Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (1828 - 1910) - one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers, one of the greatest writers in the world, educator, publicist and religious thinker.
Short biography of Tolstoy
Write short biography of Tolstoy difficult enough, as he lived a long and very diverse life.
In principle, all short biographies can be called "short" only conditionally. Nevertheless, we will try to convey in a concise form the main points of the biography of Leo Tolstoy.
Childhood and youth
Was born future writer in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, in a wealthy aristocratic family. Entered Kazan University, but then left it.
At the age of 23 he went to war with Chechnya and Dagestan. Here he began to write the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth".
In the Caucasus, he participated in hostilities as an artillery officer. During Crimean War went to Sevastopol, where he continued to fight. After the end of the war, he left for St. Petersburg and published in the Sovremennik magazine " Sevastopol stories”, which clearly reflected his outstanding writing talent.
In 1857 Tolstoy went on a trip to Europe. From his biography it clearly follows that this trip disappointed the thinker.
From 1853 to 1863 wrote the story "Cossacks", after which he decided to interrupt literary activity and become a landowner, doing educational work in the village. For this purpose he went to Yasnaya Polyana, where he opened a school for peasant children and created his own system of pedagogy.
Creativity Tolstoy
In 1863-1869 he wrote the fundamental work War and Peace. It was this work that brought him worldwide fame. In 1873-1877, the novel Anna Karenina was published.
Portrait of Leo Tolstoy
In the same years, the writer's worldview was fully formed, which later resulted in the religious movement "Tolstoyism". Its essence is indicated in the works: “Confession”, “What is my faith?” and the Kreutzer Sonata.
From Tolstoy's biography it is clearly seen that the teaching of "Tolstoyism" is set forth in the philosophical and religious works "Study of Dogmatic Theology", "Combination and Translation of the Four Gospels". The main emphasis in these works is on the moral improvement of man, the exposure of evil and non-resistance to evil by violence.
Later, a dilogy was published: the drama "The Power of Darkness" and the comedy "The Fruits of Enlightenment", then a series of stories-parables about the laws of being.
From all over Russia and the world, admirers of the writer's work came to Yasnaya Polyana, whom they treated as a spiritual mentor. In 1899, the novel Resurrection was published.
The last works of the writer are the stories "Father Sergius", "After the Ball", " Posthumous notes Elder Fyodor Kuzmich” and the drama “The Living Corpse”.
Tolstoy and the Church
Tolstoy's confessional journalism gives a detailed idea of his emotional drama: drawing pictures social inequality and the idleness of the educated strata, Tolstoy in a harsh form posed questions of the meaning of life and faith to society, criticized all state institutions, reaching the denial of science, art, court, marriage, the achievements of civilization.
Tolstoy's social declaration is based on the idea of Christianity as a moral doctrine, and the ethical ideas of Christianity are comprehended by him in a humanistic key, as the basis of the universal brotherhood of people.
In a brief biography of Tolstoy, it makes no sense to mention the numerous harsh statements of the writer about the church, but they can be easily found in various sources.
In 1901, a resolution of the Most Holy Governing Synod was issued, which officially announced that Count Leo Tolstoy was no longer a member of the Orthodox Church, since his (publicly expressed) convictions were incompatible with such membership.
This caused a huge public outcry, since Tolstoy's popular authority was extremely great, although everyone knew very well the writer's critical mood in relation to the Christian church.
Last days and death
On October 28, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana from his family, fell ill on the way and was forced to leave the train at the small Astapovo railway station of the Ryazan-Ural Railway.
Here, seven days later, in the house of the head of the station, he died at the age of 82.
We hope that a brief biography of Tolstoy will interest you for further study of his creative heritage. And the last thing: maybe you didn’t know this, but in mathematics there is Tolstoy’s riddle, the author of which is himself great writer. We highly recommend checking it out.
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Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. Artworks brilliant writer- the greatest asset of Russia.
In August 1828, a classic was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. Russian literature. The future author of "War and Peace" became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On the paternal side, he belonged to the ancient family of Counts Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.
Lev Nikolayevich's mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbed fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Leo was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.
Childcare fell on the shoulders of the writer's aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - the father's sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced his nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life in the Yushkov estate in the story "Childhood".
Silhouette and portrait of Leo Tolstoy's parents Elementary education the classic received houses from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the faculty of Oriental languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he moved to another faculty - law. But even here he did not succeed: two years later he left the university without receiving a degree.
Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man regularly kept a diary, loved secular entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and.
Disillusioned with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the countryside, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for the candidate's exams at the university, music lessons, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet of a horse guard regiment. Relatives called Leo "the most trifling fellow", and it took years to distribute the debts he had incurred.
Literature
In 1851, the writer's brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Leo to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. The nature of the Caucasus and the patriarchal life of the Cossack village were later reflected in the stories "Cossacks" and "Hadji Murad", the stories "Raid" and "Cutting the Forest".
In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story "Childhood", which he published in the journal "Sovremennik" under the initials L. N. Soon he wrote the sequels "Adolescence" and "Youth", combining the stories into a trilogy. Literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolaevich the first recognition.
The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: the appointment to Bucharest, the transfer to the besieged Sevastopol, the command of the battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came the cycle “ Sevastopol stories". The writings of the young writer struck critics with a bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them "the dialectic of the soul", and the emperor read the essay "Sevastopol in the month of December" and expressed admiration for Tolstoy's talent.
In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him "the great hope of Russian literature." But in a year, the writer's environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners got tired. Later, in Confession, Tolstoy confessed:
“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”
In the autumn of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. For six months, Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe. Traveled to Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. IN family estate engaged in the arrangement of schools for peasant children. In the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, with his participation, twenty educational institutions. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, he studied pedagogical systems European countries to apply what he saw in Russia.
A special niche in the work of Leo Tolstoy is occupied by fairy tales and compositions for children and adolescents. The writer created hundreds of works for young readers, including good and instructive tales"Kitten", "Two Brothers", "Hedgehog and Hare", "Lion and Dog".
Leo Tolstoy wrote the ABC school manual to teach children to write, read and do arithmetic. Literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included cautionary tales, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice to teachers. The third book included the story " Prisoner of the Caucasus».
Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" In 1870, Leo Tolstoy, continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted two storylines: family drama Karenin and the homely idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love story: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of the existence of the “educated class”, opposing it with the truth of the peasant life. "Anna Karenina" highly appreciated.
The turning point in the mind of the writer was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight is central to stories and novels. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. The classic of Russian literature paints pictures of social inequality, castigates the idleness of the nobles.
In search of an answer to the question about the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but even there he did not find satisfaction. The writer came to the conclusion that Christian church corrupt, and under the guise of religion, the priests promote false doctrine. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication Posrednik, where he set out his spiritual convictions with criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, the secret police watched the writer.
In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received critical acclaim. But the success of the work was inferior to "Anna Karenina" and "War and Peace".
For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his doctrine of non-violent resistance to evil, has been recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.
"War and Peace"
Leo Tolstoy did not like his novel "War and Peace", calling the epic " verbose rubbish". The classic wrote the work in the 1860s, while living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, called "1805", were published by "Russian Messenger" in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated debate among critics.
Leo Tolstoy writes "War and Peace" The features of the heroes of the work, written in the years of family happiness and spiritual uplift, the novelist took from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolayevich's mother, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love for art are recognizable. The traits of his father - mockery, love of reading and hunting - the writer awarded Nikolai Rostov.
When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. The young wife helped him, copying the drafts cleanly.
The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of the epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to "write the history of the people".
According to the estimates of the literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, only works abroad Russian classic filmed 40 times. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia made 16 films based on the novel "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection" was filmed 22 times.
For the first time, "War and Peace" was filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.
Personal life
Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the life of the couple can hardly be called cloudless.
Sofya Bers is the second of three daughters of Andrey Bers, a doctor at the Moscow Palace Office. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they rested in the Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time Leo Tolstoy saw future wife child. Sophia received home education, read a lot, understood art and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as a model of the memoir genre.
At the beginning of his married life, Leo Tolstoy, wishing that there were no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. The shocked wife found out about her husband's turbulent youth, passion gambling, wild life and the peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolayevich.
The first-born Sergey was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy took up writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite the pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five out of 13 children died in infancy or early childhood. childhood.
Problems in the family began after the end of Leo Tolstoy's work on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that she so diligently arranged in family nest Sofia Andreevna. The moral throwing of the count led to the fact that Lev Nikolayevich demanded that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he himself made, and wished to give the acquired property to the peasants.
Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of distributing good. But the resulting quarrel split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Returning, the writer assigned the duty of rewriting drafts to his daughters.
Death last child- seven-year-old Vanya - briefly brought the spouses together. But soon mutual insults and misunderstanding alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher, to whom romantic feelings arose. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for "half-treason".
The fatal quarrel of the spouses happened at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia Farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but he could not do otherwise.
Death
82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in a house stationmaster. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy's state of health.
The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy
- Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
- Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
- All happy families similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Let everyone sweep in front of his door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
- Life is easier without love. But without it there is no point.
- I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
- The world moves forward thanks to those who suffer.
- The greatest truths are the simplest.
- Everyone is making plans, and no one knows if he will live until the evening.
Bibliography
- 1869 - "War and Peace"
- 1877 - "Anna Karenina"
- 1899 - "Resurrection"
- 1852-1857 - "Childhood". "Adolescence". "Youth"
- 1856 - "Two Hussars"
- 1856 - "Morning of the landowner"
- 1863 - "Cossacks"
- 1886 - "Death of Ivan Ilyich"
- 1903 - Notes of a Madman
- 1889 - "Kreutzer Sonata"
- 1898 - "Father Sergius"
- 1904 - "Hadji Murad"
Biography and episodes of life Lev Tolstoy. When born and died Lev Tolstoy, memorable places and dates important events his life. writer quotes, Photo and video.
Years of Leo Tolstoy's life:
born September 9, 1828, died November 20, 1910
Epitaph
"I hear the sound of his speeches...
In the midst of all the confusion
Great old man of our days
Calls to the path of non-resistance.
Simple, clear words -
And who was imbued with their rays,
How to touch the deity
And speaks through his mouth.
From a poem by Arkady Kots, dedicated to memory Tolstoy
Biography
The biography of Leo Tolstoy is a biography of the most famous Russian writer, whose works are still read all over the world. Even during the life of Tolstoy, his books were translated into many languages, and today his immortal works are included in the golden fund of world literature. But no less interesting and personal, not writer's biography Tolstoy, who all his life tried to understand what is the essence of the destiny of man.
He was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate, which today houses the Tolstoy Museum. The writer, who comes from a rich and noble count family, lost his mother as a child, and when it came time to enter the university, his father, who left the family's financial affairs in poor condition. Before entering Kazan University, Leo Tolstoy was brought up by relatives in Yasnaya Polyana. Studying Tolstoy was easy, after Kazan University he studied Arabic-Turkish literature, but a conflict with one of the teachers forced him to quit his studies and return to Yasnaya Polyana. Already in those years, Tolstoy began to think about what his purpose was, who he should become. In his diaries, he set himself goals for self-improvement. He continued to keep diaries all his life, trying to answer himself in them. important questions analyzing their actions and judgments. Then, in Yasnaya Polyana, he began to feel guilty towards the peasants - for the first time he opened a school for serf children, where he himself often conducted classes. Soon Tolstoy again left for Moscow - to prepare for the candidate's exams, but the young landowner was carried away by Savor And card games which inevitably led to debt. And then, on the advice of his brother, Lev Nikolaevich left for the Caucasus, where he served for four years. In the Caucasus, he began to write his famous trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth", which later brought him great fame in literary circles Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Despite the fact that Tolstoy was warmly received after his return and he was well received in all secular salons both capitals, over time, the writer began to experience disappointment in his environment. Did not bring him pleasure and a trip to Europe. He returned to Yasnaya Polyana and began to improve it, and soon married - a girl who was much younger than him. And at the same time he finished his story "The Cossacks", after which Tolstoy's talent as a brilliant writer was recognized. Sofya Andreevna Bers bore Tolstoy 13 children, and over the years he wrote Anna Karenina and War and Peace.
In Yasnaya Polyana, surrounded by his family and his peasants, Tolstoy again began to think about the destiny of man, about religion and theology, about pedagogy. His desire to get to the very core of religion and human existence and the theological writings that followed caused a backlash in the Orthodox Church. spiritual crisis the writer was reflected in everything - both in his relationship with his family and in his success in writing. The well-being of Count Tolstoy ceased to bring him joy - he became a vegetarian, went barefoot, studied physical labor, renounced the rights to his literary works gave everything to the family. Before his death, Tolstoy quarreled with his wife and, wanting to live the last years of his life in accordance with his spiritual views, secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell seriously ill and died.
The funeral of Leo Tolstoy was held in Yasnaya Polyana, several thousand people came to say goodbye to the great writer - friends, admirers, peasants, students. The ceremony was not Orthodox rite, since the writer was excommunicated in the early 1900s. Tolstoy's grave is located in Yasnaya Polyana - in the forest where once, as a child, Lev Nikolayevich was looking for a "green stick" that kept the secret of universal happiness.
life line
September 9, 1828 Date of birth of Leo Tolstoy.
1844 Admission to Kazan University in the Department of Oriental Languages.
1847 Dismissal from the university.
1851 Departure for the Caucasus.
1852-1857 Writing autobiographical trilogy"Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth".
1855 Moving to St. Petersburg, joining the Sovremennik circle.
1856 Retirement, return to Yasnaya Polyana.
1859 The opening of a school for peasant children by Tolstoy.
1862 Marriage to Sophia Bers.
1863-1869 Writing the novel "War and Peace".
1873-1877 Writing the novel "Anna Karenina".
1889-1899 Writing the novel "Resurrection".
November 10, 1910 Secret departure of Tolstoy from Yasnaya Polyana.
November 20, 1910 Date of Tolstoy's death.
November 22, 1910 Farewell ceremony for the writer.
November 23, 1910 Funeral of Tolstoy.
Memorable places
1. Yasnaya Polyana, the estate of L. N. Tolstoy, the state memorial and nature reserve where Tolstoy is buried.
2. Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy in Khamovniki.
3. Tolstoy's house in childhood, the first Moscow address of the writer, where he was brought at the age of 7 and where he lived until 1838.
4. Tolstoy's house in Moscow in 1850-1851, where his literary activity began.
5. The former Chevalier Hotel, where Tolstoy stayed, including shortly after his marriage with Sophia Tolstaya.
6. State Museum L. N. Tolstoy in Moscow.
7. Tolstoy Center on Pyatnitskaya, former house Vargin, where Tolstoy lived in 1857-1858.
8. Monument to Tolstoy in Moscow.
9. Kochakovsky necropolis, Tolstoy family cemetery.
Episodes of life
Tolstoy married Sofya Bers when she was 18 years old and he was 34. Before they got married, he confessed to his bride in his premarital affairs - the hero of his work Anna Karenina, Konstantin Levin, did the same later. Tolstoy admitted in his letters to his grandmother: “I constantly have the feeling that I have stolen undeserved happiness that was not assigned to me. Here she comes, I hear her, and so well. Long years Sofya Tolstaya was a friend and colleague of her husband, they were very happy, but with Tolstoy's passion for theology and spiritual quest, omissions began to arise between the spouses.
Leo Tolstoy did not like War and Peace, his largest and most significant work. Once, in a correspondence with Fet, the writer even called his famous epic "wordy rubbish."
It is known that the last years of his life Tolstoy refused meat. He believed that meat-eating was not humane, and he hoped that one day people would look at him with the same disgust that they now look at cannibalism.
Tolstoy believed that education in Russia was fundamentally wrong, and tried to contribute to its change: he opened a school for peasant children, published a pedagogical magazine, wrote ABC, New ABC and Books for Reading. Despite the fact that he wrote these textbooks primarily for peasant children, more than one generation of children, including noble ones, learned from them. According to the ABC, Tolstoy was taught letters by the Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova.
Covenant
"Everything comes to those who know how to wait."
"Beware of everything that your conscience disapproves of."
Documentary "Living Tolstoy"
condolences
“November 7, 1910 ended at the Astapovo station not only the life of one of the most extraordinary people who ever lived in the world, but also ended some extraordinary human feat, an extraordinary struggle in its strength, longitude and difficulty ...”
Ivan Bunin, writer
“It is remarkable that not a single one, not only from Russians, but also from foreign writers, had and still does not have such world significance as Tolstoy. None of the writers abroad was as popular as Tolstoy. This one fact in itself points to the significance of this man's talent."
Sergei Witte, statesman
“I sincerely regret the death of the great writer, who, during the heyday of his talent, embodied in his works the images of one of the glorious years of Russian life. May the Lord God be a merciful judge for him.”
Nicholas II Alexandrovich, Russian Emperor
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy- an outstanding Russian prose writer, playwright and public figure. Born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula region. On the maternal side, the writer belonged to the eminent family of the Volkonsky princes, and on the paternal side, to the ancient family of the Counts Tolstoy. Great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father of Leo Tolstoy were military men. Even under Ivan the Terrible, representatives of the ancient Tolstoy family served as governors in many cities of Rus'.
The writer's grandfather on his mother's side, "a descendant of Rurik", Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, from the age of seven was enrolled in military service. He was a member Russian-Turkish war and retired with the rank of general-in-chief. The writer's paternal grandfather - Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy - served in the Navy, and then in the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The writer's father, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, voluntarily entered military service at the age of seventeen. He participated in Patriotic war 1812, was captured by the French and was released by Russian troops who entered Paris after the defeat of Napoleon's army. On the maternal side, Tolstoy was related to the Pushkins. Their common ancestor was boyar I.M. Golovin, an associate of Peter I, who studied shipbuilding with him. One of his daughters is the great-grandmother of the poet, the other is the great-grandmother of Tolstoy's mother. Thus, Pushkin was Tolstoy's fourth cousin.
Writer's childhood took place in Yasnaya Polyana - an old family estate. Tolstoy's interest in history and literature arose in his childhood: living in the countryside, he saw how the life of the working people proceeded, from him he heard a lot folk tales, epics, songs, legends. The life of the people, their work, interests and views, oral creativity- everything living and wise - was revealed to Tolstoy by Yasnaya Polyana.
Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya, the writer's mother, was a kind and sympathetic person, an intelligent and educated woman: she knew French, German, English and Italian She played the piano and took up painting. Tolstoy was not even two years old when his mother died. The writer did not remember her, but he heard so much about her from those around him that he clearly and vividly imagined her appearance and character.
Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, his father, was loved and appreciated by the children for his humane attitude towards serfs. In addition to doing housework and children, he read a lot. During his life, Nikolai Ilyich collected a rich library, consisting of rare books for those times. French classics, historical and natural history writings. It was he who first noticed the tendency of his younger son to the living perception of the artistic word.
When Tolstoy was in his ninth year, his father took him to Moscow for the first time. The first impressions of the Moscow life of Lev Nikolaevich served as the basis for many paintings, scenes and episodes of the hero’s life in Moscow Tolstoy's trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth". Young Tolstoy saw not only the open side of life big city but also some hidden, shady sides. With his first stay in Moscow, the writer connected the end of the earliest period of his life, childhood, and the transition to adolescence. The first period of Tolstoy's life in Moscow did not last long. In the summer of 1837, having gone on business to Tula, his father died suddenly. Soon after the death of his father, Tolstoy, his sister and brothers had to endure a new misfortune: the grandmother died, whom all relatives considered the head of the family. The sudden death of her son was a terrible blow for her and in less than a year took her to the grave. A few years later, the first guardian of the orphaned Tolstoy children, the father's sister, Alexandra Ilyinichna Osten-Saken, died. Ten-year-old Leo, his three brothers and sister were taken to Kazan, where their new guardian, aunt Pelageya Ilyinichna Yushkova, lived.
Tolstoy wrote about his second guardian as a woman "kind and very pious", but at the same time very "frivolous and vain". According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Pelageya Ilyinichna did not enjoy authority among Tolstoy and his brothers, therefore moving to Kazan is considered to be a new stage in the life of the writer: education ended, a period of independent life began.
Tolstoy lived in Kazan for more than six years. It was the time of formation of his character and choice life path. Living with his brothers and sister at Pelageya Ilyinichna, young Tolstoy spent two years preparing to enter Kazan University. Deciding to enter the eastern department of the university, he paid special attention to preparing for exams in foreign languages. At the exams in mathematics and Russian literature, Tolstoy received fours, and in foreign languages - fives. At the exams in history and geography, Lev Nikolaevich failed - he received unsatisfactory marks.
Failure in the entrance exams served as a serious lesson for Tolstoy. He devoted the whole summer to a thorough study of history and geography, passed additional exams on them, and in September 1844 he was enrolled in the first year of the eastern department of the philosophical faculty of Kazan University in the category of Arabic-Turkish literature. However, the study of languages did not captivate Tolstoy, and after summer holidays in Yasnaya Polyana, he transferred from the Oriental Faculty to the Faculty of Law.
But even in the future, university studies did not arouse Lev Nikolayevich's interest in the sciences being studied. Most time he independently studied philosophy, compiled the "Rules of Life" and carefully made entries in his diary. By the end of the third year of studies, Tolstoy was finally convinced that the then university order only interfered with independent creative work and he made the decision to leave the university. However, he needed a university degree to qualify for employment. And in order to get a diploma, Tolstoy passed the university exams as an external student, having spent two years of his life in the countryside preparing for them. Having received university documents at the end of April 1847, the former student Tolstoy left Kazan.
After leaving the university, Tolstoy again went to Yasnaya Polyana, and then to Moscow. Here, at the end of 1850, he took up literary creativity. At this time, he decided to write two stories, but he did not finish either of them. In the spring of 1851, Lev Nikolaevich, together with his older brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, who served in the army as an artillery officer, arrived in the Caucasus. Here Tolstoy lived for almost three years, being mainly in the village of Starogladkovskaya, located on the left bank of the Terek. From here he traveled to Kizlyar, Tiflis, Vladikavkaz, visited many villages and villages.
started in the Caucasus Tolstoy's military service. He took part in the combat operations of the Russian troops. Tolstoy's impressions and observations are reflected in his stories "Raid", "Cutting the Forest", "Degraded", in the story "Cossacks". Later, turning to the memories of this period of life, Tolstoy created the story "Hadji Murad". In March 1854, Tolstoy arrived in Bucharest, where the office of the chief of artillery troops was located. From here, as a staff officer, he made trips to Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia.
In the spring and summer of 1854, the writer took part in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Silistria. However, the main place of hostilities at that time was Crimean peninsula. Here, Russian troops led by V.A. Kornilov and P.S. Nakhimov heroically defended Sevastopol for eleven months, besieged by Turkish and Anglo-French troops. Participation in the Crimean War - milestone in Tolstoy's life. Here he closely recognized ordinary Russian soldiers, sailors, residents of Sevastopol, sought to understand the source of the heroism of the defenders of the city, to understand the special character traits inherent in the defender of the Fatherland. Tolstoy himself showed bravery and courage in the defense of Sevastopol.
In November 1855 Tolstoy left Sevastopol for St. Petersburg. By this time, he had already earned recognition in advanced literary circles. During this period attention public life Russia was centered around the issue of serfdom. Tolstoy's stories of this time ("The Morning of the Landowner", "Polikushka", etc.) are also devoted to this problem.
In 1857 the writer made overseas travel. He traveled to France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Traveling through different cities, the writer got acquainted with the culture and social system of Western European countries with great interest. Much of what he saw later reflected in his work. In 1860 Tolstoy made another trip abroad. The year before, he opened a school for children in Yasnaya Polyana. Traveling through the cities of Germany, France, Switzerland, England and Belgium, the writer visited schools and studied the features of public education. In most of the schools that Tolstoy visited, caning discipline was in effect and corporal punishment was used. Returning to Russia and visiting a number of schools, Tolstoy discovered that many teaching methods that were in force in Western European countries, in particular in Germany, also penetrated into Russian schools. At this time, Lev Nikolaevich wrote a number of articles in which he criticized the system of public education both in Russia and in Western European countries.
Arriving home after overseas trip, Tolstoy devoted himself to work at school and the publication of the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana. The school, founded by the writer, was located not far from his house - in an outbuilding that has survived to our time. In the early 1970s, Tolstoy compiled and published a number of textbooks for elementary school: "ABC", "Arithmetic", four "Books for reading". More than one generation of children have learned from these books. Stories from them are read with enthusiasm by children in our time.
In 1862, when Tolstoy was away, landowners arrived in Yasnaya Polyana and searched the writer's house. In 1861, the tsar's manifesto announced the abolition of serfdom. During the reform, disputes broke out between the landowners and peasants, the settlement of which was entrusted to the so-called peace mediators. Tolstoy was appointed mediator in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province. Dealing with controversial cases between nobles and peasants, the writer most often took a position in favor of the peasantry, which caused discontent among the nobles. This was the reason for the search. Because of this, Tolstoy had to stop the activities of the mediator, close the school in Yasnaya Polyana and refuse to publish a pedagogical journal.
In 1862 Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna Bers, daughter of a Moscow doctor. Arriving with her husband in Yasnaya Polyana, Sofya Andreevna tried with all her might to create such an environment on the estate in which nothing would distract the writer from hard work. In the 60s, Tolstoy led a solitary life, devoting himself entirely to work on War and Peace.
At the end of the epic War and Peace, Tolstoy decided to write a new work - a novel about the era of Peter I. However, social events in Russia, caused by the abolition of serfdom, so captured the writer that he left work on historical novel and set about creating a new work, which reflected the post-reform life of Russia. This is how the novel "Anna Karenina" appeared, which Tolstoy devoted four years to work on.
In the early 1980s, Tolstoy moved with his family to Moscow to educate his growing children. Here the writer, well acquainted with rural poverty, became a witness to urban poverty. In the early 90s of the XIX century, almost half of the central provinces of the country were gripped by famine, and Tolstoy joined the fight against the people's disaster. Thanks to his call, the collection of donations, the purchase and delivery of food to the villages was launched. At this time, under the leadership of Tolstoy, about two hundred free canteens for the starving population were opened in the villages of the Tula and Ryazan provinces. A number of articles written by Tolstoy on the famine belong to the same period, in which the writer truthfully portrayed the plight of the people and condemned the policy of the ruling classes.
In the mid-1980s Tolstoy wrote Drama "Power of Darkness", which depicts the death of the old foundations of patriarchal-peasant Russia, and the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", dedicated to the fate of a man who only before his death realized the emptiness and meaninglessness of his life. In 1890, Tolstoy wrote the comedy The Fruits of Enlightenment, which shows the true state of the peasantry after the abolition of serfdom. Created in the early 1990s novel "Sunday", on which the writer worked intermittently for ten years. In all the works relating to this period of creativity, Tolstoy openly shows whom he sympathizes with and whom he condemns; depicts the hypocrisy and insignificance of the "masters of life."
The novel "Sunday" more than other works of Tolstoy was subjected to censorship. Most of the novel's chapters have been released or cut. The ruling circles launched an active policy against the writer. Fearing popular indignation, the authorities did not dare to use open repressions against Tolstoy. With the consent of the tsar and at the insistence of the chief procurator of the Holy Synod, Pobedonostsev, the synod adopted a resolution on excommunication of Tolstoy from the church. The writer was put under police surveillance. The world community was outraged by the persecution of Lev Nikolaevich. The peasantry, the progressive intelligentsia and the common people were on the side of the writer, they sought to express their respect and support to him. The love and sympathy of the people served as a reliable support for the writer in the years when the reaction sought to silence him.
However, despite all the efforts of reactionary circles, every year Tolstoy denounced the noble-bourgeois society more and more sharply and boldly, and openly opposed the autocracy. Works from this period "After the Ball", "For what?", "Hadji Murad", "The Living Corpse") are imbued with a deep hatred for royal power, a limited and ambitious ruler. In publicistic articles relating to this time, the writer sharply condemned the instigators of wars, called for a peaceful resolution of all disputes and conflicts.
In 1901-1902 Tolstoy suffered serious illness. At the insistence of doctors, the writer had to go to the Crimea, where he spent more than six months.
In the Crimea, he met with writers, artists, artists: Chekhov, Korolenko, Gorky, Chaliapin, and others. When Tolstoy returned home, he was warmly greeted at the stations by hundreds ordinary people. In the autumn of 1909 the writer last time traveled to Moscow.
In the diaries and letters of Tolstoy recent decades his life was reflected in the difficult experiences that were caused by the discord between the writer and his family. Tolstoy wanted to transfer the land that belonged to him to the peasants and wanted his works to be freely and free of charge published by anyone who wanted to. The writer's family opposed this, not wanting to give up either the rights to the land or the rights to works. The old landlord way of life, preserved in Yasnaya Polyana, weighed heavily on Tolstoy.
In the summer of 1881, Tolstoy made his first attempt to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but a feeling of pity for his wife and children forced him to return. Several more attempts by the writer to leave his native estate ended with the same result. On October 28, 1910, secretly from his family, he left Yasnaya Polyana forever, deciding to go south and spend the rest of his life in a peasant's hut, among the simple Russian people. However, on the way, Tolstoy fell seriously ill and was forced to leave the train at the small Astapovo station. The great writer spent the last seven days of his life in the house of the head of the station. News of the death of one of the great thinkers, wonderful writer, the great humanist deeply struck the hearts of all advanced people this time. creative heritage Tolstoy is of great importance for world literature. Over the years, interest in the writer's work does not weaken, but, on the contrary, grows. As A. Frans rightly noted: “With his life he proclaims sincerity, directness, purposefulness, firmness, calm and constant heroism, he teaches that one must be truthful and one must be strong ... Precisely because he was full of strength, he always was true!
Was born in noble family Maria Nikolaevna, nee Princess Volkonskaya, and Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy in the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province as the fourth child. The happy marriage of his parents became the prototype of the characters in the novel "War and Peace" - Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov. Parents died early. Tatyana Alexandrovna Yergolskaya, a distant relative, was engaged in the upbringing of the future writer, education - tutors: the German Reselman and the Frenchman Saint-Thomas, who became the heroes of the writer's stories and novels. At the age of 13, the future writer and his family moved to the hospitable house of his father's sister P.I. Yushkova in Kazan.
In 1844, Leo Tolstoy entered the Imperial Kazan University in the Department of Oriental Literature of the Faculty of Philosophy. After the first year, he did not pass the transition exam and transferred to Faculty of Law, where he studied for two years, plunging into secular entertainment. Leo Tolstoy, naturally shy and ugly, acquired in secular society reputation of "thinking" about the happiness of death, eternity, love, although he himself wanted to shine. And in 1847 he left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana with the intention of doing science and "achieving the highest degree excellence in music and painting.
In 1849, the first school for peasant children was opened on his estate, where Foka Demidovich, his serf, taught. former musician. Yermil Bazykin, who studied there, said: “There were about 20 of us boys, the teacher was Foka Demidovich, a courtyard man. Under father L.N. Tolstoy, he acted as a musician. The old man was good. Taught us the alphabet, counting, sacred history. Lev Nikolaevich also came to us, also worked with us, showed us his diploma. I went every other day, every other day, or even every day. He always ordered the teacher not to offend us ... ".
In 1851, under the influence of his older brother Nikolai, Lev left for the Caucasus, having already begun to write Childhood, and in the fall he became a cadet in the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade stationed in the Cossack village of Starogladovskaya on the Terek River. There he completed the first part of Childhood and sent it to the Sovremennik magazine to its editor N.A. Nekrasov. On September 18, 1852, the manuscript was printed with great success.
Leo Tolstoy served three years in the Caucasus and, having the right to the most honorable St. George Cross for bravery, “conceded” to his fellow soldier, as giving a lifelong pension. At the beginning of the Crimean War of 1853-1856. transferred to the Danube army, participated in the battles of Oltenitsa, the siege of Silistria, the defense of Sevastopol. The then written story "Sevastopol in December 1854" was read by Emperor Alexander II, who ordered to take care of a talented officer.
In November 1856, already recognized and famous writer leaves military service and leaves to travel around Europe.
In 1862, Leo Tolstoy married seventeen-year-old Sofya Andreevna Bers. In their marriage, 13 children were born, five died in early childhood, the novels "War and Peace" (1863-1869) and "Anna Karenina" (1873-1877) were written, recognized as great works.
In the 1880s Leo Tolstoy survived a powerful crisis that led to the denial of the official state power and its institutions, awareness of the inevitability of death, faith in God and the creation of his own teaching - Tolstoyism. He lost interest in the usual aristocratic life, he began to have thoughts of suicide and the need to live right, be a vegetarian, engage in education and physical labor - he plowed, sewed boots, taught children at school. In 1891, he publicly renounced the copyright to his literary works written after 1880.
During 1889-1899. Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel "Resurrection", whose plot is based on a real court case, and biting articles about the system government controlled- on this basis, the Holy Synod excommunicated Count Leo Tolstoy from the Orthodox Church and anathematized him in 1901.
On October 28 (November 10), 1910, Leo Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana, setting off on a journey without a specific plan for the sake of his moral and religious ideas. recent years accompanied by doctor D.P. Makovitsky. On the way he caught a cold, fell ill with lobar pneumonia and was forced to get off the train at the Astapovo station (now Lev Tolstoy station). Lipetsk region). Leo Tolstoy died on November 7 (20), 1910 in the house of the head of the station I.I. Ozolin and was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
