Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy discovered it there. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most famous and great writers in the world. Even during his lifetime, he was recognized as a classic of Russian literature, his work paved the bridge between the currents of two centuries.

Tolstoy showed himself not just as a writer, he was an educator and humanist, he thought about religion, and was directly involved in the defense of Sevastopol. The writer's legacy is so great, and his life itself is so ambiguous that they continue to study and try to understand him.

Tolstoy himself was a complex person, for which the evidence is at least his family relationships. So numerous myths appear, both about Tolstoy's personal qualities, his actions, and about creativity and the ideas invested in it. Many books have been written about the writer, but we will try to debunk at least the most popular myths about him.

Flight of Tolstoy. A well-known fact - 10 days before his death, Tolstoy ran away from his home, which was in Yasnaya Polyana. There are several versions of why the writer did this. They immediately began to say that the already elderly man was already trying to commit suicide. The communists developed the theory that Tolstoy expressed his protest against the tsarist regime in this way. In fact, the reasons for the writer's flight from his native and beloved home were quite mundane. Three months before that, he wrote a secret will, according to which he transferred all copyrights to his works not to his wife, Sofya Andreevna, but to his daughter Alexandra and his friend Chertkov. But the secret became clear - the wife learned about everything from the stolen diary. A scandal erupted immediately, and Tolstoy's own life became a real hell. His wife's tantrums prompted the writer to do what he had planned 25 years ago - to escape. In these hard days Tolstoy wrote in his diary that he could no longer endure this and hated his wife. Sofya Andreevna herself, having learned about the flight of Lev Nikolaevich, became even more furious - she ran to drown herself in the pond, beat herself in the chest with thick objects, tried to run away somewhere and threatened to never let Tolstoy go anywhere again.

Tolstoy had a very angry wife. From the previous myth, it becomes clear to many that only his evil and eccentric wife is to blame for the death of a genius. In fact, Tolstoy's family life was so complex that numerous studies are still trying to figure it out today. And the wife herself felt unhappy in her. One of the chapters of her autobiography is called “The Martyr and the Martyr”. In general, little was known about Sofya Andreevna's talents; she was completely in the shadow of her powerful husband. But the recent publication of her stories made it possible to understand the full depth of her sacrifice. And Natasha Rostova from "War and Peace" came to Tolstoy straight from his wife's youthful manuscript. In addition, Sofya Andreevna received an excellent education, she knew a couple foreign languages and even translated complex work her husband. The energetic woman still had time to manage the entire household, the accounting of the estate, as well as sheathe and tie up the entire considerable family. Despite all the hardships, Tolstoy's wife understood that she was living with a genius. After his death, she noted that for almost half a century of living together, she could not understand what kind of person he was.

Tolstoy was excommunicated and anathematized. Indeed, in 1910 Tolstoy was buried without a funeral, which gave rise to the myth of excommunication. But in the memorable act of the Synod of 1901, the word "excommunication" is absent in principle. Officials from the church wrote that with his views and false teachings, the writer had long placed himself outside the church and was no longer perceived by it as a member. But society understood the complex bureaucratic document with a florid language in its own way - everyone decided that it was the church that abandoned Tolstoy. And this story with the definition of the Synod was in fact a political order. So the chief prosecutor Pobedonostsev took revenge on the writer for his image of a man-machine in Resurrection.

Leo Tolstoy founded the Tolstoyan movement. The writer himself was very cautious, and sometimes even with disgust, about those numerous associations of his followers and admirers. Even after escaping from Yasnaya Polyana, the Tolstoy community turned out to be not the place where Tolstoy wanted to find shelter.

Tolstoy was a teetotaller. As you know, in adulthood, the writer refused alcohol. But he did not understand the creation of temperance societies throughout the country. Why do people gather if they are not going to drink? After all big companies And they mean drinking.

Tolstoy adhered fanatically to his own principles. Ivan Bunin, in his book on Tolstoy, wrote that the genius himself was sometimes very cool about the provisions of his own teaching. One day the writer with his family and close family friend Vladimir Chertkov (he was also the main follower of Tolstoy's ideas) ate on the terrace. It was a hot summer, mosquitoes were flying everywhere. One particularly annoying one sat down on Chertkov's bald head, where the writer killed him with the palm of his hand. Everyone laughed, and only the offended victim noted that Lev Nikolaevich took the life of a living creature, shaming him.

Tolstoy was a big womanizer. The sexual adventures of the writer are known from his own notes. Tolstoy said that in his youth he led a very bad life. But most of all he is confused by two events since that time. The first is a connection with a peasant woman even before marriage, and the second is a crime with her aunt's maid. Tolstoy seduced an innocent girl, who was then driven out of the yard. That peasant woman was Aksinya Bazykina. Tolstoy wrote that he loved her like never before in his life. Two years before his marriage, the writer had a son, Timothy, who over the years became a huge man, like his father. Everyone in Yasnaya Polyana knew about the master's illegitimate son, that he was a drunkard, and about his mother. Sofya Andreevna even went to look at her husband's former passion, not finding anything interesting in her. And Tolstoy's intimate stories are part of his diaries of his youth. He wrote about the voluptuousness that tormented him, about the desire of women. But something like this was common for Russian nobles of that time. And repentance for past ties never tormented them. For Sofia Andreevna physical aspect love was not at all important, unlike her husband. But she managed to give birth to Tolstoy 13 children, losing five. Lev Nikolaevich was her first and only man. And he was faithful to her throughout the 48 years of their marriage.

Tolstoy preached asceticism. This myth appeared thanks to the thesis of the writer that a person needs a little for life. But Tolstoy himself was not an ascetic - he simply welcomed the sense of proportion. Lev Nikolayevich himself fully enjoyed life, he simply saw joy and light in simple and accessible things.

Tolstoy was an opponent of medicine and science. The writer was not at all obscurantist. He, on the contrary, spoke about the fact that it is impossible to return to the plow, about the inevitability of progress. At home, Tolstoy had one of their first Edison phonographs, an electric pencil. And the writer rejoiced, like a child, at such scientific achievements. Tolstoy was a very civilized person, realizing that humanity pays for progress in hundreds of thousands of lives. And this development, associated with violence and blood, the writer did not accept in principle. Tolstoy was not cruel to human weaknesses, he was outraged that the vices were justified by the doctors themselves.

Tolstoy hated art. Tolstoy understood art, he simply used his own criteria to evaluate it. And didn't he have a right to? It is difficult to disagree with the writer that a simple man is unlikely to understand Beethoven's symphonies. For unprepared listeners, many of classical music sounds like torture. But there is also such an art that is perceived as excellent by both simple villagers and sophisticated gourmets.

Tolstoy was driven by pride. It is said that this inner quality manifested itself both in the author's philosophy and even in everyday life. But is it worth considering the non-stop search for truth as pride? Many people believe that it is much easier to join some teaching and serve it already. But Tolstoy could not change himself. And in everyday life, the writer was very attentive - he taught his children mathematics, astronomy, and conducted physical education classes. Little Tolstoy took the children to the Samara province, that they knew better and fell in love with nature. It's just that in the second half of his life, the genius was preoccupied with a lot of things. This is creativity, philosophy, work with letters. So Tolstoy could not give himself, as before, to his family. But it was a conflict between creativity and family, and not a manifestation of pride.

There was a revolution in Russia because of Tolstoy. This statement appeared thanks to Lenin's article "Leo Tolstoy, as a mirror of the Russian revolution." In fact, one person, be it Tolstoy or Lenin, is simply not to blame for the revolution. There were many reasons - the behavior of the intelligentsia, the church, the king and court, the nobility. That's all they gave old Russia Bolsheviks, including Tolstoy. His opinion, as a thinker, was listened to. But he denied both the state and the army. True, he was opposed to the revolution. The writer generally did a lot to soften morals, urging people to be kinder, to serve Christian values.

Tolstoy was an unbeliever, he denied faith and taught this to others. Statements that Tolstoy turns people away from the faith irritated and offended him greatly. On the contrary, he stated that the main thing in his works is the understanding that there is no life without faith in God. Tolstoy did not accept the form of faith that the church imposed. And there are many people who believe in God, but do not accept modern religious institutions. For them, Tolstoy's searches are understood and not at all terrible. Many people generally come to church after being immersed in the thoughts of the writer. This was especially observed in Soviet times. Even before, the Tolstoyans turned towards the church.

Tolstoy constantly taught everyone. Thanks to this rooted myth, Tolstoy appears as a self-confident preacher, telling whom and how to live. But when studying the writer's diaries, it will become clear that he dealt with himself all his life. So where was he to teach others? Tolstoy expressed his thoughts, but never imposed them on anyone. Another thing is that a community of followers, Tolstoyans, has developed around the writer, who tried to make the views of their leader absolute. But for the genius himself, his ideas were not fixed. He considered the absolute presence of God, and everything else was the result of trials, torments, searches.

Tolstoy was a fanatical vegetarian. At a certain point in his life, the writer completely abandoned meat and fish, not wanting to eat the disfigured corpses of living beings. But his wife, taking care of him, poured meat into his mushroom broth. Seeing this, Tolstoy was not angry, but only joked that he was ready to drink meat broth every day, if only his wife would not lie to him. Other people's beliefs, including in the choice of food, were above all for the writer. They always had those at home who ate meat, the same Sofya Andreevna. But there were no terrible quarrels because of this.

To understand Tolstoy, it is enough to read his works and not to study his personality. This myth prevents a real reading of Tolstoy's work. Without understanding what he lived, one cannot understand his work. There are writers who say everything with their texts. But Tolstoy can be understood only if you know his worldview, his personal traits, his relationship with the state, church, and relatives. Tolstoy's life is an exciting novel in itself, which sometimes spilled over into paper form. An example of this is "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina". On the other hand, the writer's work also influenced his life, including family life. So there is no escape from studying the personality of Tolstoy and the interesting aspects of his biography.

Tolstoy's novels cannot be studied at school - they are simply incomprehensible to high school students. It is generally difficult for modern schoolchildren to read long works, and "War and Peace" is also filled with historical digressions. Give our high school students abridged versions of novels adapted to their intellect. It is difficult to say whether this is good or bad, but in any case they will at least get an idea of ​​Tolstoy's work. To think that it is better to read Tolstoy after school is dangerous. After all, if you do not start reading it at that age, then later the children will not want to immerse themselves in the writer's work. So the school works proactively, deliberately giving more complex and smart things than the child's intellect can perceive. Perhaps then there will be a desire to return to this and understand to the end. And without studying at school, such a “temptation” will not appear for sure.

Tolstoy's pedagogy has lost its relevance. Tolstoy the teacher is treated ambiguously. His teaching ideas were perceived as the fun of a gentleman who decided to teach children according to his original method. In fact, the spiritual development of a child directly affects his intellect. The soul develops the mind, and not vice versa. And Tolstoy's pedagogy works in modern conditions. This is evidenced by the results of the experiment, during which 90% of children achieved excellent results. Children learn to read according to Tolstoy's ABC, which is built on many parables with their secrets and archetypes of behavior that reveal the nature of man. Gradually, the program becomes more complex. A harmonious person with a strong moral principle emerges from the walls of the school. And according to this method, about a hundred schools are engaged in today in Russia.

LEV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY (1828-1910), Russian writer. Born August 28, 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, a family estate in the Tula province. His parents, well-born Russian nobles, died when he was a child. At the age of 16, raised at home ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

Graf, Russian writer. Father T. Count ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1828 1910), Russian. writer. Diaries, letters, conversations recorded by contemporaries T. contain numerous. judgments about L. The first acquaintance of T. with L. directly. youthful perception of his work. ("Hadji Abrek", "Ismail Bey", "Hero of Our Time"). ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich- (18281910), count, writer. Tolstoy's connections with the literary, social and cultural life of St. Petersburg (which the writer visited about 10 times, for the first time in 1849) were especially intense in the 50s; Here he first appeared in literature in ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

- (1828 1910) Russian. writer, publicist, philosopher. In 1844-1847 he studied at the Kazan University (did not graduate). Artistic creativity T. is largely philosophical. In addition to reflections on the essence of life and the purpose of man, expressed in ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

- (1828 1910) count, Russian writer, corresponding member (1873), honorary academician (1900) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Beginning with autobiographical trilogy Childhood (1852), Boyhood (1852-54), Youth (1855-57), study of fluidity inner world,… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1828 1910), count, writer. T.'s connections with the literary, social, and cultural life of St. Petersburg (which the writer visited about 10 times, for the first time in 1849) were especially intense in the 50s; here he first appeared in literature in a magazine ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

Tolstoy, Lev Nikolaevich- L.N. Tolstoy. Portrait by N.N. Ge. TOLSTOY Lev Nikolaevich (1828-1910), Russian writer, Count. Starting with the autobiographical trilogy "Childhood" (1852), "Boyhood" (1852-54), "Youth" (1855-57), the study of the "fluidity" of the inner world, ... ... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1828 1910), count, Russian writer, corresponding member (1873), honorary academician (1900) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Starting with the autobiographical trilogy "Childhood" (1852), "Boyhood" (1852-54), "Youth" (1855-57), an exploration of the "fluidity" of the inner ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Tolstoy (Count Lev Nikolaevich) famous writer, reaching an unprecedented level in the history of literature of the 19th century. glory. In his face powerfully united great artist with a great moralist. Tolstoy's personal life, his stamina, indefatigability, ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Books

• Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich. Collected works in 12 volumes (number of volumes: 12), Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) is a writer whose name is known all over the world, a writer whose novels have been and are being read by many generations. Tolstoy's works have been translated into more than 75...
• My second Russian book to read. Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich. Informative, entertaining and instructive works for teaching children to read were specially collected by Leo Tolstoy into several `Russian books for reading`. The first one is our…

Born into a noble family of Maria Nikolaevna, nee Princess Volkonskaya, and Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy in the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province as the fourth child. The happy marriage of his parents became the prototype of the characters in the novel "War and Peace" - Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov. Parents died early. Tatyana Alexandrovna Yergolskaya, a distant relative, was engaged in the upbringing of the future writer, education - tutors: the German Reselman and the Frenchman Saint-Thomas, who became the heroes of the writer's stories and novels. At 13 future writer and his family moved to the hospitable house of his father's sister P.I. Yushkova in Kazan.

In 1844, Leo Tolstoy entered the Imperial Kazan University in the Department of Oriental Literature of the Faculty of Philosophy. After the first year, he did not pass the transitional exam and transferred to the Faculty of Law, where he studied for two years, plunging into secular entertainment. Leo Tolstoy, naturally shy and ugly, gained a reputation in secular society as "thinking" about the happiness of death, eternity, love, although he himself wanted to shine. And in 1847 he left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana with the intention of doing science and "achieving the highest degree excellence in music and painting.

In 1849, the first school for peasant children was opened on his estate, where Foka Demidovich, his serf, a former musician, taught. Yermil Bazykin, who studied there, said: “There were about 20 of us boys, the teacher was Foka Demidovich, a courtyard man. Under father L.N. Tolstoy, he acted as a musician. The old man was good. Taught us the alphabet, counting, sacred history. Lev Nikolaevich also came to us, also worked with us, showed us his diploma. I went every other day, every other day, or even every day. He always ordered the teacher not to offend us ... ".

In 1851, under the influence of his older brother Nikolai, Lev left for the Caucasus, having already begun to write Childhood, and in the fall he became a cadet in the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade stationed in the Cossack village of Starogladovskaya on the Terek River. There he completed the first part of Childhood and sent it to the Sovremennik magazine to its editor N.A. Nekrasov. On September 18, 1852, the manuscript was printed with great success.

Leo Tolstoy served three years in the Caucasus and, having the right to the most honorable St. George Cross for bravery, “conceded” to his fellow soldier, as giving a lifelong pension. At the beginning of the Crimean War of 1853-1856. transferred to the Danube army, participated in the battles of Oltenitsa, the siege of Silistria, the defense of Sevastopol. The then written story "Sevastopol in December 1854" was read by Emperor Alexander II, who ordered to take care of a talented officer.

In November 1856, the already recognized and well-known writer leaves military service and leaves to travel around Europe.

In 1862, Leo Tolstoy married seventeen-year-old Sofya Andreevna Bers. In their marriage, 13 children were born, five died in early childhood, the novels "War and Peace" (1863-1869) and "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877) were written, recognized as great works.

In the 1880s Leo Tolstoy survived a powerful crisis, which led to the denial of official state power and its institutions, the realization of the inevitability of death, faith in God and the creation of his own doctrine - Tolstoyism. He lost interest in the usual aristocratic life, he began to have thoughts of suicide and the need to live right, be a vegetarian, engage in education and physical labor - he plowed, sewed boots, taught children at school. In 1891 he publicly relinquished copyright to his literary works written after 1880

During 1889-1899. Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel "Resurrection", whose plot is based on a real court case, and biting articles about the system government controlled- on this basis, the Holy Synod excommunicated Count Leo Tolstoy from Orthodox Church and anathematized in 1901.

On October 28 (November 10), 1910, Leo Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana, setting off on a journey without a specific plan for the sake of his moral and religious ideas of recent years, accompanied by doctor D.P. Makovitsky. On the way, he caught a cold, fell ill with lobar pneumonia and was forced to leave the train at the Astapovo station (now Lev Tolstoy station in the Lipetsk region). Leo Tolstoy died on November 7 (20), 1910 in the house of the head of the station I.I. Ozolin and was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Biography, life story of Leo Tolstoy

He came from a noble family, known, according to legendary sources, since 1351. His paternal ancestor, Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, is known for his role in the investigation of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, for which he was appointed head of the Secret Chancellery. The features of the great-grandson of Peter Andreevich, Ilya Andreevich, are given in War and Peace to the most 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, which did not allow him to serve under Nikolai. A participant in the foreign campaign of the Russian army against Napoleon, including participating in the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig and being captured by the French, 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 - private independent life with family joys. To put his frustrated affairs in order, Nikolai Ilyich, like Nikolai Rostov, married a no longer very young princess from the Volkonsky family; the marriage was happy. They had four sons: Nikolay, Sergey, Dmitry, Leo and daughter Maria.

Tolstoy's maternal grandfather, Catherine's general, 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 remarkable gift for storytelling.

In addition to the Volkonskys, Leo Tolstoy was closely related to some other aristocratic families: the princes Gorchakov, Trubetskoy and others.

CONTINUED BELOW

Born on August 28, 1828 in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province, in the hereditary estate of his mother - Yasnaya Polyana. Was the fourth child; he had three older brothers: Nikolai (1823-1860), Sergei (1826-1904) and Dmitry (1827-1856). In 1830 sister Maria (1830-1912) was born. His mother died at birth last daughter when he was not yet 2 years old.

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

The Yushkovs' house was 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 not want anything for me so much as for me to have a relationship with a married woman”

He 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 - painfully tormented him in that era of life. What he told in Boyhood and Youth about the aspirations of Irteniev and Nekhlyudov for self-improvement was taken by Tolstoy from the history of his own ascetic attempts of that time. All this led to the fact that Tolstoy developed "a habit of constant moral analysis", as it seemed to him, "destroying the freshness of feelings and clarity of mind" ("Adolescence").

Education

His education went first under the guidance of the French tutor Saint-Thomas (Mr. Jerome "Boyhood"), who replaced the good-natured German Reselman, whom he portrayed in "Childhood" under the name of Karl Ivanovich.

In 1841, 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, where Lobachevsky worked at the mathematical faculty, and Kovalevsky at the East. On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student in the category of Oriental literature as a native .. At the entrance exams, he, in particular, showed excellent results in the “Turkish-Tatar language”, which is mandatory for admission.

Due to a conflict between his family and a teacher of Russian and general history and the history of philosophy, Professor N. A. Ivanov, according to the results of the year, he had poor progress in the relevant subjects 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 Russian history and German continued. 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,” Tolstaya writes in her “Materials to biographies of L. N. 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 work - a comparison of Catherine's "Order" with Montesquieu's "Esprit des lois". ... 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».

While in the Kazan hospital, he began to keep a diary, where, imitating, he set himself goals and rules for self-improvement and noted successes and failures in performing these tasks, analyzed his shortcomings and train of thought, the motives of his actions.

In 1845, L. N. Tolstoy had a godson in Kazan. November 11 (23), according to other sources - November 22 (December 4), 1845 in the Kazan Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, Archimandrite Kliment (P. Mozharov) under the name of Luka Tolstoy was baptized 18-year-old Jewish cantonist of the Kazan battalions of military cantonists Zalman ("Zelman") Kagan, godfather whose documents included a student of the Imperial Kazan University, Count L. N. Tolstoy. Before that - on September 25 (October 7), 1845 - his brother, a student of the Imperial Kazan University, Count D. N. Tolstoy, became the godfather of the 18-year-old Jewish cantonist Nukhim ("Nochima") Beser, baptized (with the name Nikolai Dmitriev) archimandrite Kazan Uspensky (Zilantova) monastery Gabriel (V. N. Voskresensky).

Start literary activity

Having left the university, Tolstoy settled in Yasnaya Polyana in the spring of 1847; his activities there are partly described in The Morning of the Landowner: Tolstoy tried to establish relations with the peasants in a new way.

His attempt to somehow smooth over the guilt of the nobility before the people dates back to the same year when Grigorovich's "Anton Goremyk" and the beginning of Turgenev's "Notes of a Hunter" appeared.

In his diary, Tolstoy sets himself a huge number of goals and rules; managed to follow only a small number of them. Among the successful - serious studies English language, music, jurisprudence. In addition, neither the diary nor the letters reflected the beginning of Tolstoy's studies in pedagogy and charity - in 1849 he opened a school for peasant children for the first time. The main teacher was Foka Demidych, a serf, but Lev Nikolayevich himself often conducted classes.

Having left for St. Petersburg in February 1849, he spends time in revelry with K. A. Islavin, his uncle future wife(“My love for Islavin spoiled for me the whole 8 months of my life in St. Petersburg”); in the spring he 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 succumbed to the passion for the game, which greatly upset his financial affairs. 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). Exaggerated in relation to most people, the description of the effect that “passionate” music produces, the author of the Kreutzer Sonata, drew from the sensations excited by the world of sounds in his own soul.

Tolstoy's favorite composers were Handel and. In the late 1840s, Tolstoy, in collaboration with his acquaintance, composed a waltz, which he performed in the early 1900s with the composer Taneyev, who made a musical notation of this piece of music(the only one composed by Tolstoy).

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 with a gifted, but astray German musician, whom he later described in Alberta. Tolstoy had the idea to save him: he took him to Yasnaya Polyana and played a lot with him. 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 passed after leaving the university, when Nikolay Nikolayevich's brother, who had served in the Caucasus, came to Yasnaya Polyana and invited his younger brother to join the military service in the Caucasus. Lev agreed not immediately, until a major loss in Moscow hastened the final decision. Biographers of the writer note a significant and positive influence brother Nikolai to 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 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. 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 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. With a slight change in detail, she is depicted in all her semi-wild originality in The Cossacks. The same "Cossacks" also convey the picture inner life a young gentleman who fled from Moscow life.

In a remote village, Tolstoy began to write and in 1852 sent the first part of the future trilogy, Childhood, to the editors of Sovremennik.

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 career

Having received the manuscript of "Childhood", the editor of Sovremennik Nekrasov immediately recognized it literary value and wrote a kind letter to the author, which had a very encouraging effect on him.

Meanwhile, the encouraged author takes up the continuation of the tetralogy "Four Epochs of Development", the last part of which - "Youth" - never took place. His head swarms with plans for "Morning of the Landowner" (the finished story was only a fragment of "The Novel of the Russian Landowner"), "Raid", "Cossacks". Published in Sovremennik on September 18, 1852, Childhood, signed with the modest initials L.N., was an extraordinary success; the author immediately began to rank among the luminaries of the young literary school along with Turgenev, Goncharov, Grigorovich, Ostrovsky, who already enjoyed loud literary fame. Criticism - Apollon Grigoriev, Annenkov, Druzhinin, Chernyshevsky - appreciated the depth of psychological analysis, the seriousness of the author's intentions, and the bright convexity of realism.

Tolstoy remained in the Caucasus for two years, participating in many skirmishes with the highlanders and exposing himself to the dangers of military life in the Caucasus. He had the rights and claims to the George Cross, but did not receive it. 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.

Tolstoy lived for a long time on the dangerous 4th bastion, commanded a battery in the battle of Chernaya, was during the bombardment during the assault on Malakhov Kurgan. Despite all the horrors of the siege, Tolstoy wrote at that time the story “Cutting the Forest”, which reflected Caucasian impressions, and the first of three “ Sevastopol stories- "Sevastopol in December 1854". He sent this story to Sovremennik. Immediately printed, the story was read with interest by all of Russia and made a stunning impression with a picture of the horrors that befell the defenders of Sevastopol. The story was noticed by Emperor Alexander II; he ordered to take care of the gifted officer.

For the defense of Sevastopol, Tolstoy was awarded the Order of St. Anne with the inscription "For Honor", medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" and "In Memory of the War of 1853-1856." Surrounded by the brilliance of fame, using the reputation of a brave officer, Tolstoy had every chance of a career, but spoiled it for himself by writing several satirical songs stylized as soldiers. One of them is devoted to the failure of the military operation 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. Leo Tolstoy held an answer for her to the assistant chief of staff A. A. Yakimakh. Immediately after the assault on August 27 (September 8), Tolstoy was sent by courier to Petersburg, where he finished Sevastopol in May 1855. and wrote "Sevastopol in August 1855", published in the first issue of Sovremennik for 1856, already with the full signature of the author.

« Sevastopol stories”, finally strengthened his reputation as a representative of a new literary generation, and in November 1856 the writer parted with military service forever.

Travel Europe

In St. Petersburg, he was warmly welcomed in high-society salons and in literary circles; he became especially close to Turgenev, with whom he lived for some time in the same apartment. The latter introduced him to the Sovremennik circle, after which Tolstoy established friendly relations with Nekrasov, Goncharov, Panaev, Grigorovich, Druzhinin, Sollogub.

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

A cheerful life was not slow to leave a bitter aftertaste in Tolstoy's soul, especially since 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, without any regret, left Petersburg and went abroad.

On his first trip abroad, he visited Paris, where he was horrified by the cult ("The deification of the villain, terrible"), at the same time he attends balls, museums, he admires the "sense of social freedom." However, the presence at the guillotining made such a heavy impression that Tolstoy left Paris and went to places associated with Rousseau - Lake Geneva.

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 autumn of 1857, P. V. Annenkov tells Tolstoy’s project to plant all of Russia with forests, and in his letter to V. P. Botkin, Leo Tolstoy reports 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.

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 is not limited to literary interests: on December 22, 1858, he almost dies on a bear hunt. Around the same time, he began an affair with a peasant woman, Aksinya, and marriage plans were 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, and through conversations with specialists. From prominent people In Germany, he was most interested in Auerbach as the author of dedicated folk life"Schwarzwald Tales" 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 Herzen, was at a lecture by 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 in his arms. The death of his brother made a huge impression on Tolstoy.

Among the stories and essays he wrote in the late 1850s are "Lucerne" and "Three Deaths". Gradually, criticism for 10-12 years, until the appearance of "War and Peace" cools towards Tolstoy, and he himself does not seek rapprochement with writers, making an exception 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 Stepanovo 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 1862, Lev Nikolaevich was treated with koumiss in the Samara province. Initially, I wanted to be treated in the Postnikov koumiss clinic near Samara, but due to a large number vacationers went to Bashkir nomad camp Karalyk, on the Karalyk River, 130 versts from Samara. There he lived in a Bashkir wagon (yurt), ate lamb, basked in the sun, drank koumiss, tea and played checkers with the Bashkirs. The first time he stayed there for a month and a half. In 1871, Lev Nikolayevich came again due to deteriorating health. Lev Nikolaevich lived not in the village itself, but in a wagon near it. He wrote: “The melancholy and indifference have passed, I feel like coming into a Scythian state, and everything is interesting and new ... Much is new and interesting: the Bashkirs, who smell of Herodotus, and the Russian peasants, and the villages, especially charming for the simplicity and kindness of the people” . In 1871, having fallen in love with this region, he bought from Colonel N.P. Tuchkov estates in the Buzuluk district of the Samara province, near the villages of Gavrilovka and Patrovka (now the Alekseevsky district), in the amount of 2,500 acres for 20,000 rubles. The summer of 1872, Lev Nikolaevich spent already in his estate. A few sazhens from the house there was a felt wagon in which the family of the Bashkir Muhammadshah lived, who made koumiss for Lev Nikolaevich and his guests. In general, Lev Nikolayevich visited Karalyk 10 times in 20 years.

Pedagogical activity

Tolstoy returned to Russia shortly after the liberation of the peasants and became a mediator. In contrast to those who looked at the people as a younger brother who must be raised to their own level, Tolstoy thought, on the contrary, that the people are infinitely higher than the cultural classes and that the masters must borrow the heights of spirit from the peasants. He was actively engaged in organizing schools in his Yasnaya Polyana and in the entire Krapivensky district.

The Yasnaya Polyana school belonged to the number of original pedagogical attempts: 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 for as long 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.

Since 1862, he began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, where he himself was the main employee. In addition to theoretical articles, Tolstoy also wrote a number of stories, fables and adaptations. Put together, Tolstoy's pedagogical articles amounted to whole volume collections of his 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 leaves pedagogy. Marriage, the birth of their own children, the plans associated with writing the novel "War and Peace" push it back ten years pedagogical activities. Only in the early 1870s did he begin to create his own "Azbuka" and publish it in 1872, and then publish 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 educational institutions. Classes at the Yasnaya Polyana school are resumed for a short time.

It is known that the Yasnaya Polyana school had a certain influence on other domestic teachers. For example, it was her as a sample when creating own school"Cheerful Life" in 1911 was originally taken as a basis by S. T. Shatsky.

Acting as a defender in court

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 case produced great impression on Tolstoy.

Lev Nikolaevich with youthful years was acquainted with Lyubov Alexandrovna Islavina, in marriage Bers (1826-1886), loved to play with her children Lisa, Sonya and Tanya. When the daughters of the Berses grew up, Lev Nikolaevich thought about marrying his 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. On September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married her, having previously confessed to his premarital affairs.

For some period of time, the brightest period of his life begins for Tolstoy - intoxication with personal happiness, very significant thanks to the practicality of his wife, material well-being, outstanding literary creativity and in connection with it the All-Russian and world fame. It would seem that 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 her husband's drafts. But very soon happiness is overshadowed by the inevitable small disagreements, fleeting quarrels, mutual misunderstanding, which only worsened over the years.

The wedding of the elder brother of Sergei Nikolaevich Tolstoy with the younger sister of Sofya Andreevna, Tatyana Bers, was also supposed. But the unofficial marriage of Sergei with a gypsy made it impossible for Sergei and Tatyana to marry.

In addition, Sofya Andreevna's father, medical doctor Andrei Gustav (Evstafievich) Bers, even before his marriage to Islavina, had a daughter, Varvara, from V.P. Turgeneva, the mother of I.S. Turgenev. According to her mother, Varya was the sister of I. S. Turgenev, and according to her father - S. A. Tolstoy, thus, together with the marriage, Leo Tolstoy acquired a relationship with I. S. Turgenev ..

From the marriage of Lev Nikolaevich with Sofya Andreevna was born in total 13 children, five of whom died in childhood. Children:
- Sergei (July 10, 1863 - December 23, 1947), composer, musicologist.
- Tatyana (October 4, 1864 - September 21, 1950). Since 1899 she has been married to Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin. In 1917-1923 she was the curator of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate. In 1925 she emigrated with her daughter. Daughter Tatyana Mikhailovna Sukhotina-Albertini (1905-1996).
- Ilya (May 22, 1866 - December 11, 1933), writer, memoirist
- Leo (1869-1945), writer, sculptor.
- Maria (1871-1906) Buried in the village. Kochaki of the Krapivensky district (modern Tula region, Shchekinsky district, village of Kochaki). From 1897 she was married to Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (1872-1934).
- Peter (1872-1873).
- Nikolay (1874-1875).
- Barbara (1875-1875).
- Andrey (1877-1916), civil servant special assignments under the Tula governor. Participant Russo-Japanese War.
- Mikhail (1879-1944).
- Alexey (1881-1886).
- Alexandra (1884-1979).
- Ivan (1888-1895).

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

The heyday of creativity

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

"War and Peace"

Unprecedented success fell to the lot of "War and Peace". 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 release of "War and Peace" was preceded by the novel "The Decembrists" (1860-1861), to which the author repeatedly returned, but which remained unfinished.

In Tolstoy's novel, all classes of society are represented, from emperors and kings to the last soldier, all ages and all temperaments in the space of the whole reign of Alexander I.

"Anna Karenina"

The infinitely happy intoxication with the bliss of being is no longer in Anna Karenina, which refers to the years 1873-1876. There are many more gratifying experiences in almost autobiographical novel Levin and Kitty, but there is already so much bitterness in the image family life Dolly, in the unfortunate conclusion of the love of Anna Karenina and Vronsky, there is so much anxiety in mental life Levin, that in general this novel is already a transition to the third period of Tolstoy's literary activity.

In January 1871, Tolstoy sent a letter to A. A. Fet: “ How happy I am ... that I will never write verbose rubbish like "War" again» .

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 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 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?»; arguing "about how the 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 no more.” The natural result was the thought of suicide.

« I, 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, hoped for something else from it.».

Other works

In March 1879, in the city of 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 and epics, of which more than twenty were written down by Tolstoy, and the plots of some, Tolstoy, if he did not write down on paper, then remembered (these notes are printed in vol. XLVIII of the Jubilee edition of Tolstoy's works). Six works written by Tolstoy are based on the legends and stories of Schegolyonok (1881 - “What people are alive for”, 1885 - “Two old men” and “Three old men”, 1905 - “Roots Vasiliev” and “Prayer”, 1907 - “The old man in the church”) . In addition, Count Tolstoy diligently wrote down many sayings, proverbs, individual expressions and words told by Shchegolyonok.

Last journey, death and funeral

On the night of October 28 (November 10), 1910, L.N. Tolstoy, fulfilling his decision to live last years according to his views, secretly left Yasnaya Polyana, accompanied by his doctor D.P. Makovitsky. He began his last journey at Shchyokino station. On the same day, having transferred to another train at the Gorbachevo station, he reached the Kozelsk station, hired a coachman and headed to Optina Pustyn, and from there the next day to the Shamordinsky Monastery, where Tolstoy met his sister, Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya. Later, Tolstoy's daughter Alexandra Lvovna came to Shamordino with her friend.

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, heading south. We did not have time to buy tickets when boarding; having reached Belev, we bought tickets to the Volovo station. According to the testimonies of those who accompanied Tolstoy, the journey had no definite purpose. After the meeting, we decided to go to Novocherkassk, where we would try to get foreign passports and then go to Bulgaria; if this fails, go to the Caucasus. However, on the way, L. N. Tolstoy fell ill with pneumonia and was forced to leave the train on the same day at the first large station near the village. This station turned out to be Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region), where on November 7 (20) L. N. Tolstoy died in the house of the head of the station I. I. Ozolin.

On November 10 (23), 1910, he 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” of how to make all people happy.

In January 1913, a letter was published by Countess Sophia Tolstaya dated December 22, 1912, in which she confirms the news in the press that a funeral was performed at her husband's grave by a certain priest (she denies rumors that he was not real) in her presence. In particular, the countess wrote: “I also declare that Lev Nikolayevich never expressed a desire not to be buried before his death, but earlier he 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.

Report of the head of the St. Petersburg security department, Colonel von Kotten, to the Minister of Internal Affairs of the 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 Leo Tolstoy would take place on November 9 at one o'clock 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" ...»

There is also unofficial version the death of Leo Tolstoy, described in exile by I. K. Sursky from the words of an official of the Russian police. According to her, the writer, before his death, wanted to reconcile with the church and arrived in Optina Pustyn for this. Here he awaited the order of the Synod, but, feeling unwell, he was taken away by his daughter and died at the Astapovo postal station.

Leo Tolstoy is the most striking and controversial figure in Russian literature XIX century. Leo Tolstoy is known not only for his epic works but also philosophical views.

Over one hundred and seventy works of art he created in his long life. His prose has been translated into 75 languages. His works were translated into Chinese alone for more than twenty years.

His influence on the formation of world literature is enormous. Thousands of articles were written about him during his lifetime. His religious convictions provoked furious disputes, for which he was excommunicated, but he did not suffer from this at all. He has been nominated several times for the prestigious Nobel Prize, but took steps to prevent it from being handed to him.

If Count Tolstoy spent the first half of his life in wars, revelry and card games, then the second - he was known as an ascetic striving for moral perfection. During his lifetime, he gathered followers near him in Yasnaya Polyana. He did not preach, but talked with the most different people. He was not afraid of hard work, did not recognize estates, and in letters to the tsar he denounced state violence.

At the age of 56, he gave up his property in favor of his wife, as well as the rights to publish his works, for which already in those days they offered one million rubles in gold. And then he almost let his large family, which numbered 28 people, go around the world, transferring to his devotees the rights to publish all his works.

Tolstoy's wife fought to the last for the family's property, which caused frequent conflicts. He believed that he was exchanged for money and went to die in a calm environment.

After his death, the widow will write that she never found out what kind of person her husband was, despite 48 years of living together.

Orphan Kazan

Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy was in military service from the age of 17, participated in the war with Napoleon, was captured, returned to his homeland and at the age of 30 retired to the rank of colonel. Having inherited the name Nikolskoye-Vyazemskoye from his mother, the young officer quickly squandered him in card games. To improve his financial affairs, he married a princess.

Maria was a wealthy heiress, the only daughter of General Nikolai Volkonsky. The girl's mother Ekaterina Trubetskaya died when she was two years old. Maria got very a good education, but she was sharp on the tongue, had large facial features, and after the death of her parent she became incredibly generous. Wealthy relatives were concerned about her intentions to squander money in favor of the poor, and therefore decided to arrange her fate by introducing her to Nikolai Tolstoy, a pleasant but ruined count. He was four years older than 30-year-old Maria.

This marriage of convenience was happy, but short-lived. For ten years of marriage, they built a large house and gave birth to five children: four sons and a long-awaited daughter, also Maria. Lev Nikolaevich was the fourth son in this friendly family.

After the birth of her daughter in 1830, her mother died. The future writer was two years old.

Seven years later, his father died suddenly.

The children were placed in the care of the father's own sister, who was appointed legal guardian.

Lev Nikolaevich bit by bit collected the image of his mother. He was told about her by his elder brother Nikolai, the guardian, he learned something from her diary. He liked to walk alone among the trees she had planted in the lower garden of Yasnaya Polyana. The heroine of "War and Peace" Marya Bolkonskaya will be largely written off from his mother.

When the boy was 12 years old, his aunt died. The children were appointed a new guardian - another sister of the father. Pelageya Yushkova was childless. The daughter of the governor of the Kazan province, she led a secular life, lived in a big way and did not want to leave for the wilderness. Therefore, the children from Yasnaya Polyana moved to Kazan.

Here they lived for almost five years. All the brothers, except for Lev Nikolaevich, graduated from one of the best universities. Maria received a very good education at the Rodionov Institute for Noble Maidens.

Lev completed two courses in the eastern department of the faculty, but dropped out. For less than two years he studied law at the university, but this science will suffer the same fate - the student is not interested in lectures. He is fascinated by self-education, reading philosophical books and the first creative experiences of writing treatises on life. From the age of 19, Tolstoy began to keep a diary, which he would write until the end of his days.

Aunt Pauline, as the children called their guardian, did a lot for her nephews. She preserved their inheritance for them, sympathetically approached the problems of everyone, together with the children went to Yasnaya Polyana every summer to conduct business there.

At the age of 50, when her nephews became independent, she dramatically changed her lifestyle, abandoned secular society, began to travel to monasteries, changed.

She often visited the estate, where Lev returned in 1847. And he visited Yushkov in Kazan, maintaining excellent relations with him.

The next two years he lived in the capital. He was preparing for exams in law, but suddenly became interested in social events. He had plenty of relatives and acquaintances in the capital, he was received willingly. This is where I first started playing cards. Excitement did not allow him to stop for a long time, he even almost lost his estate. Playing cards will become his constant companion.

His passion for music and musicians also dates back to this time. This is reflected in his Kreutzer Sonata. He played the piano well himself. Once, together with a friend, he composed a waltz. preserved musical notation this single piece of music. It sounds in the film “Father Sergius.

Hunting was his other passion. In the company of his older brother, Ivan Turgenev, Afanasy Fet, he hunted birds, game and animals. There is a well-known story when, before the new year of 1859, Lev Nikolayevich was almost bullied by a bear.

Schools for the poor

Enemy public education, Tolstoy opens his system of learning. He built a school and taught the peasant children himself. At the age of 21, he sees pedagogy as a system of free relations between students and the teacher. Schoolchildren sit where they want in the classroom, they are free to leave at any time and not do their homework.

The principle of teaching was based on the teacher's interest in the subject of conversation. Tolstoy succeeded: they listened to him with pleasure.

During his life, the writer donated more than one thousand rubles for the construction of schools for the poor. And from the age of 34 he published a magazine about pedagogy, mainly consisting of his own texts, including stories, fables for children of all ages. A dozen issues were published, the material from which formed the basis of one of the volumes of collected works.

Soon he will leave this occupation for a decade. And when he resumes his pedagogical experiments, he will create two versions of the alphabet and a manual for elementary school approved, albeit reluctantly, by the Ministry of Education. He will publish them at the age of 44.

Military career

In the early 1950s, he began writing the first part of his autobiographical trilogy Childhood. But the work was interrupted by the elder brother Nikolai. He offered to go together to the Caucasus, where he participated in battles with the highlanders. He will describe his experience in stories published in the Nekrasov magazine Sovremennik. Leo Tolstoy will appreciate the writing talent of his brother. Between them there was a difference of five years, Leo respected the opinion of Nicholas, loved him and heeded his advice.

And this time was no exception. Lev Nikolayevich finishes Childhood, sends the manuscript to a publisher, and travels to Tiflis. In the story "Cossacks" he will describe the flight of a young gentleman to military service in an artillery brigade.

He wore sideburns, a uniform and epaulettes. In a boring staff situation, he spent almost three years until he was assigned to Sevastopol. The Crimean War will reveal in him a brave warrior, commander of an artillery battery. He was awarded the Order of St. Anna and medals. Between the explosions of shells, he writes "Sevastopol stories" and manages to forward them to the Nekrasov magazine.

Military service played a positive role in his affairs, shattered by playing cards and inability to manage the household.

By the time he returned home, the 28-year-old lieutenant was already a success as a writer, thanks to Childhood, which his eminent colleagues spoke very well of. His military stories were read by the whole country.

From invitations to secular salons and there was no end to literary evenings. Tolstoy met many eminent writers, for example, Ivan Turgenev, ten years older than him. With him he will maintain a good relationship for many years.

He will continue to actively write prose, spilling his impressions of the war onto paper. And he will begin the second part of the trilogy - "Youth".

A year later, he will exchange balls in Petrograd for balls in Paris. The 29-year-old writer will continue his journey through Europe for three years. He visited many countries, but in his diary, in addition to admiring culture, he notes the distance between the rich and the poor.

In France, he had a real grief: at the age of 37, his brother Nikolai died of tuberculosis. After the funeral, he goes to the Nikolskoye estate to take over. After 32 years, he will voluntarily give this estate younger brother Sergei.

And after the revolution, the landowner's estate will be burned down, like many others.

Sonya

His life will be changed by his marriage to Sofya Andreevna, with whom he will live for 48 years.

She was the middle daughter of the Bers family, with whom the Tolstoys had known each other for a long time. She was 18 years old, he was 34. He did not immediately single her out among the three sisters. But when I did the test, I was shocked by her sharp mind and understanding of his thoughts. Tolstoy often encrypted phrases, denoting them only with the first letters, behind which he always knew what the word was. After explaining the scheme, he asked the girl to unravel the phrase thus encrypted. She called right away. This unique understanding will remain in the family forever. No wonder Tolstoy is happy.

Biographers will call the first ten years the most fruitful. He will write all his major novels. The first assistant who will work with his drafts is Sophia. Only she could understand what lies behind the squiggles and abbreviations that Tolstoy generously sprinkled on paper.

Their marriage produced nine sons and four daughters. Five died in childhood.

Today there are more than three hundred descendants of the writer in the world. For the past seventeen years they have been meeting annually in Yasnaya Polyana.

Second self

Closer to the age of fifty, like Aunt Pauline, Tolstoy had an internal breakdown. He did not know what he wanted, he was at a dead end in his thoughts. In his diary, he writes what he thinks about death. He found his way up in theological literature, conversations with monks and trips to holy places. Since then he has not written. literary texts, only philosophical articles, religious treatises.

The count is increasingly seen in simple clothes, at peasant work, preaching the rejection of conveniences, vegetarianism, and simplicity in everything. He even stopped hunting and found pleasure in walking from Yasnaya Polyana to Moscow, overcoming more than two hundred kilometers alone or with ascetics. I quit smoking at the age of 60.

He resists state system, openly declaring the violence that the state inflicts, refuses to be a jury in court, stigmatizes wars. The king does not like all this, the writer is placed under supervision, but they will not be touched until the end of his life, given his merits.

His writings on the subject of the new philosophy were banned. They were partially published abroad.

He rewrote all his property to his family and waived copyright. Everything is managed by his wife, who had to not only manage the household, raise children, but also immerse herself in publishing. The widow of Dostoevsky helped, who for many years brilliantly coped with this task.

Sophia sold her husband’s works on her own, put collected works on stream on favorable conditions. The commercial vein of the wife allowed a large family to survive.

In September 1887, the couple celebrated a silver wedding, to which relatives and friends were invited. And in the spring of next year, their thirteenth child was born. Ivan will be given seven years of life.

In the 90s, famine sets in. Reason: crop failure, crisis, typhoid epidemics.

The proceeds from productions that were successfully staged in the capital's theaters were spent on charity. The writer spent these two or three thousand rubles a year on helping the starving. With his support, about three hundred canteens were opened in four regions. More than ten thousand people in need were able to survive two difficult winters. The supply of firewood, fodder for livestock, seeds of oats, potatoes, and millet was organized. Dairy kitchens were opened for infants. Tolstoy's example spread throughout the country. There were more and more benefactors.

On the basis of moral perfection, disinterested service to people, denial of all forms of government, the Tolstoy movement was born. Thousands of followers attacked Yasnaya Polyana. For them, the master was almost a saint. They were actively engaged in disseminating the writer's views, publishing a magazine, organizing communes. When Tolstoy turned 70, his followers were declared a sect, and he himself was excommunicated.

But such a life is a burden to Sofya Andreevna. She loves her husband, the whole family serves him as a writer, take care of him as a person, but he increasingly withdraws into himself or out of the house. Quarrels, nervous breakdowns, reproaches become unbearable for him. Sofya Andreevna keeps the defense, fearing to lose the rights to publish her husband's works. One of Tolstoy's followers, whom he trusts, is already encroaching on them.

The last large-scale work: the novel "Resurrection" was published in the 99th year. clergymen in Once again folded - the writer always stood on the side of the people, despite his noble origin. But they did not want to have such an "enemy" and offered him to publicly repent in order to return him to their system. Tolstoy said nothing.

Every year the house was empty: the sons got married and set up their own household, the daughters Maria and Tatyana got married, but often visited their parents. The family lived in three: with the younger Alexandra.

At the beginning of the new century, Tolstoy spent the winter in the Crimea. He was seriously ill, doctors and relatives fussed around him. Strengthened, he returned to the estate and did not go anywhere.

Two years before her eightieth birthday, a tragedy occurs in the family: her daughter Masha dies of typhus. She was only 35 years old. Tolstoy will never recover from this death.

He forbids celebrating his anniversary. Nevertheless, thousands of congratulatory telegrams from all over the world will come to his name.

Scandals in the house will flare up brighter and brighter. A tired and exhausted writer will somehow wake up at night and see that his wife is again looking for something in his papers. Sofya Andreevna was looking for evidence of a conspiracy - the notorious testament to transfer the rights to publish all his works to Chertkov, a follower of Tolstoy's teachings. Lev Nikolaevich could not stand it. He left the warring camps of two people close to him in the night, writing a letter with the last "sorry".

He died seven days later in the apartment of the head of the Astapovo railway station. Sofya Andreevna was allowed to see him in the last minutes of his life.