the Orthodox Church, who nursed and raised him, and devoted his literary activity and the talent given to him by God to spread among the people teachings that are contrary to Christ and the Church, and to exterminate in the minds and hearts of people the faith of the father, the Orthodox faith, which established the universe , by which our ancestors lived and saved, and by which until now Holy Russia has been strong and strong. In his writings and letters, in the multitude 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: he rejects the personal living God, in Holy Trinity glorified, 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 the humanity of Christ the Lord and virginity before 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 faith of the Orthodox people, did not shudder mock the greatest of the sacraments, the holy Eucharist." Because of all this, “the Church does not consider him a member and cannot consider him until he repents and restores his fellowship with her.».
Some of Tolstoy's works, written before 1905, were banned by censorship from being printed in Russia.
On August 28, 1908, the 80th anniversary of his birth was celebrated throughout the civilized world, despite the position of the Russian Church.
The religious problem has always stood for Count Tolstoy in the foreground. Experiencing a painful mental crisis in the late seventies, Count Tolstoy turned to a thorough study of the historical foundations of Christianity. For this purpose, he even studied the Jewish language under the guidance of the Moscow Rabbi Minor.
After rereading many commentaries on the Bible, Tolstoy unconditionally condemned all orthodox-nationalist statements and embarked on the path of broad universalism. According to Count Tolstoy, in the soul of the Russian people there is no hatred, either religious or tribal, towards foreigners. This hatred has been artificially instilled for centuries by a short-sighted and self-serving policy.
Judeophobia, in the eyes of Tolstoy, is not a faith, not a political conviction, but a morbid passion. Poisoned by their own poison, other anti-Semite maniacs reach the point of wild eccentricity and savage obscurantism.
It is not economic hardships, not regiments of enemy armies that destroy peoples and countries, but the disintegration of inner strength, the degeneration of the moral core and the pernicious infection of national intolerance - this is what sweeps tribes and states from the face of the earth. Rome, Egypt and Babylon fell and crumbled for hatred of the peoples who inhabited their country, for hatred, like ice, cannot be a binding cement for a long time. Woe to that country where subjugated and destitute peoples, doused with malice and frozen with fierce cruelty, serve as the pillars of a fragile statehood.
Only deliberate slander can assert that between Jews and Christians there is a spontaneous, racial enmity, an ineradicable tribal strife. If some think that, by squeezing the Jews, they are fulfilling the irresistible decree of fate, which for some reason doomed entire nations to suffering, then their blind habit must be countered by the undoubted truth, expressed in antiquity by one Jewish teacher: God, as it were, does not care about the food of the poor, so that we have a reason to do a good deed to get rid of the torments of the future; God allows the lack of rights of individual nationalities, so that we have a reason to correct all previous sins in relation to foreigners by a living feat of active peacefulness.
Of the Hebrew legends, Count Tolstoy especially appreciated the legend " About the lament of the patriarchs"for the optimistic faith in the nearness of that time," when the peoples, having forgotten strife, will unite in a great family "; a story about the birth of Abraham for his immortal, captivating dream of nature rejoicing at the birth of a new spiritual leader.
The close and inseparable relationship between the religion of Israel and the moral gospel of Jesus predetermines, according to Tolstoy, the obligation for true Christians to carefully guard against all the temptations of intolerance towards the Jews. " Jews are persecuted only for their faith - baptism entails, for the most part, almost complete equality in rights».
No, in Tolstoy's eyes, there is no more blasphemous combination of concepts than religious persecution. Religion certainly excludes hatred and persecution, because the first natural movement of the human soul, in which a religious feeling has awakened, is the consciousness of the power over oneself of a high power that called him to life and desires the good of all living things. Just as a religious soul cannot harbor a vengeful feeling towards those who persist in prejudice, so it cannot be characterized by an arrogant alienation from those who seek divine truth insatiably, but seek in other ways. People who raise the sword of religious persecution are dead and not yet born to faith.
In creating the Jewish question, they are making a terrible mistake. In national disputes, especially in relation to a dependent people, it is necessary, first of all, to eliminate all repressions and all kinds of restrictions on rights. Evil can only be overcome with good. If some Jews pay active anti-Semites in kind, if centuries of insults and oppression accumulate vindictive feelings among the persecuted, then the Russian people, who have seen this long-standing mistake, can only correct it with patient and unfeigned generosity.
Some of the worldly weaknesses often attributed to commercial Jewry are, in Tolstoy's interpretation, the direct result of persecution. " To get rid of them, you need to fight persecution, not with them.". The best argument in favor of the Jews is, according to Tolstoy, those incredible excesses that others allow themselves militant Judeophobes and from the church pulpit , and from the parliamentary rostrum.
“If all the accusations against the Jews, the accusations that I personally do not believe, were just, then even then it would remain undoubted that the Jews could not do any harm to people living a Christian life"- Count Tolstoy.
