Lev Nikolayevich was born on August 28 (September 9, n.s.), 1829, in the estate of Yasnaya Polyana. Tolstoy was the fourth child in a large noble family. By origin, Tolstoy belonged to the oldest aristocratic families in Russia. Among the ancestors of the writer on the paternal side is an associate of Peter I - P. A. Tolstoy, one of the first in Russia to receive the title of count. Member of the Patriotic War of 1812 was the father of the writer gr. N. I. Tolstoy. On the maternal side, Tolstoy belonged to the family of the princes Bolkonsky, related by kinship with the princes Trubetskoy, Golitsyn, Odoevsky, Lykov and other noble families. On his mother's side, Tolstoy was a relative of A. S. Pushkin.
When Tolstoy was in his ninth year, his father took him to Moscow for the first time, the impressions of meeting with which were vividly conveyed by the future writer in the children's essay "Kremlin". Moscow is here called "the greatest and most populous city in Europe", whose walls "saw the shame and defeat of the invincible Napoleonic regiments." The first period of young Tolstoy's life in Moscow lasted less than four years.
After the death of his parents (mother died in 1830, father in 1837), the future writer with three brothers and a sister 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 the Faculty of Law (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. Tolstoy left for Yasnaya Polyana with the firm intention of studying the entire course of legal sciences (in order to pass the exam as an external student), "practical medicine", languages, agriculture, history, geographical statistics, writing a dissertation and "achieving the highest degree of perfection in music and painting."
After a summer in the countryside, disappointed by the unsuccessful experience of managing on new, favorable conditions for serfs (this attempt is captured in the story "The Morning of the Landowner", 1857), in the fall of 1847 Tolstoy left first for Moscow, then for St. Petersburg to take candidate exams at the university. His way of life during this period often changed: either he prepared for days and passed exams, then he passionately devoted himself to music, then he intended to start a bureaucratic career, then he dreamed of becoming a cadet in a horse guard regiment. Religious moods, reaching asceticism, alternated with revelry, cards, trips to the gypsies. In the family, he was considered "the most trifling fellow", and he managed to repay the debts he had made then only many years later. However, it was these years that were colored by intense introspection and struggle with oneself, which is reflected in the diary that Tolstoy kept throughout his life. At the same time, he had a serious desire to write and the first unfinished artistic sketches appeared.
1851 - Leo Tolstoy works on the story "Childhood". In the same year, he volunteered for the Caucasus, where his brother Nikolai was already serving. Here he takes the exam for the rank of cadet, enrolled in military service. His title is 4th class fireworks. Tolstoy participates in the Chechen war. This period is considered the beginning of the writer's literary activity: he writes many stories, stories about the war.
1852 - "Childhood" was published in Sovremennik, the first of the writer's published works.
1854 - Tolstoy was promoted to warrant officer, he submits a request for transfer to the Crimean army. There is a Russian-Turkish war, and Count Tolstoy takes part in the defense of the besieged Sevastopol. He was awarded the Order of St. Anna with the inscription "For Bravery", medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol". He writes "Sevastopol Tales", which, with their realism, make an indelible impression on Russian society, which lived far from the war.
1855 - return to St. Petersburg. Leo Tolstoy is included in the circle of Russian writers. Among his new acquaintances are Turgenev, Tyutchev, Nekrasov, Ostrovsky and many others.
Soon, "people got sick of him and he got sick of himself," and at the beginning of 1857, leaving St. Petersburg, he went abroad. In Germany, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Tolstoy spent only about a year and a half (1857 and 1860-1861). The impression was negative.
Returning to Russia immediately after the liberation of the peasants, he became a mediator and set up schools in his Yasnaya Polyana and throughout the Krapivensky district. The Yasnaya Polyana school is one of the most original pedagogical attempts ever made: 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 relationship. At the Yasnaya Polyana school, the children sat wherever 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.
From 1862 Tolstoy began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana. Put together, Tolstoy's pedagogical articles made up an entire volume of his collected works. Having warmly welcomed Tolstoy's debuts, recognizing in him the great hope of Russian literature, criticism then for 10-12 years cools towards him.
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 devoted himself completely to family life and household chores. However, already in the autumn of 1863, he was captured by a new literary idea, which for a long time was called "The Year 1805".
The time of the creation of the novel was a period of spiritual uplift, family happiness and quiet solitary work. Tolstoy read the memoirs and correspondence of people of the Alexander era (including the materials of Tolstoy and Volkonsky), worked in the archives, studied Masonic manuscripts, traveled to the Borodino field, moving slowly in his work, through many editions (his wife helped him a lot in copying the manuscripts, refuting the fact the very jokes of friends that she is still so young, as if playing with dolls), and only at the beginning of 1865 he published the first part of War and Peace in the Russkiy Vestnik. The novel was read avidly, caused a lot of responses, striking with a combination of a wide epic canvas with a subtle psychological analysis, with a lively picture of private life, organically inscribed in history.
Heated debate provoked the subsequent parts of the novel, in which Tolstoy developed a fatalistic philosophy of history. There were reproaches that the writer "entrusted" the intellectual demands of his era to the people of the beginning of the century: the idea of the novel about the Patriotic War was indeed a response to the problems that worried Russian post-reform society. Tolstoy himself characterized his plan as an attempt to "write the history of the people" and considered it impossible to determine its genre nature ("it will not fit into any form, neither a novel, nor a short story, nor a poem, nor a history").
In 1877, the writer completed his second novel, Anna Karenina. In the original version, he bore the ironic title "Well Done Baba", and the main character was depicted as a spiritual and immoral woman. But the idea changed, and in the final version, Anna is a subtle and sincere nature, a real, strong feeling connects her with her lover. However, in the eyes of Tolstoy, she is still guilty of evading the destiny of a wife and mother. Therefore, her death is a manifestation of God's judgment, but she is not subject to human judgment.
At the pinnacle of literary glory, shortly after the completion of Anna Karenina, Tolstoy entered a period of deep doubt and moral quest. The story of the moral and spiritual anguish that nearly drove him to suicide as he vainly sought to find the meaning of life is told in Confessions (1879-1882). Tolstoy then turned to the Bible, especially the New Testament, and was convinced that he had found the answer to his questions. In each of us, he argued, there is the ability to recognize the good. It is a living source of reason and conscience, and the goal of our conscious life is to obey it, that is, to do good. Tolstoy formulated five commandments, which, he believed, were the true precepts of Christ and by which a person should be guided in his life. Briefly they are: do not fall into anger; do not give in to lust; do not bind yourself with oaths; do not resist evil; be equally good with the righteous and the unrighteous. Both the future teaching of Tolstoy and his life deeds somehow correlate with these commandments.
The writer all his life painfully experienced the poverty and suffering of the people. He was one of the organizers of public assistance to starving peasants in 1891. Personal labor and the rejection of wealth, of property acquired through the work of others, Tolstoy considered the moral duty of every person. His later ideas are reminiscent of socialism, but unlike the socialists, he was a staunch opponent of the revolution, as well as any violence.
Perversion, depravity of human nature and society - the main theme of the late works of Lev Nikolayevich. In his latest works (Kholstomer (1885), The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1881-1886), Master and Worker (1894-1895), Resurrection (1889-1899)) he abandons his favorite method of "dialectic souls", replacing it with direct author's judgments and assessments.
In the last years of his life, the writer worked on the story "Hadji Murad" from 1896 to 1904. In it, Tolstoy wanted to compare "the two poles of imperious absolutism" - the European, represented by Nicholas I, and the Asian, represented by Shamil.
The article “I Cannot Be Silent” published in 1908, where Lev Nikolayevich protested against the persecution of participants in the revolution of 1905–1907, was also loudly heard. Tolstoy's stories "After the Ball" and "For What?" belong to the same time.
The way of life in Yasnaya Polyana weighed heavily on Tolstoy, and he more than once wanted and for a long time could not decide to leave it.
In the late autumn of 1910, at night, secretly from his family, the 82-year-old Tolstoy, accompanied only by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. The road turned out to be unbearable for him: on the way, Tolstoy fell ill and had to get off the train at the small Astapovo railway station (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region). Here, in the stationmaster's house, he spent the last seven days of his life. November 7 (20) Leo Tolstoy died.
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy is one of the greatest novelists in the world. He is not only the world's largest writer, but also a philosopher, religious thinker and educator. You will learn more about all this from this.
But where he really succeeded was in keeping a personal diary. This habit inspired him to write his novels and stories, and also allowed him to form most of his life goals and priorities.
An interesting fact is that this nuance of Tolstoy's biography (keeping a diary) was the result of imitation of the great.
Hobbies and military service
Naturally, Leo Tolstoy had. He was extremely fond of music. His favorite composers were Bach, Handel and Chopin.
From his biography it clearly follows that sometimes he could play works by Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann on the piano for several hours in a row.
It is authentically known that the elder brother of Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai, had a great influence on him. He was a friend and mentor of the future writer.
It was Nicholas who invited his younger brother to join military service in the Caucasus. As a result, Leo Tolstoy became a cadet, and in 1854 he was transferred to Sevastopol, where he participated in the Crimean War until August 1855.
Creativity Tolstoy
During the service, Lev Nikolaevich had quite a lot of free time. During this period, he wrote the autobiographical story "Childhood", in which he masterfully described the memories of the first years of his life.
This work was an important event for compiling his biography.
After that, Leo Tolstoy writes the following story - "The Cossacks", in which he describes his army life in the Caucasus.
Work on this work was carried out until 1862, and was completed only after serving in the army.
An interesting fact is that Tolstoy did not stop his writing activity even while participating in the Crimean War.
During this period, from under his pen comes the story "Boyhood", which is a continuation of "Childhood", as well as "Sevastopol stories".
After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy leaves the service. Upon arrival home, he already has great fame in the literary field.
His distinguished contemporaries talk about a major acquisition for Russian literature in the person of Tolstoy.
While still young, Tolstoy was distinguished by arrogance and stubbornness, which is clearly visible in him. He refused to belong to one or another philosophical school, and once publicly called himself an anarchist, after which he decided to leave for France in 1857.
He soon developed an interest in gambling. But it didn't last long. When he lost all his savings, he had to return home from Europe.
Leo Tolstoy in his youth By the way, the passion for gambling is observed in the biographies of many writers.
Despite all the difficulties, he writes the last, third part of his autobiographical trilogy "Youth". It happened in the same 1857.
Since 1862, Tolstoy began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, where he himself was the main contributor. However, not having a calling as a publisher, Tolstoy managed to publish only 12 issues.
Family of Leo Tolstoy
On September 23, 1862, a sharp turn takes place in Tolstoy's biography: he marries Sofya Andreevna Bers, who was the daughter of a doctor. From this marriage, 9 sons and 4 daughters were born. Five of the thirteen children died in childhood.
When the wedding took place, Sofya Andreevna was only 18 years old, and Count Tolstoy was 34 years old. An interesting fact is that before his marriage, Tolstoy confessed to his future wife in his premarital affairs.
Leo Tolstoy with his wife Sofia Andreevna For some time in the biography of Tolstoy, the brightest period begins.
He is truly happy, and largely due to the practicality of his wife, material wealth, outstanding literary creativity and, in connection with it, all-Russian and even worldwide fame.
In the person of his wife, Tolstoy found an assistant in all matters, practical and literary. In the absence of a secretary, it was she who several times copied his drafts cleanly.
However, very soon their happiness is overshadowed by the inevitable petty quarrels, fleeting quarrels and mutual misunderstanding, which only gets worse over the years.
The fact is that Leo Tolstoy proposed a kind of “life plan” for his family, according to which he intended to give part of the family income to the poor and schools.
The way of life of his family (food and clothing), he wanted to greatly simplify, while he intended to sell and distribute "everything superfluous": pianos, furniture, carriages.
Tolstoy with his family at the tea table in the park, 1892, Yasnaya Polyana Naturally, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, was clearly not satisfied with such an ambiguous plan. On the basis of this, their first serious conflict broke out, which served as the beginning of an "undeclared war" to secure the future of their children.
In 1892, Tolstoy signed a separate act and, not wanting to be the owner, transferred all the property to his wife and children.
It must be said that Tolstoy's biography is in many ways extraordinarily contradictory precisely because of his relationship with his wife, with whom he lived for 48 years.
Tolstoy's works
Tolstoy is one of the most prolific writers. His works are large-scale not only in terms of volume, but also in terms of the meanings that he touches on them.
The most popular works of Tolstoy are "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection".
"War and Peace"
In the 1860s, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy lived with his entire family in Yasnaya Polyana. It was here that his most famous novel, War and Peace, was born.
Initially, part of the novel was published in the Russian Messenger under the title "1805".
After 3 years, 3 more chapters appear, thanks to which the novel was completely over. He was destined to become the most outstanding creative result in Tolstoy's biography.
Both critics and the public have long discussed the work "War and Peace". The subject of their disputes were the wars described in the book.
Thoughtful but still fictional characters were also sharply discussed.
Tolstoy in 1868 The novel also became interesting because it featured 3 meaningful satirical essays on the laws of history.
Among all other ideas, Leo Tolstoy tried to convey to the reader that the position of a person in society and the meaning of his life are derivatives of his daily activities.
"Anna Karenina"
After Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, he began work on his second, no less famous novel, Anna Karenina.
The writer contributed many autobiographical essays to it. This is easy to see when looking at the relationship between Kitty and Levin, the main characters in Anna Karenina.
The work was published in parts between 1873-1877, and was very highly appreciated by both critics and society. Many have noticed that Anna Karenina is practically Tolstoy's autobiography, written in the third person.
For his next work, Lev Nikolaevich received fabulous fees for those times.
"Resurrection"
In the late 1880s, Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection. Its plot was based on a genuine court case. It is in the "Resurrection" that the author's sharp views on church rites are clearly indicated.
By the way, this work was one of the reasons that led to a complete break between the Orthodox Church and Count Tolstoy.
Tolstoy and religion
Despite the fact that the works described above were a tremendous success, this did not bring any joy to the writer.
He was in a depressed state and experienced a deep inner emptiness.
In this regard, the next stage in Tolstoy's biography was a continuous, almost convulsive search for the meaning of life.
Initially, Lev Nikolayevich looked for answers to questions in the Orthodox Church, but this did not bring him any results.
Over time, he began to criticize in every possible way both the Orthodox Church itself and the Christian religion in general. He began to publish his thoughts on these acute issues in the media outlet.
His main position was that the Christian teaching is good, but Jesus Christ himself seems to be unnecessary. That is why he decided to make his own translation of the Gospel.
In general, Tolstoy's religious views were extremely complex and confusing. It was some incredible mixture of Christianity and Buddhism, seasoned with various Eastern beliefs.
In 1901, the decision of the Holy Governing Synod on Count Leo Tolstoy was issued.
It was a decree that officially announced that Leo Tolstoy was no longer a member of the Orthodox Church, since his publicly expressed convictions were incompatible with such membership.
The definition of the Holy Synod is sometimes erroneously interpreted as excommunication (anathema) of Tolstoy from the church.
Copyright and conflict with his wife
In connection with his new beliefs, Leo Tolstoy wanted to distribute all his savings and give up his own property in favor of the poor. However, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, expressed a categorical protest in this regard.
In this regard, the main family crisis was outlined in Tolstoy's biography. When Sofya Andreevna found out that her husband had publicly renounced the copyright to all his works (which, in fact, was their main source of income), they began to have violent conflicts.
From Tolstoy's diary:
“She does not understand, and the children do not understand, spending money, that every ruble they live on and earn by books is suffering, my shame. Let it be a shame, but what a weakening of the effect that the preaching of the truth could have had.
Of course, it is not difficult to understand the wife of Lev Nikolayevich. After all, they had 9 children, whom he, by and large, left without a livelihood.
Pragmatic, rational and active Sofya Andreevna could not allow this to happen.
Ultimately, Tolstoy made a formal will, transferring the rights to his youngest daughter, Alexandra Lvovna, who fully sympathized with his views.
At the same time, an explanatory note was attached to the will that in fact these texts should not become someone's property, and V.G. takes over the authority to monitor the processes. Chertkov is a faithful follower and student of Tolstoy, who was supposed to take all the writings of the writer, right down to drafts.
Later work of Tolstoy
Tolstoy's later works were realistic fiction, as well as stories filled with moral content.
In 1886, one of Tolstoy's most famous stories appeared - "The Death of Ivan Ilyich".
Her main character realizes that he has wasted most of his life, and the realization came too late.
In 1898, Lev Nikolaevich wrote the equally famous work Father Sergius. In it, he criticized his own beliefs that he had after his spiritual rebirth.
The rest of the works are devoted to the theme of art. These include the play The Living Corpse (1890) and the brilliant story Hadji Murad (1904).
In 1903 Tolstoy wrote a short story called "After the Ball." It was published only in 1911, after the death of the writer.
last years of life
The last years of his biography, Leo Tolstoy was better known as a religious leader and moral authority. His thoughts were directed towards resisting evil in a non-violent way.
Even during his lifetime, Tolstoy became an idol for the majority. However, despite all his achievements, there were serious flaws in his family life, which were especially aggravated in old age.
Leo Tolstoy with grandchildren The writer's wife, Sofya Andreevna, did not agree with her husband's views and felt hostility towards some of his followers, who often came to Yasnaya Polyana.
She said: "How can you love humanity, and hate those who are next to you."
All this could not last long.
In the autumn of 1910, Tolstoy, accompanied only by his doctor D.P. Makovitsky leaves Yasnaya Polyana forever. However, he did not have any specific plan of action.
Death of Tolstoy
However, on the way, Leo Tolstoy felt unwell. First, he caught a cold, and then the disease turned into pneumonia, in connection with which he had to interrupt the trip and take the sick Lev Nikolayevich out of the train at the first large station near the village.
This station was Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region).
The rumor about the writer's illness instantly spread throughout the neighborhood and far beyond. Six doctors tried in vain to save the great old man: the disease progressed inexorably.
On November 7, 1910, Leo Tolstoy died at the age of 83. He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
“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. May the Lord God be his merciful judge."
If you liked the biography of Leo Tolstoy, share it on social networks.
If you generally like biographies of great people and just about everything - subscribe to the site IinterestingFakty.org in any convenient way. It's always interesting with us!
Liked the post? Press any button.
Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. The works of the brilliant writer are the greatest asset of Russia.
In August 1828, a classic of Russian literature was born in the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. The future author of "War and Peace" became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On the paternal side, he belonged to the ancient family of Counts Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.
Lev Nikolayevich's mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbed fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Leo was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.
Childcare fell on the shoulders of the writer's aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - the father's sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced his nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life in the Yushkov estate in the story "Childhood".
Silhouette and portrait of Leo Tolstoy's parents The classic received his primary education at home from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the faculty of Oriental languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he moved to another faculty - law. But even here he did not succeed: two years later he left the university without receiving a degree.
Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man regularly kept a diary, loved secular entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and.
Disillusioned with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the countryside, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for the candidate's exams at the university, music lessons, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet of a horse guard regiment. Relatives called Leo "the most trifling fellow", and it took years to distribute the debts he had incurred.
Literature
In 1851, the writer's brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Leo to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. The nature of the Caucasus and the patriarchal life of the Cossack village were later reflected in the stories "Cossacks" and "Hadji Murad", the stories "Raid" and "Cutting the Forest".
In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story "Childhood", which he published in the journal "Sovremennik" under the initials L. N. Soon he wrote the sequels "Adolescence" and "Youth", combining the stories into a trilogy. The literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolayevich his first recognition.
The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: the appointment to Bucharest, the transfer to the besieged Sevastopol, the command of the battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came out a cycle of "Sevastopol stories". The writings of the young writer struck critics with a bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them "the dialectic of the soul", and the emperor read the essay "Sevastopol in the month of December" and expressed admiration for Tolstoy's talent.
In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him "the great hope of Russian literature." But in a year, the writer's environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners got tired. Later, in Confession, Tolstoy confessed:
“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”
In the autumn of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. For six months, Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe. Traveled to Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. In the family estate, he took up the arrangement of schools for peasant children. In the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, twenty educational institutions appeared with his participation. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, he studied the pedagogical systems of European countries in order to apply what he saw in Russia.
A special niche in the work of Leo Tolstoy is occupied by fairy tales and compositions for children and adolescents. The writer created hundreds of works for young readers, including kind and instructive tales "Kitten", "Two Brothers", "Hedgehog and Hare", "Lion and Dog".
Leo Tolstoy wrote the ABC school manual to teach children to write, read and do arithmetic. Literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included instructive stories, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice to teachers. The third book included the story "Prisoner of the Caucasus".
Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" In the 1870s, Leo Tolstoy, continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted two storylines: the Karenins' family drama and the domestic idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love story: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of the existence of the “educated class”, opposing it with the truth of the peasant life. "Anna Karenina" highly appreciated.
The turning point in the mind of the writer was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight is central to stories and novels. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. The classic of Russian literature paints pictures of social inequality, castigates the idleness of the nobles.
In search of an answer to the question about the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but he did not find satisfaction there either. The writer came to the conclusion that the Christian church is corrupt, and under the guise of religion, the priests are promoting a false doctrine. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication Posrednik, where he set out his spiritual convictions with criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, the secret police watched the writer.
In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received critical acclaim. But the success of the work was inferior to "Anna Karenina" and "War and Peace".
For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his doctrine of non-violent resistance to evil, has been recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.
"War and Peace"
Leo Tolstoy did not like his novel "War and Peace", calling the epic "wordy rubbish". The classic wrote the work in the 1860s, while living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, called "1805", were published by "Russian Messenger" in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated debate among critics.
Leo Tolstoy writes "War and Peace" The features of the heroes of the work, written in the years of family happiness and spiritual uplift, the novelist took from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolayevich's mother, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love for art are recognizable. The traits of his father - mockery, love of reading and hunting - the writer awarded Nikolai Rostov.
When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. The young wife helped him, copying the drafts cleanly.
The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of the epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to "write the history of the people".
According to the estimates of the literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, the works of the Russian classic were filmed 40 times abroad alone. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia made 16 films based on the novel "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection" was filmed 22 times.
For the first time, "War and Peace" was filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.
Personal life
Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the life of the couple can hardly be called cloudless.
Sofya Bers is the second of three daughters of Andrey Bers, a doctor at the Moscow Palace Office. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they rested in the Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time, Leo Tolstoy saw his future wife as a child. Sophia was educated at home, read a lot, understood art and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as a model of the memoir genre.
At the beginning of his married life, Leo Tolstoy, wishing that there were no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. The shocked wife learned about her husband's turbulent youth, gambling, wild life and the peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolayevich.
The first-born Sergey was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy took up writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite the pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five of the 13 children died in infancy or early childhood.
Problems in the family began after the completion of Leo Tolstoy's work on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that Sofya Andreevna so diligently arranged in the family nest. The moral throwing of the count led to the fact that Lev Nikolayevich demanded that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he himself made, and wished to give the acquired property to the peasants.
Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of distributing good. But the resulting quarrel split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Returning, the writer assigned the duty of rewriting drafts to his daughters.
The death of the last child, seven-year-old Vanya, briefly brought the couple closer. But soon mutual insults and misunderstanding alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher, to whom romantic feelings arose. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for "half-treason".
The fatal quarrel of the spouses happened at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia a farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but he could not do otherwise.
Death
82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in the stationmaster's house. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy's state of health.
The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy
- Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
- Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
- All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Let everyone sweep in front of his door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
- Life is easier without love. But without it there is no point.
- I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
- The world moves forward thanks to those who suffer.
- The greatest truths are the simplest.
- Everyone is making plans, and no one knows if he will live until the evening.
Bibliography
- 1869 - "War and Peace"
- 1877 - "Anna Karenina"
- 1899 - "Resurrection"
- 1852-1857 - "Childhood". "Adolescence". "Youth"
- 1856 - "Two Hussars"
- 1856 - "Morning of the landowner"
- 1863 - "Cossacks"
- 1886 - "Death of Ivan Ilyich"
- 1903 - Notes of a Madman
- 1889 - "Kreutzer Sonata"
- 1898 - "Father Sergius"
- 1904 - "Hadji Murad"
In August 1828, a talented writer and also philosopher Leo Tolstoy was born. His parents died early, and almost from birth he was raised by a guardian from Kazan.
At the age of sixteen, Lev Nikolayevich entered the Faculty of Philology of Kazan University, later he transferred to the Faculty of Law. But still, he did not study for a long time and completely left the university. He began to look for himself, living in Yasnaya Polyana, which he inherited from his father. A little later he took part in the Caucasian war against the Chechens. During these years, Lev Nikolaevich begins to write his autobiographical trilogy "Childhood" (1852) and "Adolescence" (1852-1854). And it was this period of life that was reflected in a large number of Tolstoy's works, for example, the story "The Raid" (1853), "Cutting the Forest" (1855), the story "Cossacks" (1852-1863), in which the young nobleman wants to live an ordinary life , close to nature.
After the start of the Crimean War, at the request of Lev Nikolaevich, he was transferred to Sevastopol. There he wrote many works, which soon greatly impressed his readers. Tolstoy received many awards for bravery and for the defense of Sevastopol. In the same years, namely 1855-1857, Lev Nikolaevich wrote the last part of the Youth trilogy.
In 1855, Lev Nikolaevich returned to St. Petersburg and retired, because he did not like to fight. He meets a lot of writers. During this period, he travels extensively in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. He opens schools for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana and in the surrounding area. Travels a lot because of this event. In the year of the abolition of serfdom, he began to actively protect the peasants from the landowners who wanted to take away the land from the liberated. Because of this, many complaints were received that demanded the dismissal of Tolstoy. They searched his house, followed him, tried to find compromising evidence on Tolstoy, but soon his life became very quiet.
In 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married Sofya Andreevna Bers. After some time, his family was very large, Tolstoy had nine children. He wrote two of his most popular works: in 1863-1869 "War and Peace", and in 1873-1877 "Anna Karenina", a story about a woman who was subjected to criminal passion.
A little later, he and his family moved to Moscow for a while to educate their children, but this trip gave Tolstoy a little more than the education of children. It was in Moscow that Lev Nikolayevich changed his attitude to work. He saw ordinary hard workers fighting for a piece of bread, and decided to be like them. Tolstoy renounces the authorship of all his written works and begins to earn a living with his hands. But soon the need for money forced Tolstoy to return his authorship. Over the years he has been writing again. Between 1879 and 1882 writes the work "Confession", in 1884 "What is my faith?", And from 1884 to 1886 "Death of Ivan Ilyich". In 1886, the drama "The Power of Darkness" was published, and until 1890 the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment" was being written. Also during this period, namely from 1887 to 1889, Lev Nikolayevich created the story "The Kreutzer Sonata", and immediately proceeded to the novel "Resurrection", which he finished in 1899. In 1890 Tolstoy wrote Father Sergius.
In the early 1900s, he wrote a series of articles exposing the entire system of government. 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.
The last decade of Tolstoy presented readers with such works as the story "Hadji Murad" (1896-1904), the drama "The Living Corpse" (1900), the story "After the Ball" (1909, but published in 1911).
Before his death, Lev Nikolaevich lived in the Crimea for a long time. He was very ill and began to make a will, which caused quarrels in his family over the division of the inheritance.
In 1910, Tolstoy secretly leaves Yasnaya Polyana and catches a cold on the way, and while on the road, namely at the Astapov station, the Ryazan-Ural Railway, on November 20, Lev Nikolayevich dies.
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (28.08. (09.09.) 1828-07(20.11.1910)
Russian writer, philosopher. Born in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, in a wealthy aristocratic family. Entered Kazan University, but then left it. At the age of 23 he went to war with Chechnya and Dagestan. Here he began to write the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth".
In the Caucasus, he participated in hostilities as an artillery officer. 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 published Sevastopol Tales in the Sovremennik magazine, which clearly reflected his outstanding writing talent. In 1857 Tolstoy went on a journey through Europe, which disappointed him.
From 1853 to 1863 wrote the story "Cossacks", after which he decided to interrupt his literary activity and become a landowner, doing educational work in the village. To this end, he left for Yasnaya Polyana, where he opened a school for peasant children and created his own system of pedagogy.
In 1863-1869. wrote his fundamental work "War and Peace". 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".
The doctrine is set forth in the philosophical and religious works "Study of dogmatic theology", "Combining and translating the four Gospels", where the main emphasis is on the moral improvement of a person, denunciation of evil, non-resistance to evil by violence.
Later, a dilogy was published: the drama "The Power of Darkness" and the comedy "The Fruits of Enlightenment", then a series of stories-parables about the laws of being.
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 are the stories "Father Sergius", "After the Ball", "The Posthumous Notes of the Elder Fyodor Kuzmich" and the drama "The Living Corpse".
Tolstoy's confessional journalism gives a detailed idea of his spiritual drama: drawing pictures of social inequality and the idleness of the educated strata, Tolstoy in a harsh form posed questions of the meaning of life and faith to society, criticized all state institutions, reaching the denial of science, art, court, marriage, achievements of civilization. Tolstoy's social declaration is based on the idea of Christianity as a moral doctrine, and the ethical ideas of Christianity are comprehended by him in a humanistic key, as the basis of the universal brotherhood of people. In 1901, the reaction of the Synod followed: the world famous writer was officially excommunicated, which caused a huge public outcry.
On October 28, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana from his family, 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 stationmaster's house, he spent the last seven days of his life.
