Leo Tolstoy story about him. Short biography of Leo Tolstoy: the most important events

1. "To love and be so happy"
2. "Be content with little and do good to others"

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most famous writers and philosophers in the world. His views and beliefs formed the basis of a whole religious and philosophical movement, which is called Tolstoyism. The literary heritage of the writer amounted to 90 volumes of fiction and journalistic works, diary notes and letters, and he himself was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Fulfill all that you have determined to be fulfilled"

Genealogical tree of Leo Tolstoy. Image: regnum.ru

Silhouette of Maria Tolstoy (nee Volkonskaya), mother of Leo Tolstoy. 1810s Image: wikipedia.org

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province. He was the fourth child in a large noble family. Tolstoy was orphaned early. His mother died when he was not yet two years old, and at the age of nine he lost his father. The aunt, Alexandra Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the five Tolstoy children. The two older children moved in with their aunt in Moscow, while the younger ones stayed in Yasnaya Polyana. It is with the family estate that the most important and dearest memories of Leo Tolstoy's early childhood are connected.

In 1841 Alexandra Osten-Saken died and the Tolstoys moved in with their aunt Pelageya Yushkova in Kazan. Three years after the move, Leo Tolstoy decided to enter the prestigious Imperial Kazan University. However, he did not like to study, he considered exams a formality, and university professors - incompetent. Tolstoy did not even try to get a scientific degree, in Kazan he was more attracted to secular entertainment.

In April 1847, Leo Tolstoy's student life ended. He inherited his part of the estate, including his beloved Yasnaya Polyana, and immediately went home without receiving a higher education. In the family estate, Tolstoy tried to improve his life and start writing. He drew up his educational plan: to study languages, history, medicine, mathematics, geography, law, agriculture, natural sciences. However, he soon came to the conclusion that it is easier to make plans than to carry them out.

Tolstoy's asceticism was often replaced by revelry and card games. Wanting to start the right, in his opinion, life, he made a daily routine. But he did not observe it either, and in his diary he again noted dissatisfaction with himself. All these failures prompted Leo Tolstoy to change his lifestyle. The opportunity presented itself in April 1851: the elder brother Nikolai arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. At that time he served in the Caucasus, where the war was going on. Leo Tolstoy decided to join his brother and went with him to a village on the banks of the Terek River.

On the outskirts of the empire, Leo Tolstoy served for almost two and a half years. He whiled away the time hunting, playing cards, and occasionally participating in raids on enemy territory. Tolstoy liked such a solitary and monotonous life. It was in the Caucasus that the story "Childhood" was born. While working on it, the writer found a source of inspiration that remained important to him until the end of his life: he used his own memories and experiences.

In July 1852, Tolstoy sent the manuscript of the story to the Sovremennik magazine and attached a letter: “…I am looking forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or make me burn everything I started. ”. Editor Nikolai Nekrasov liked the work of the new author, and soon "Childhood" was published in the magazine. Encouraged by the first success, the writer soon began to continue the "Childhood". In 1854, he published a second story, Boyhood, in the Sovremennik magazine.

"The main thing is literary works"

Leo Tolstoy in his youth. 1851. Image: school-science.ru

Lev Tolstoy. 1848. Image: regnum.ru

Lev Tolstoy. Image: old.orlovka.org.ru

At the end of 1854, Leo Tolstoy arrived in Sevastopol, the epicenter of hostilities. Being in the thick of things, he created the story "Sevastopol in the month of December." Although Tolstoy was unusually frank in describing battle scenes, the first Sevastopol story was deeply patriotic and glorified the bravery of Russian soldiers. Soon Tolstoy began to work on the second story - "Sevastopol in May". By that time, nothing was left of his pride in the Russian army. The horror and shock that Tolstoy experienced on the front line and during the siege of the city greatly influenced his work. Now he wrote about the meaninglessness of death and the inhumanity of war.

In 1855, from the ruins of Sevastopol, Tolstoy traveled to sophisticated Petersburg. The success of the first Sevastopol story gave him a sense of purpose: “My career is literature, writing and writing! From tomorrow I work all my life or I give up everything, rules, religion, decency - everything ”. In the capital, Leo Tolstoy completed "Sevastopol in May" and wrote "Sevastopol in August 1855" - these essays completed the trilogy. And in November 1856, the writer finally left military service.

Thanks to truthful stories about the Crimean War, Tolstoy entered the St. Petersburg literary circle of the Sovremennik magazine. During this period, he wrote the story "Snowstorm", the story "Two Hussars", finished the trilogy with the story "Youth". However, after some time, relations with writers from the circle deteriorated: “These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself”. To unwind, in early 1857, Leo Tolstoy went abroad. He visited Paris, Rome, Berlin, Dresden: he got acquainted with famous works of art, met with artists, observed how people live in European cities. Travel did not inspire Tolstoy: he created the story "Lucerne", in which he described his disappointment.

Leo Tolstoy at work. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy tells a fairy tale to his grandchildren Ilyusha and Sonya. 1909. Krekshino. Photo: Vladimir Chertkov / wikipedia.org

In the summer of 1857 Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana. In his native estate, he continued to work on the story "The Cossacks", and also wrote the story "Three Deaths" and the novel "Family Happiness". In his diary, Tolstoy defined his purpose for himself at that time as follows: “The main thing is literary works, then family obligations, then household chores ... And to live for yourself is enough for a good deed every day”.

In 1899 Tolstoy wrote the novel The Resurrection. In this work, the writer criticized the judicial system, the army, the government. The contempt with which Tolstoy described the institution of the church in Resurrection provoked a backlash. In February 1901, the Holy Synod published a resolution on the excommunication of Count Leo Tolstoy from the Church in the journal Tserkovnye Vedomosti. This decision only increased Tolstoy's popularity and drew public attention to the writer's ideals and beliefs.

Tolstoy's literary and social activities became known abroad as well. The writer was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1909 and for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902-1906. Tolstoy himself did not want to receive the award and even told the Finnish writer Arvid Järnefelt to try to prevent the prize from being awarded, because, “if that happened… it would be very unpleasant to refuse” “He [Chertkov] took the unfortunate old man into his hands in every possible way, he separated us, he killed the artistic spark in Lev Nikolayevich and kindled condemnation, hatred, denial, which are felt in Lev Nikolayevich’s last articles years his foolish evil genius urged him on".

Tolstoy himself was burdened by the life of a landowner and a family man. He sought to bring his life in line with his convictions, and in early November 1910 he secretly left the Yasnaya Polyana estate. The road turned out to be unbearable for an elderly person: on the way he fell seriously ill and was forced to stay at the house of the caretaker of the Astapovo railway station. Here the writer spent the last days of his life. Leo Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910. The writer was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Russianwriter, philosopher, thinker, born in Tula province, in the family estate "Yasnaya Polyana" in 1828- m year. As a child, he lost his parents and was brought up by his distant relative T. A. Ergolskaya. At the age of 16, he entered Kazan University at the Faculty of Philosophy, but the training turned out to be boring for him, and after 3 years he dropped out. At the age of 23, he left to fight in the Caucasus, about which, later, he wrote a lot, reflecting this experience in his writings "Cossacks", "Raid", "Deforestation", "Hadji Murad".
Continuing to fight, after the Crimean War, Tolstoy went to St. Petersburg, where he became a member of a literary circle "Contemporary", along with the famous writers Nekrasov, Turgenev and others. Already having a certain fame as a writer, many perceived his entry into the circle with enthusiasm, Nekrasov called him "the great hope of Russian literature." There he published his "Sevastopol Tales", written under the influence of the experience of the Crimean War, after which he went on a trip to the countries of Europe, soon, however, becoming disillusioned with them.
At the end 1856 th year, Tolstoy retired and, returning to his native Yasnaya Polyana, became a landowner. Moving away from literary activity, Tolstoy took up educational activities. He opened a school that practiced the system of pedagogy developed by him. For these purposes, he left for Europe in 1860 to study foreign experience.
autumn 1862 Tolstoy married a young girl from Moscow S. A. Bers, having gone with her to Yasnaya Polyana, choosing the quiet life of a family man. But in a year he was suddenly struck by a new idea, as a result of which the most famous work was born " War and Peace". No less famous is his novel Anna Karenina» was already completed in 1877 . Speaking about this period of the writer's life, we can say that his worldview at that time had already finally formed and became known as "Tolstoyism". His novel " Sunday" was published in 1899 , the last works for Lev Nikolaevich were "Father Sergius", "The Living Corpse", "After the Ball".
With worldwide fame, Tolstoy was popular with many people around the world. Being for them actually a spiritual mentor and authority, he often received guests at his estate.
In accordance with their worldview, at the end 1910 year, at night Tolstoy secretly leaves his house, accompanied by his personal doctor. Intending to leave for Bulgaria or the Caucasus, they had a long journey ahead, but due to a serious illness, Tolstoy was forced to stop at the small Astapovo railway station (now named after him), where died of a serious illness at the age of 82.

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

one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers, one of the greatest writers in the world

Lev Tolstoy

short biography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biography from Wikipedia

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

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

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

Origin

Genealogical tree of L. N. Tolstoy

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

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

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

Childhood

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education

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

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

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

The beginning of literary activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Military service

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Travel Europe

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Treatment in the Bashkir nomad camp Karalyk

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

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

Pedagogical activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

Public activity in the 1860s

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

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

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

The heyday of creativity

L. N. Tolstoy (1876)

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

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

"War and Peace"

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

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

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

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

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

"Anna Karenina"

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

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

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

Other works

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

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

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

Literary criticism of Shakespeare's works

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

Participation in the Moscow census

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

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

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

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

In Moscow

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spiritual crisis and preaching

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

« I, a happy man, hid the string from me so as not to hang myself on the crossbar between the 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 the too easy way to rid myself of life. I myself did not know what I wanted: I was afraid of life, strove to get away from it and, meanwhile, hoped for something else from it..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Excommunication

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lev Tolstoy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Report of the head of the St. Petersburg security department, Colonel von 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 announcements were posted on the entrance doors of the university and the Higher Women's Courses 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” ...»

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

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

Family

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

Lev Nikolaevich from his youthful years was familiar with Lyubov Alexandrovna Islavina, in marriage Bers (1826-1886), loved to play with her children Lisa, Sonya and Tanya. When the 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, and on September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married her, having previously confessed to his premarital affairs.

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

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

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

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

LN Tolstoy with his wife and children. 1887

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

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

As of 2010, 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. Since 2000, Yasnaya Polyana has hosted meetings of the writer's descendants every two years.

Family perspectives. Family in the work of Tolstoy

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

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

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

Philosophy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bibliography

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

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

Lifetime and posthumous editions of collected works

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

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

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

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

Translations of works

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

The translation of the complete works of Tolstoy into Chinese was carried out by Cao Ying, the work took 20 years.

World recognition. Memory

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

To the cinema

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

The meaning and impact of creativity

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

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

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

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

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

Writers, thinkers and religious figures about Tolstoy

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

Criticism

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

Literary criticism

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

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

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

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

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

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

Critic I. I. Ivanov found "naturalism" in the literature of the late 19th century, dating back to Maupassant, Zola and Tolstoy and being an expression of a general moral decline.

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

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

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

Religious criticism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Criticism of the social views of the writer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The future great philosopher and novelist, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, was born on August 28 (September 9), 1828, in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, in the Tula province, in the Krapivensky district. In 1844 he entered Kazan University. Since 1852, for 4 years, the count has been serving in the Caucasus and Crimea. After completing his service, Tolstoy traveled outside his native country for the first time, he visited Germany, France and Switzerland.After marrying Sophia Bers in 1862, for the next 7 years he worked on.

Important! 1873-1875 the count was actively engaged in pedagogical activity. During this period, several books for children were published - “ABC”, “Russian books for reading”, “New ABC”. In parallel with this, he is working on "".

1880s characterized by the appearance of a number of works in which the author rethinks his views on life and even crystallizes his philosophical teaching, after which he refuses authorship of many of his creations. In the next 13 years, a number of articles of the count were published on the impossibility of using corporal punishment and the unacceptability of the death penalty. In the same period, the novel "Sunday" saw the light. He made a considerable contribution for children - he wrote fairy tales (there are several dozen of them). In 1910 he went south. But on the way he falls ill and stops at the Astapovo station, where he died, presumably from pneumonia.

Parents

The paternal and maternal lineage of the future great Russian writer belonged to the aristocracy. Mother - Maria Nikolaevna, father - Nikolai Ilyich, hereditary count, descended from one of the close associates of Peter I.

Important! Subsequently, according to experts, it was the father and mother who became the prototypes for N. Rostov and Princess Marya in the novel “War and Peace”.

Childhood

Levushka was the fourth child in the family. Unfortunately, in the third year of his life, already elderly Countess Maria Nikolaevna dies, giving birth to her husband's fifth child, daughter Maria. As a result, a distant relative took up the upbringing of children. In the ninth year of his life, the novelist-philosopher visited Moscow for the first time, which left an indelible impression. It was after this trip that the first work entitled “Kremlin” appeared. Subsequently, he will describe this period of his life in an autobiographical trilogy and call it "Childhood".

Education and upbringing

Lev Nikolaevich received his first home education from the German tutor Reselman, about whom he spoke very warmly in the story “Childhood” (character Karl Ivanovich). At the next stage, the future writer was trained by Saint-Thomas, who was a native Frenchman. Their relationship with the young Tolstoy can be seen quite well in.

Important! Even at the stage of preparation for the university, it turned out that Lev Nikolayevich was distinguished by a noticeable disposition to languages. Researchers of the life of this great creative personality claim that he spoke fifteen languages.

Entering Kazan University at the Faculty of Arabic-Turkish literature, during the entire period of study, Lev Nikolayevich was known as a fairly good student. But a personal conflict with a teacher of history and German led to a change of faculty to law, as a result, he loses interest in studying and leaves the university without receiving a diploma. Returning to his homeland, he tried to be useful to the peasants, but it did not work out very well due to an elementary lack of knowledge. At the same time, he led a life characteristic of young people of his position. He wrote partly about his everyday life in “Morning of the Landowner”, stories about life in pursuit of pleasure: card games, hunting, revels ...

Service and war in the Caucasus

Further, the life of the writer turns into a marathon of revelry. Wine, women and cards contribute to the accumulation of considerable debts, which he will have to pay off for many years to come. The elder brother Nikolai, who served at that time in the Caucasus, advises Leo to go to military service. In search of a higher, moral justification for his existence, Tolstoy leaves for the Caucasus. In the autumn of 1851, he joined the troops, became a cadet, and eventually received an officer's rank. After Sevastopol, he was sent to St. Petersburg, where he again hits a wild life and Tolstoy gets acquainted with prominent contemporaries-publicists -,.

First literary works

The beginning of the literary activity of the great novelist is considered to be a diary started in 1847, which he kept throughout his life. However, the first published work was the story “Childhood”, and it was she who decided the further fate of Lev Nikolaevich. The literary society recognized him as an outstanding master, whose work struck the then critics with the depth of psychological analysis and the vivid realism of what was happening. Inspired by the success, the novelist took up the continuation of the Autobiographical trilogy - in 1854 "Boyhood" was published, after 3 years - "Youth". Conceived as the fourth story of this cycle, “Youth” saw this light. Being in the same place, in the Caucasus, Tolstoy begins to create the story "Cossacks", as well as a number of other, smaller in form, works, in particular the stories "Raid", "Christmas Night". At the time of military service, the cycle of “Sevastopol stories” was initiated, completed already in St. Petersburg.

The heyday of creativity

After military service, the novelist goes on his first trip to Europe. Upon returning to his native estate, he devotes time to opening a school for the children of peasants, where he teaches from time to time. In 1860-61. he undertakes a second trip to Europe, where he begins work on the novel The Decembrists. Subsequently, this work ceases to be an epic novel "War and Peace", on which the author worked for more than 7 years. Another milestone in the creative path of the world-famous writer was the novel "Anna Karenina", written in 4 years, starting in 1873.

Personal life

Marriage to Sofya Andreevna Bers became one of the main decisions in the life of the novelist. Being 17 years younger than her husband, Sophia became exactly what L. N. Tolstoy wanted to see her. She was a wife, mother and real mistress of a truly large family and home. The wife gave birth to the great writer 13 children, unfortunately, only eight of them survived to adulthood. And, besides, Sofya Andreevna became a devoted assistant to her husband in his creative work. It was not without her participation that both “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” saw the light of day, distinguished by their enormous creative power on the one hand, and a deep psychological analysis of the then reality on the other. A significant role in the count's philosophical research was played by his youthful passion for the works of J. J. Rousseau, whose portrait was worn in the medallion by Leo Tolstoy. According to the memoirs of his contemporaries, the future writer read all the works of the French Enlightenment thinker, including the Musical Dictionary.

Major novels of Count Tolstoy

During his life, the novelist wrote five novels. Of these, world fame still rumbles over the two most famous works - “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace”. But those who seek to know the full depth of Tolstoy's personality should definitely read the other 3 - "Decembrists", "Family Happiness", and also "Resurrection".

Attitude towards religion

The end of the 70s and the 80s is a turning point in the biography of both the writer and the personality of Tolstoy. The novel “Sunday” can serve as a characteristic of that period of time. The article "Confession", in which the idea of ​​the inevitability of death is traced, forces the author to seek a higher justification in real life. At first, this approach leads the count to the Orthodox Church. But after a deeper study of the dogmas and ways of Christianity, Lev Nikolayevich came to his own teaching, which was called Tolstoyism. In it, he recognized only the rational part of religion, completely discarding the theological husk and mystical theses of Christianity. After the publication of "Confession", which became a kind of pillar of that very "Tolstoyism", students suddenly began to gather around the writer. The first of them was a retired horse guard - tough and despotic V. G. Chertkov, the rest of the followers were not long in coming. In recent decades, the count's family estate has become a place of pilgrimage, where people from all over the empire and the world, regardless of nationality and religious beliefs, went to see the great old man. For this decision of the Holy Synod, Lev Nikolayevich was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church. Information about the event quickly spread, which only spurred the growth in popularity of Tolstoy's teachings.

Copyright disclaimer

After excommunication, which, in short, did not bring much fruit to the Christian community, the count became more and more withdrawn into himself, fond of vegetarianism. Increasingly, she devotes herself to simple physical labor - sewing boots, and also teaches children. But most importantly, he renounces all rights to his works created after 1881.

The crisis of family relations

It was this fact that became fundamental in the process of growing crisis in the marriage of Tolstoy and his wife, who was hostile to her husband's new way of life. Sofya Andreevna, who brilliantly mastered the peculiarities of life during the “War and Peace”, always considered it her duty to ensure the welfare of her large family, and therefore refused to distribute personal property. Of all the members of the family, only the youngest daughter Alexandra reacted to her father's new teaching with understanding. She and V. G. Chertkov headed two warring camps, fighting for the most important thing in their lives - the mind and attention of the count.

Later publications

To the late period of creativity, experts-researchers of the life of the great Russian writer include everything written by him after 1880. Among the later works, as a rule, the stories "Mother" are singled out, as well as the equally famous works "Kreutzer Sonata" and "Hadji Murad". Philosophical stories also occupy a considerable share:

• "How do people live?"
• "Godson".
• "Where there is love, there is God."

Those who decide to get acquainted with the work of the great Russian novelist should definitely read the articles of Lev Nikolaevich:

• "Hunger or not hunger?"
• "I can't be silent!"
• "About hunger."

last years of life

The end of the writer's life takes place mainly in the same place where he was born. However, in 1901, the count fell ill and was forced to live in the Crimea for a long time. All this time the writer continued to work with unflagging enthusiasm. The only thing that seriously bothered him was the irreconcilable contradictions between his wife and his closest associate V. G. Chertkov.

Death of Leo Tolstoy

It is for this reason that, shortly before his death, he, along with his daughter Alexandra, leaves the estate and goes south. Researchers of the life of the count-writer still have not come to a consensus about where he was going. It is known for certain that the disease forced him to stay in Astapovo, where he died on November 7, 1910, presumably from pneumonia. On November 10, he was buried on the territory of the family estate, in the same forest, where as a child he played “a green stick that knew the secrets of happiness”. Today, the grave of the writer is a mound of earth, without a monument or a plate with dates of birth and death.

Children of Leo Tolstoy, their fate

In a marriage with Sofia Andreevna, Lev Nikolayevich had 13 children:

• Sergey, who had a penchant for music, connected his life with it. Known as a talented composer.
• Tatiana. A talented artist who inherited from her father the ability to write. She created about three dozen portraits of her father. Until 1923, she was the curator of the estate museum where her father was born.
• Ilya. Although this offspring of the novelist did not show a talent for the sciences in childhood, it was his father who considered him the most gifted. Having emigrated to the USA before the revolution, he subsequently lectured on his father's work and published publications.
• a lion- Proved himself as a writer and sculptor. Particular attention was riveted to his children's works.
• Maria. She married N. A. Obolensky. Died of pneumonia.
• Andrey.Mother's favorite, but noticeably disappointing father. Occupying a high official position, he was noted for his passion for wine and women.
• Michael.I chose the military path. He managed to live, despite the fact that he participated in military battles, in different countries of Asia and Europe until his death in 1944.
• Alexandra. After the revolution, she was arrested, despite the fact that she served in a medical hospital during the war. Later she left for the States, where she gave lectures about her father and helped Russian emigrants settle down. She passed away at the age of 95. Of all the children of the novelist, she was granted the longest life.

Ivan, Varvara, Peter, Alexei, Nikolai - died in infancy. Ambiguous views and worldview, diverse activities - the philosopher-novelist L. N. Tolstoy, throughout his life and career, continued to search for truth in its original form. Did he come to her? One can only guess about this, delving into his works. We recommend watching a video about the biography of the great writer - Leo Tolstoy:

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Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Tula province (Russia) into a family belonging to the noble class. In the 1860s, he wrote his first major novel, War and Peace. In 1873 Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina.

He continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. One of his most successful later works is The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910 in Astapovo, Russia.

First years of life

September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana (Tula province, Russia), the future writer Leo Tolstoy was born. He was the fourth child in a large noble family. In 1830, when Tolstoy's mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died, the father's cousin took over the care of the children. Their father, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died seven years later, and their aunt was appointed guardian. After the death of his aunt, Leo Tolstoy, his brothers and sisters moved to the second aunt in Kazan. Although Tolstoy experienced many losses at an early age, he later idealized his childhood memories in his work.

It is important to note that the primary education in Tolstoy's biography was received at home, lessons were given to him by French and German teachers. In 1843 he entered the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​at the Imperial Kazan University. Tolstoy failed to excel in his studies - low grades forced him to move to an easier law faculty. Further academic difficulties led Tolstoy to eventually leave the Imperial Kazan University in 1847 without a degree. He returned to his parents' estate, where he planned to take up farming. However, this undertaking of his ended in failure - he was absent too often, leaving for Tula and Moscow. What he really excelled at was keeping his own diary - it was this lifelong habit that inspired Leo Tolstoy for most of his writings.

Tolstoy was fond of music, his favorite composers were Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Mendelssohn. Lev Nikolaevich could play their works for several hours a day.

One day, Tolstoy's older brother, Nikolai, came to visit Leo during his army leave, and convinced his brother to join the army as a cadet in the south, in the Caucasus mountains, where he served. After serving as a cadet, Leo Tolstoy was transferred to Sevastopol in November 1854, where he fought in the Crimean War until August 1855.

Early publications

During his Junker years in the army, Tolstoy had a lot of free time. During quiet periods, he worked on an autobiographical story called The Childhood. In it, he wrote about his favorite childhood memories. In 1852 Tolstoy submitted the story to Sovremennik, the most popular magazine of the day. The story was gladly received, and it became Tolstoy's first publication. Since that time, critics have placed him on a par with already well-known writers, among whom were Ivan Turgenev (with whom Tolstoy became friends), Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Ostrovsky and others.

After completing the story "Childhood", Tolstoy began to write about his daily life in an army outpost in the Caucasus. The work "Cossacks" begun in the army years, he finished only in 1862, after he had already left the army.

Surprisingly, Tolstoy managed to continue writing during active battles in the Crimean War. During this time he wrote Boyhood (1854), the sequel to Childhood, the second book in Tolstoy's autobiographical trilogy. At the height of the Crimean War, Tolstoy expressed his opinion about the striking contradictions of the war through the trilogy of works "Sevastopol Tales". In the second book of the Sevastopol Tales, Tolstoy experimented with a relatively new technique: part of the story is presented as a narration from the point of view of a soldier.

After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy left the army and returned to Russia. Arriving home, the author enjoyed great popularity on the literary scene of St. Petersburg.

Stubborn and arrogant, Tolstoy refused to belong to any particular philosophical school. Declaring himself an anarchist, he left for Paris in 1857. Once there, he lost all his money and was forced to return home to Russia. He also succeeded in publishing Youth, the third part of an autobiographical trilogy, in 1857.

Returning to Russia in 1862, Tolstoy published the first of 12 issues of the thematic magazine Yasnaya Polyana. In the same year, he married the daughter of a doctor named Sofya Andreevna Bers.

Major novels

Living in Yasnaya Polyana with his wife and children, Tolstoy spent much of the 1860s writing his first known novel, War and Peace. Part of the novel was first published in Russkiy Vestnik in 1865 under the title "1805". By 1868 he had produced three more chapters. A year later, the novel was completely finished. Both critics and the public have debated the historical validity of the novel's Napoleonic Wars, coupled with the development of the stories of its thoughtful and realistic yet fictional characters. The novel is also unique in that it includes three long satirical essays on the laws of history. Among the ideas that Tolstoy also tries to convey in this novel is the conviction that the position of a person in society and the meaning of human life are mainly derivatives of his daily activities.

After the success of War and Peace in 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina. It was partly based on real events during the war between Russia and Turkey. Like War and Peace, this book describes some biographical events in the life of Tolstoy himself, this is especially evident in the romantic relationship between the characters of Kitty and Levin, which is said to be reminiscent of Tolstoy's courtship of his own wife.

The opening lines of Anna Karenina are among the most famous: "All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Anna Karenina was published in installments from 1873 to 1877, and was highly acclaimed by the public. The fees received for the novel rapidly enriched the writer.

Conversion

Despite the success of Anna Karenina, after the completion of the novel, Tolstoy experienced a spiritual crisis and was depressed. The next stage of the biography of Leo Tolstoy is characterized by a search for the meaning of life. The writer first turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but did not find answers to his questions there. He concluded that the Christian churches were corrupt and, instead of an organized religion, promoted their own beliefs. He decided to express these convictions by founding a new publication in 1883 called The Mediator.
As a result, for his non-standard and contradictory spiritual beliefs, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church. He was even watched by the secret police. When Tolstoy, driven by his new conviction, wanted to give away all his money and give up everything superfluous, his wife was categorically against it. Not wanting to escalate the situation, Tolstoy reluctantly agreed to a compromise: he transferred to his wife the copyright and, apparently, all deductions for his work until 1881.

Late fiction

In addition to his religious treatises, Tolstoy continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Among the genres of his later works were moral stories and realistic fiction. One of the most successful of his later works was the story The Death of Ivan Ilyich, written in 1886. The protagonist struggles to fight the death hanging over him. In short, Ivan Ilyich is horrified at the realization that he wasted his life on trifles, but the realization of this comes to him too late.

In 1898 Tolstoy wrote Father Sergius, a work of fiction in which he criticizes the beliefs he developed after his spiritual transformation. The following year, he wrote his third voluminous novel, Resurrection. The work received good reviews, but this success is unlikely to match the level of recognition of his previous novels. Tolstoy's other late works are essays on art, a satirical play entitled The Living Corpse, written in 1890, and a story called Hadji Murad (1904), which was discovered and published after his death. In 1903, Tolstoy wrote a short story "After the Ball", which was first published after his death, in 1911.

Old age

During his later years, Tolstoy reaped the benefits of international recognition. However, he still struggled to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the tensions he created in his family life. His wife not only disagreed with his teachings, she did not approve of his students, who regularly visited Tolstoy in the family estate. In an effort to avoid the growing discontent of his wife, in October 1910 Tolstoy and his youngest daughter Alexandra went on a pilgrimage. Alexandra was a doctor for her elderly father during the trip. Trying not to flaunt their private lives, they traveled incognito, hoping to evade unnecessary inquiries, but this was sometimes to no avail.

Death and legacy

Unfortunately, the pilgrimage proved too burdensome for the aging writer. In November 1910, the head of the small Astapovo railway station opened the doors of his house for Tolstoy so that the ailing writer could rest. Shortly thereafter, on November 20, 1910, Tolstoy died. He was buried in the family estate, Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy lost so many people close to him.

To this day, Tolstoy's novels are considered among the finest achievements of literary art. War and Peace is often cited as the greatest novel ever written. In the modern scientific community, Tolstoy is widely recognized as having a gift for describing the unconscious motives of character, the refinement of which he advocated by emphasizing the role of everyday actions in determining the character and goals of people.

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