What city did Leo Tolstoy live in? Short biography of Leo Tolstoy: the most important events

Count, Russian writer, corresponding member (1873), honorary academician (1900) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Starting with the autobiographical trilogy "Childhood" (1852), "Boyhood" (1852 54), "Youth" (1855 57), the study of the "fluidity" of the inner world, the moral foundations of the individual became the main theme of Tolstoy's works. Painful searches for the meaning of life, a moral ideal, hidden general laws of being, spiritual and social criticism, revealing the "untruth" of class relations, run through all of his work. In the story "The Cossacks" (1863), the hero, a young nobleman, is looking for a way out in familiarizing himself with nature, with the natural and integral life of a simple person. The epic "War and Peace" (1863 69) recreates the life of various strata of Russian society during the Patriotic War of 1812, the patriotic impulse of the people, which united all classes and led to victory in the war with Napoleon. historical events and personal interests, the ways of spiritual self-determination of the reflecting personality and the elements of Russian folk life with its "swarm" consciousness are shown as equivalent components of natural-historical being. In the novel "Anna Karenina" (1873 77) about the tragedy of a woman in the grip of a destructive "criminal" passion Tolstoy exposes the false foundations of secular society, shows the collapse of the patriarchal way of life, the destruction of family foundations. To the perception of the world by individualistic and rationalistic consciousness, he contrasts the inherent value of life as such in its infinity, uncontrollable changeability and real concreteness ("Seer of the Flesh" D. S. Merezhkovsky). Since the late 1870s, he has been experiencing a spiritual crisis, later captured by the idea of ​​moral improvement and "simplification" (which gave rise to the "Tolstoy movement"), Tolstoy comes to an increasingly irreconcilable criticism of the social structure of modern bureaucratic institutions, the state, the church (in 1901 he was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church ), civilization and culture, the entire way of life of the "educated classes": the novel "Resurrection" (1889 99), the story "Kreutzer Sonata" (1887 89), the dramas "The Living Corpse" (1900, published in 1911) and " The Power of Darkness" (1887). At the same time, attention is growing to the themes of death, sin, repentance and moral rebirth (the stories "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", 1884 86; "Father Sergius", 1890 98, published in 1912; "Hadji Murad", 1896 1904, publ. . in 1912). Publicistic writings of a moralizing nature, including "Confession" (1879 82), "What is my faith?" (1884), where the Christian doctrine of love and forgiveness is transformed into a preaching of non-resistance to evil by violence. the desire to harmonize the way of thinking and life leads to the departure of Tolstoy from the house in Yasnaya Polyana; died at Astapovo station.

Biography

Born on August 28 (September 9, n.s.) in the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province. By origin, he belonged to the most ancient aristocratic families of Russia. Received home education and upbringing.

After the death of his parents (mother died in 1830, father in 1837), the future writer with three brothers and a sister moved to Kazan, to the guardian P. Yushkova. At the age of sixteen, he entered Kazan University, first at the Faculty of Philosophy in the category of Arabic-Turkish literature, then studied at the Faculty of Law (1844 47). In 1847, without completing the course, he left the university and settled in Yasnaya Polyana, which he received as his father's inheritance.

The future writer spent the next four years in search: he tried to reorganize the life of the peasants of Yasnaya Polyana (1847), lived a secular life in Moscow (1848), at St. deputy meeting (autumn 1849).

In 1851 he left Yasnaya Polyana for the Caucasus, the place of service of his older brother Nikolai, and volunteered to take part in hostilities against the Chechens. Episodes of the Caucasian War are described by him in the stories "Raid" (1853), "Cutting the Forest" (1855), in the story "Cossacks" (1852 63). He passed the cadet exam, preparing to become an officer. In 1854, being an artillery officer, he transferred to the Danube army, which acted against the Turks.

In the Caucasus, Tolstoy began to seriously engage in literary work, writing the story "Childhood", which was approved by Nekrasov and published in the journal "Contemporary". Later, the story "Boyhood" (1852 54) was printed there.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Crimean War, Tolstoy, at his personal request, was transferred to Sevastopol, where he participated in the defense of the besieged city, showing rare fearlessness. Awarded the Order of St. Anna with the inscription "For Courage" and medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol". In "Sevastopol Tales" he created a mercilessly reliable picture of the war, which made a huge impression on Russian society. In the same years he wrote the last part of the trilogy "Youth" (1855 56), in which he declared himself not just a "poet of childhood", but a researcher of human nature. This interest in man and the desire to understand the laws of mental and spiritual life will continue in his future work.

In 1855, having arrived in St. Petersburg, Tolstoy became close to the staff of the Sovremennik magazine, met Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Chernyshevsky.

In the autumn of 1856 he retired ("Military career not mine ..." he writes in his diary) and in 1857 went on a six-month trip abroad to France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany.

In 1859 he opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana, where he taught classes himself. He helped open more than 20 schools in the surrounding villages. In order to study the organization of school affairs abroad, in 1860 1861 Tolstoy made a second trip to Europe, inspected schools in France, Italy, Germany, and England. In London, he met Herzen, attended a lecture by Dickens.

In May 1861 (the year of the abolition of serfdom) he returned to Yasnaya Polyana, assumed the position of mediator and actively defended the interests of the peasants, resolving their disputes with the landowners about the land, for which the Tula nobility, dissatisfied with his actions, demanded his removal from office. In 1862 the Senate issued a decree dismissing Tolstoy. A secret surveillance of him by the III Section began. In the summer, the gendarmes carried out a search in his absence, confident that they would find a secret printing house, which the writer allegedly acquired after meetings and long conversations with Herzen in London.

In 1862, Tolstoy's life, his way of life were ordered for many years: he married the daughter of a Moscow doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers, and a patriarchal life began on his estate as the head of an ever-increasing family. The Tolstoys raised nine children.

1860 The 1870s were marked by the appearance of two works by Tolstoy that immortalized his name: War and Peace (1863 69), Anna Karenina (1873 77).

In the early 1880s, the Tolstoy family moved to Moscow to educate their growing children. From that time on, Tolstoy spent his winters in Moscow. Here, in 1882, he participated in the census of the Moscow population, became closely acquainted with the life of the inhabitants of the city's slums, which he described in the treatise "So what should we do?" (1882 86), and concluded: "... You can't live like that, you can't live like that, you can't!"

Tolstoy expressed the new worldview in his work "Confession" (1879㭎), where he spoke about the revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in the break with the ideology of the noble class and the transition to the side of the "simple working people". This turning point led Tolstoy to deny the state, the official church and property. The consciousness of the meaninglessness of life in the face of inevitable death led him to believe in God. He bases his teaching on the moral precepts of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil by force constitute the meaning of the so-called "Tolstoyism", which is becoming popular not only in Russia, but also abroad.

During this period, he came to a complete denial of his previous literary activity, engaged in physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright on all his writings written after 1880.

Under the influence of friends and true admirers of his talent, as well as a personal need for literary activity, Tolstoy changed his negative attitude towards art in the 1890s. During these years he created the drama "The Power of Darkness" (1886), the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment" (1886 90), the novel "Resurrection" (1889 99).

In 1891, 1893, 1898 he participated in helping the peasants of the starving provinces, organized free canteens.

In the last decade, as always, he has been engaged in intense creative work. The story "Hadji Murad" (1896 1904), the drama "The Living Corpse" (1900), the story "After the Ball" (1903) were written.

At the beginning of 1900 he wrote a number of articles exposing the entire system of state administration. The government of Nicholas II issued a decree according to which the Holy Synod (the highest church institution in Russia) excommunicated Tolstoy from the church, which caused a wave of indignation in society.

In 1901 Tolstoy lived in the Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

In the last years of his life, when Tolstoy was writing his will, he found himself at the center of intrigue and strife between the "Tolstoyites", on the one hand, and his wife, who defended the well-being of her family and children, on the other. Trying to bring his way of life in line with his beliefs and burdened by the lordly way of life in the estate. On November 10, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. The health of the 82-year-old writer could not stand the trip. He caught a cold and, falling ill, died on November 20 on the way at the Astapovo Ryazans station of the Ural railway.

Buried at Yasnaya Polyana.

The Russian cultural heritage of the nineteenth century includes many world-famous musical works, achievements in choreographic art, and masterpieces of brilliant poets. The work of Leo Tolstoy, the great prose writer, humanist philosopher and public figure, occupies a special place not only in Russian, but also in world culture.

The biography of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is controversial. It testifies that he did not immediately come to his philosophical views. And the creation of artistic literary works, which made him a world-famous Russian writer, was far from his main occupation. And the beginning of his life path was not cloudless. Here are the main milestones of the writer's biography:

• Childhood years of Tolstoy's life.
• Army service and the beginning of a creative path.
• European travels and pedagogical activity.
• Marriage and family life.
• The novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina".
• One thousand eight hundred eighties. Moscow census.
• The novel "Resurrection", excommunication from the church.
• final years of life.

Childhood and adolescence

The writer's date of birth is September 9, 1828. He was born into a noble aristocratic family, in the estate of the mother "Yasnaya Polyana", where Leo Tolstoy spent his childhood until he was nine years old. Leo Tolstoy's father, Nikolai Ilyich, came from the ancient count family of Tolstoy, who led the genealogy from the middle of the fourteenth century. Lev's mother, Princess Volkonskaya, died in 1830, some time after the birth of her only daughter, whose name was Maria. Seven years later, his father also died. He left five children in the care of relatives, among whom Leo was the fourth child.

Having changed several guardians, little Leva settled in the Kazan house of his aunt Yushkova, his father's sister. Life in the new family turned out to be so happy that it overshadowed the tragic events of early childhood. Later, the writer recalled this time as one of the best in his life, which was reflected in his story "Childhood", which can be considered part of the writer's autobiography.

Having received, as was customary at that time in most noble families, a home primary education, Tolstoy entered Kazan University in 1843, choosing to study oriental languages. The choice turned out to be unsuccessful, due to poor academic performance, he changes the oriental faculty for jurisprudence, but with the same result. As a result, two years later, Leo returns to his homeland in Yasnaya Polyana, deciding to take up agriculture.

But the idea, which required monotonous continuous work, failed, and Lev leaves for Moscow, and then to St. Petersburg, where he tries to prepare again for entering the university, alternating this preparation with revelry and gambling, more and more acquiring debts, as well as with music lessons and keeping a diary . Who knows how all this could have ended if it were not for the arrival of his brother Nikolai, an army officer, in 1851, who persuaded him to enter the military service.

Army and the beginning of a creative path

The army service contributed to the writer's further reassessment of the social relations existing in the country. Here it was started writing career, which consisted of two important stages:

• Military service in the North Caucasus.
• Participation in the Crimean War.

For three years, Leo Tolstoy lived among the Terek Cossacks, took part in the battles - first as a volunteer, and later officially. Impressions of that life were later reflected in the writer's work, in works dedicated to the life of the North Caucasian Cossacks: "Cossacks", "Hadji Murad", "Raid", "Cutting down the forest".

It was in the Caucasus, in the intervals between military clashes with the highlanders and in anticipation of being accepted into the official military service, that Lev Nikolayevich wrote his first published work - the story "Childhood". The creative growth of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy as a writer began with her. Published in Sovremennik under the pseudonym L.N., it immediately brought fame and recognition to the novice author.

After spending two years in the Caucasus, L.N. Tolstoy was transferred to the Danube Army with the beginning of the Crimean War, and then to Sevastopol, where he served in the artillery troops, commanding a battery, participated in the defense of Malakhov Kurgan and fought at Chernaya. For participation in the battles for Sevastopol, Tolstoy was repeatedly awarded, including the Order of St. Anna.

Here the writer begins work on the Sevastopol Tales, which he completes in St. Petersburg, where he was transferred in the early autumn of 1855, and publishes them under his own name in Sovremennik. This publication secures for him the name of a representative of a new generation of writers.

At the end of 1857, Leo Tolstoy retired, having the rank of lieutenant, and set off on his European journey.

Europe and pedagogical activity

Leo Tolstoy's first trip to Europe was an introductory, tourist trip. He visits museums, places connected with the life and work of Rousseau. Although he was delighted with the sense of social freedom inherent in the European way of life, his overall impression of Europe was negative, mainly because of the contrast between wealth and poverty, hidden under a cultural veneer. The characteristic of the then Europe is given by Tolstoy in the story "Lucerne".

After the first European trip, Tolstoy was engaged in public education for several years, opening peasant schools in the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana. He already had his first experience in this when, leading a rather chaotic lifestyle in his youth, in search of its meaning, during an unsuccessful farming occupation, he opened the first school on his estate.

At this time, work continues on The Cossacks, the novel Family Happiness. And in 1860-1861 Tolstoy traveled to Europe again, this time to study the experience of introducing public education.

After returning to Russia, he develops his own pedagogical system based on the freedom of the individual, writes many fairy tales and stories for children.

Marriage, family and children

In 1862 the writer married Sophia Bers who was eighteen years younger than him. Sophia, who had a university education, later helped her husband a lot in his writing work, including rewriting clean drafts of manuscripts. Although relations in the family were not always ideal, they lived together for forty-eight years. Thirteen children were born in the family, of whom only eight survived to adulthood.

The way of life of Leo Tolstoy contributed to the growth of problems in family relations over time. They became especially noticeable after the completion of Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, began to demand that the family lead a lifestyle close to peasant life, which led to constant quarrels.

"War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina"

It took Lev Nikolaevich twelve years to work on his most famous works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

The first publication of an excerpt from "War and Peace" appeared as early as 1865, and already in the sixty-eighth, the first three parts were printed in full. The success of the novel was so great that additional editions of already published parts were needed, even before the completion of work on the last volumes.

Tolstoy's next novel, Anna Karenina, published in 1873-1876, was no less successful. In this work of the writer, signs of a spiritual crisis are already felt. The relationship of the main characters of the book, the development of the plot, its dramatic finale testified to the transition of Leo Tolstoy to the third stage of his literary work, reflecting the strengthening of the writer's dramatic view of being.

1880s and Moscow census

In the late seventies, Leo Tolstoy met V.P. The change in his worldview by the eighties was reflected in the works "Confession", "What is my faith?", "The Kreutzer Sonata", which are characteristic of the third stage of Tolstoy's work.

Trying to improve the life of the people, the writer in 1882 takes part in the Moscow census, believing that the official publication of data on the plight of ordinary people will help to change their fate. According to the plan issued by the Duma, he collects statistical information within a few days on the territory of the most difficult site, located in Protochny Lane. Impressed by what he saw in the Moscow slums, he wrote an article "On the census in Moscow."

The novel "Resurrection" and excommunication

In the nineties, the writer wrote a treatise "What is art?", in which he substantiates his view of the purpose of art. But the novel "Resurrection" is considered the pinnacle of Tolstoy's literary work of this period. The image in it of church life as a mechanical routine later became the main reason for the excommunication of Leo Tolstoy from the church.

The writer's response to this was his "Response to the Synod", which confirmed Tolstoy's break with the church, and in which he substantiates his position, pointing out the contradictions between church dogmas and his understanding of the Christian faith.

The public reaction to this event was contradictory - part of the society expressed sympathy and support to L. Tolstoy, threats and abuse were heard from the other.

Final years of life

Deciding to live the rest of his life without contradicting his convictions, Leo Tolstoy secretly leaves Yasnaya Polyana in early November 1910, accompanied only by his personal doctor. There was no definite end goal. It was supposed to go to Bulgaria or the Caucasus. But a few days later, feeling unwell, the writer was forced to stop at the Astapovo station, where doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia.

Doctors' attempts to save him failed, and the great writer died on November 20, 1910. The news of Tolstoy's death caused excitement throughout the country, but the funeral proceeded without incident. He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, at the favorite place of his childhood games - at the edge of a forest ravine.

Spiritual quest of Leo Tolstoy

Despite the recognition of the literary heritage of the writer throughout the world, he himself Tolstoy treated the works he wrote with disdain. He considered it really important to disseminate his philosophical and religious views, which were based on the idea of ​​“non-resistance to evil by violence”, known as “Tolstoyism”. In search of an answer to his questions, he talked a lot with people of clergy, read religious treatises, studied the results of research in the exact sciences.

In everyday life, this was expressed by a gradual rejection of the luxury of a landowner's life, from their property rights, the transition to vegetarianism, - "simplification". In the biography of Tolstoy, this was the third period of his work, during which he finally came to the denial of all the then public, state, and religious forms of life.

Global Recognition and Heritage Studies

And in our time, Tolstoy is considered one of the greatest writers in the world. And although he himself considered his studies in literature a secondary matter, and even in certain life periods insignificant, useless, it was stories, novels and novels that made his name famous, contributed to the spread of the religious and moral teaching he created, known as Tolstoyism, which for Lev Nikolayevich was main outcome of life.

In Russia, a project to study the creative heritage of Tolstoy is launched already from the elementary grades of a comprehensive school. The first presentation of the writer's work begins in the third grade, when the initial acquaintance with the writer's biography takes place. In the future, as they study his works, students write essays on the theme of the classic's work, make reports both on the biography of the writer and on his individual works.

The study of the writer's work, the preservation of his memory is facilitated by many museums in memorable places in the country associated with the name of Leo Tolstoy. First of all, such a museum is the Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Reserve, where the writer was born and buried.

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 work 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 called 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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The name of the writer, educator, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy is known to every Russian person. During his lifetime, 78 works of art were printed, 96 more were preserved in the archives. And in the first half of the 20th century, a complete collection of works was published, numbering 90 volumes and including, in addition to novels, stories, short stories, essays, etc., numerous letters and diary entries of this great man, who was distinguished by great talent and outstanding personal qualities. In this article, we recall the most interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy.

House for sale in Yasnaya Polyana

In his youth, the count was known as a gambler and liked, unfortunately, not very successfully, to play cards. It so happened that part of the house in Yasnaya Polyana, where the writer spent his childhood, was given away for debts. Subsequently, Tolstoy planted trees in an empty place. Ilya Lvovich, his son, recalled how he once asked his father to show him the room in the house where he was born. And Lev Nikolaevich pointed to the top of one of the larches, adding: "There." And he described the leather sofa on which this happened in the novel War and Peace. These are interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy, connected with the family estate.

As for the house itself, two of its two-story outbuildings have been preserved and have grown over time. After the marriage and the birth of children, the Tolstoy family grew, and in parallel with this, new premises were added.

Thirteen children were born in the Tolstoy family, five of whom died in infancy. The count never spared time for them, and before the crisis of the 80s he liked to play pranks. For example, if jelly was served during dinner, the father noticed that it was good for them to glue the boxes together. Children immediately brought in table paper, and the process of creativity began.

Another example. Someone in the family became sad or even burst into tears. The count who noticed this instantly organized the Numidian cavalry. He jumped up from his seat, raised his hand and rushed around the table, and the children rushed after him.

Tolstoy Leo Nikolayevich was always distinguished by a love of literature. He regularly hosted evening readings in his home. Somehow I took up a Jules Verne book without pictures. Then he began to illustrate it himself. And although he did not turn out to be a very good artist, the family was delighted with what they saw.

The children also remembered the humorous poems of Leo Tolstoy. He read them in the wrong German for the same purpose: at home. By the way, few people know that the writer's creative heritage includes several poetic works. For example, "Fool", "Volga-hero". They were mainly written for children and entered the well-known "ABC".

Thoughts of suicide

The works of Leo Tolstoy became for the writer a way of studying human characters in their development. Psychologism in the image often demanded great mental tension from the author. So, while working on Anna Karenina, trouble almost happened to the writer. He was in such a difficult state of mind that he was afraid to repeat the fate of his hero Levin and commit suicide. Later, in his Confession, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy noted that the thought of this was so insistent that he even took the cord out of the room where he changed clothes alone, and refused to hunt with a gun.

Disappointment in the Church

Nikolaevich is well studied and contains many stories about how he was excommunicated from the church. Meanwhile, the writer always considered himself a believer, and from the year 77, for several years, he strictly observed all fasts and attended every church service. However, after visiting Optina Pustyn in 1981, everything changed. Lev Nikolaevich went there with his footman and school teacher. They walked, as it should be, with a knapsack, in bast shoes. When they finally arrived at the monastery, they discovered terrible filth and strict discipline.

The pilgrims who came were settled on a common basis, which outraged the lackey, who always treated the owner as a master. He turned to one of the monks and said that the old man was Leo Tolstoy. The writer's work was well known, and he was immediately transferred to the best hotel room. After returning from Optina Hermitage, the count expressed his dissatisfaction with such servility, and since then he changed his attitude towards church conventions and its employees. It all ended with the fact that in one of the posts he took a cutlet for lunch.

By the way, in the last years of his life, the writer became a vegetarian, completely abandoning meat. But at the same time, he ate scrambled eggs every day in different forms.

Physical work

In the early 80s - this is reported by the biography of Leo Tolstoy Nikolayevich - the writer finally came to the conclusion that an idle life and luxury do not paint a person. For a long time he was tormented by the question of what he should do: sell all his property and leave his beloved wife and children unaccustomed to hard work without funds? Or transfer the entire fortune to Sofya Andreevna? Later, Tolstoy would divide everything between family members. At this difficult time for him - the family had already moved to Moscow - Lev Nikolayevich liked to go to the Sparrow Hills, where he helped the peasants cut firewood. Then he learned the craft of shoemaking and even designed boots and summer shoes from canvas and leather, in which he walked all summer. And every year he helped peasant families, in which there was no one to plow, sow and harvest bread. Not everyone approved of such a life of Lev Nikolayevich. Tolstoy was not understood even in his own family. But he remained adamant. And one summer, the whole of Yasnaya Polyana broke up into artels and went out for mowing. Among the workers there was even Sofya Andreevna, who was raking the grass with a rake.

Help for the starving

Noting interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy, one can also recall the events of 1898. Famine broke out again in Mtsensk and Chernen uyezds. The writer, dressed in an old retinue and props, with a knapsack over his shoulders, together with his son, who volunteered to help him, personally traveled all the villages and found out where the situation was really beggarly. In a week, lists were compiled and about twelve canteens were created in each county, where they fed, first of all, children, the elderly and the sick. Products were brought from Yasnaya Polyana, two hot meals a day were prepared. Tolstoy's initiative caused a negative response from the authorities, who established constant control over him, and from local landowners. The latter considered that such actions of the count could lead to the fact that they themselves would soon have to plow the field and milk the cows.

One day, the officer came into one of the dining rooms and started a conversation with the count. He complained that although he approves of the writer's act, he is a forced man, therefore he does not know what to do - it was about the permission for such activities of the governor. The writer's answer turned out to be simple: "Do not serve where they are forced to act against conscience." And such was the whole life of Leo Tolstoy.

Serious illness

In 1901, the writer fell ill with a severe fever and, on the advice of doctors, went to the Crimea. There, instead of a cure, he caught another inflammation and there was practically no hope that he would survive. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose work contains many works describing death, prepared himself mentally for it. He was not at all afraid to part with his life. The writer even said goodbye to loved ones. And although he could only speak in a whisper, he gave each of his children valuable advice for the future, as it turned out, nine years before his death. This was very helpful, since nine years later none of the family members - and they almost all gathered at the Astapovo station - were not allowed to see the patient.

Writer's funeral

Back in the 90s, Lev Nikolaevich spoke in his diary about how he would like to see his funeral. Ten years later, in "Memoirs", he tells the story of the famous "green stick", buried in a ravine next to oaks. And already in 1908, he dictated a wish to the stenographer: to bury him in a wooden coffin at the place where the brothers were looking for a source of eternal goodness in childhood.

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich, according to his will, was buried in the park of Yasnaya Polyana. The funeral was attended by several thousand people, among whom were not only friends, admirers of creativity, writers, but also local peasants, whom he treated with care and understanding all his life.

The history of the testament

Interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy also relate to his will regarding his creative heritage. The writer made six wills: in 1895 (diary entries), 1904 (letter to Chertkov), 1908 (dictated to Gusev), twice in 1909 and in 1010. According to one of them, all his recordings and works came into public use. According to others, the right to them was transferred to Chertkov. Ultimately, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy bequeathed his creativity and all his notes to his daughter Alexandra, who from the age of sixteen became her father's assistant.

Number 28

According to his relatives, the writer always treated prejudice ironically. But he considered the number twenty-eight special and loved it. What was it - a mere coincidence or rock of fate? It is not known, but many of the most important events of life and the first works of Leo Tolstoy are connected with her. Here is their list:

• August 28, 1828 - the date of birth of the writer himself.
• On May 28, 1856, censorship gave permission for the publication of the first book with stories, Childhood and Adolescence.
• On June 28, the first-born, Sergey, was born.
• On February 28, the wedding of the son of Ilya took place.
• On October 28, the writer left Yasnaya Polyana forever.

Biography, life story of Leo Tolstoy

He came from a noble family, known, according to legendary sources, since 1351. His paternal ancestor, Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, is known for his role in the investigation of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, for which he was appointed head of the Secret Chancellery. The features of the great-grandson of Peter Andreevich, Ilya Andreevich, are given in War and Peace to the most good-natured, impractical old Count Rostov. The son of Ilya Andreevich, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794-1837), was the father of Lev Nikolaevich. In some character traits and biography facts, he was similar to Nikolenka's father in "Childhood" and "Boyhood" and partly to Nikolai Rostov in "War and Peace". However, in real life, Nikolai Ilyich differed from Nikolai Rostov not only in his good education, but also in his convictions, which did not allow him to serve under Nikolai. A participant in the foreign campaign of the Russian army against Napoleon, including participating in the "battle of the peoples" near Leipzig and being captured by the French, after the conclusion of peace, he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Pavlograd hussar regiment. Soon after his resignation, he was forced to go to official service so as not to end up in a debtor's prison because of the debts of his father, the Kazan governor, who died under investigation for official abuse. The negative example of his father helped Nikolai Ilyich work out his life ideal - a private independent life with family joys. To put his frustrated affairs in order, Nikolai Ilyich, like Nikolai Rostov, married a no longer very young princess from the Volkonsky family; the marriage was happy. They had four sons: Nikolay, Sergey, Dmitry, Leo and daughter Maria.

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

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

CONTINUED BELOW

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

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

The Yushkovs' house was one of the most cheerful in Kazan; all members of the family highly valued external brilliance. “My good aunt,” says Tolstoy, “the purest being, always said that she would not want anything for me so much as for me to have a relationship with a married woman”

He wanted to shine in society, but his natural shyness and lack of external attractiveness prevented him. The most diverse, as Tolstoy himself defines them, "thinking" about the main issues of our existence - happiness, death, God, love, eternity - painfully tormented him in that era of life. What he told in Boyhood and Youth about the aspirations of Irteniev and Nekhlyudov for self-improvement was taken by Tolstoy from the history of his own ascetic attempts of that time. All this led to the fact that Tolstoy developed "a habit of constant moral analysis", as it seemed to him, "destroying the freshness of feelings and clarity of mind" ("Adolescence").

Education

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

In 1841, P. I. Yushkova, taking on the role of guardian of her underage nephews (only the eldest, Nikolai, was an adult) and niece, brought them to Kazan. Following the brothers Nikolai, Dmitry and Sergei, Lev decided to enter the Imperial Kazan University, where Lobachevsky worked at the mathematical faculty, and Kovalevsky at the East. On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student in the category of Oriental literature as a native .. At the entrance exams, he, in particular, showed excellent results in the “Turkish-Tatar language”, which is mandatory for admission.

Due to a conflict between his family and a teacher of Russian and general history and the history of philosophy, Professor N.A. Ivanov, according to the results of the year, he had poor progress in the relevant subjects and had to re-take the first-year program. In order to avoid a complete repetition of the course, he moved to the Faculty of Law, where his problems with grades in Russian history and German continued. Leo Tolstoy spent less than two years at the Faculty of Law: “It was always difficult for him to have any education imposed by others, and everything he learned in life, he learned himself, suddenly, quickly, with hard work,” Tolstaya writes in her “Materials to biographies of L. N. Tolstoy”. In 1904 he recalled: ... for the first year I ... did nothing. In the second year I began to study ... there was Professor Meyer, who ... gave me a work - a comparison of Catherine's "Instruction" with Montesquieu's "Esprit des lois". ... I was carried away by this work, I went to the village, began to read Montesquieu, this reading opened up endless horizons for me; I began to read Rousseau and left the university, precisely because I wanted to study».

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

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

The beginning of literary activity

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

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

In his diary, Tolstoy sets himself a huge number of goals and rules; managed to follow only a small number of them. Among the successful 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 - in 1849 he opened a school for peasant children for the first time. The main teacher was Foka Demidych, a serf, but Lev Nikolayevich himself often conducted classes.

Having left for St. Petersburg in February 1849, he spends time in revelry with K. A. Islavin, 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 he began to take the exam for a candidate of rights; he passed two exams, from criminal law and criminal proceedings, but he did not take the third exam and went to the village.

Later he came to Moscow, where he often succumbed to the passion for the game, which greatly upset his financial affairs. During this period of his life, Tolstoy was especially passionately interested in music (he himself played the piano well and greatly appreciated his favorite works performed by others). Exaggerated in relation to most people, the description of the effect that “passionate” music produces, the author of the Kreutzer Sonata, drew from the sensations excited by the world of sounds in his own soul.

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

The development of Tolstoy's love for music was also facilitated by the fact that during a trip to St. Petersburg in 1848, he met in a very unsuitable dance class setting with a gifted but misguided German musician, whom he later described in Alberta. Tolstoy had the idea to save him: he took him to Yasnaya Polyana and played a lot with him. A lot of time was also spent on carousing, playing and hunting.

In the winter of 1850-1851 began to write "Childhood". In March 1851 he wrote The History of Yesterday.

Four years passed after leaving the university, when Lev Nikolayevich's brother Nikolayevich, who had served in the Caucasus, arrived in Yasnaya Polyana and invited his younger brother to join the military service in the Caucasus. Lev agreed not immediately, until a major loss in Moscow hastened the final decision. 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 there were obstacles in the form of a lack of necessary papers that were difficult to obtain, and Tolstoy lived for about 5 months in complete seclusion in Pyatigorsk, in a simple hut. He spent a significant part of his time hunting, in the company of the Cossack Epishka, the prototype of one of the heroes of the story "The Cossacks", appearing there under the name Eroshka.

In the autumn of 1851, having passed an exam in Tiflis, Tolstoy entered the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade, stationed in the Cossack village of Starogladovo, on the banks of the Terek, near Kizlyar, as a cadet. With a slight change in detail, she is depicted in all her semi-wild originality in The Cossacks. The same "Cossacks" also convey a picture of the inner life of a young gentleman who fled from Moscow life.

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

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

Military career

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

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

Tolstoy remained in the Caucasus for two years, participating in many skirmishes with the highlanders and exposing himself to the dangers of military life in the Caucasus. He had the rights and claims to the George Cross, but did not receive it. When the Crimean War broke out at the end of 1853, Tolstoy transferred to the Danube army, participated in the battle of Oltenitsa and in the siege of Silistria, and from November 1854 to the end of August 1855 was in Sevastopol.

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

For the defense of Sevastopol, Tolstoy was awarded the Order of St. Anne with the inscription "For Honor", medals "For the Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855" and "In Memory of the War of 1853-1856." Surrounded by the brilliance of fame, using the reputation of a brave officer, Tolstoy had every chance of a career, but spoiled it for himself by writing several satirical songs stylized as soldiers. One of them is devoted to the failure of the military operation on August 4 (16), 1855, when General Read, having misunderstood the order of the commander in chief, attacked the Fedyukhin Heights. A song called “Like the fourth number, it was not easy to take the mountains to take us away,” which touched on a number of important generals, was a huge success. Leo Tolstoy held an answer for her to the assistant chief of staff A. A. Yakimakh. Immediately after the assault on August 27 (September 8), Tolstoy was sent by courier to Petersburg, where he finished Sevastopol in May 1855. and wrote "Sevastopol in August 1855", published in the first issue of Sovremennik for 1856, already with the author's full signature.

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

Travel Europe

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

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

A cheerful life was not slow to leave a bitter aftertaste in Tolstoy's soul, especially since he began to have a strong discord with a circle of writers close to him. As a result, "people got sick of him and he got sick of himself" - and at the beginning of 1857 Tolstoy, without any regret, left Petersburg and went abroad.

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

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

The last novel was published by him in Mikhail Katkov's Russkiy Vestnik. Tolstoy's collaboration with the Sovremennik magazine, which had lasted since 1852, ended in 1859. In the same year, Tolstoy took part in the organization of the Literary Fund. But his life is not limited to literary interests: on December 22, 1858, he almost dies on a bear hunt. Around the same time, he began an affair with a peasant woman, Aksinya, and marriage plans were ripening.

On his next trip, he was mainly interested in public education and institutions aimed at raising the educational level of the working population. He closely studied the issues of public education in Germany and France, both theoretically and practically, and through conversations with specialists. Of the outstanding people of Germany, he was most interested in 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 Herzen, was at a lecture by Dickens.

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

Among the stories and essays he wrote in the late 1850s are "Lucerne" and "Three Deaths". Gradually, criticism for 10-12 years, until the appearance of "War and Peace" cools towards Tolstoy, and he himself does not seek rapprochement with writers, making an exception for Afanasy Fet.

One of the reasons for this alienation was the quarrel between Leo Tolstoy and Turgenev, which occurred at a time when both prose writers were visiting Fet at the Stepanovo estate in May 1861. The quarrel almost ended in a duel and spoiled the relationship between the writers for a long 17 years.

Treatment in the Bashkir nomad camp Karalyk

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

Pedagogical activity

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

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

Since 1862, he began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, where he himself was the main employee. In addition to theoretical articles, Tolstoy also wrote a number of stories, fables and adaptations. Put together, Tolstoy's pedagogical articles 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 leaves pedagogy. Marriage, the birth of his own children, plans related to writing the novel "War and Peace" postpone his pedagogical activities for ten years. Only in the early 1870s did he begin to create his own "Azbuka" and publish it in 1872, and then publish the "New ABC" and a series of four "Russian books for reading", approved as a result of long ordeals by the Ministry of Public Education as manuals for elementary schools. Classes at the Yasnaya Polyana school are resumed for a short time.

It is known that the Yasnaya Polyana school had a certain influence on other domestic teachers. For example, S. T. Shatsky initially took it as a model when creating his own school “Cheerful Life” in 1911.

Acting as a defender in court

In July 1866, Tolstoy spoke at a court-martial as the defender of Vasil Shabunin, company clerk of the Moscow Infantry Regiment stationed near Yasnaya Polyana. Shabunin hit the officer, who ordered to punish him with rods for being drunk. Tolstoy proved Shabunin's insanity, but the court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Shabunin was shot. This case made a great impression on Tolstoy.

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. On September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married her, having previously confessed to his premarital affairs.

For a certain period of time, the brightest period of his life begins for Tolstoy - intoxication with personal happiness, very significant due to the practicality of his wife, material well-being, outstanding literary creativity and, in connection with it, all-Russian and world fame. It would seem that in the person of his wife he found an assistant in all matters, practical and literary - in the absence of a secretary, she several times rewrote her husband's drafts. But very soon happiness is overshadowed by the inevitable small disagreements, fleeting quarrels, mutual misunderstanding, which only worsened over the years.

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

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

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

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

The heyday of creativity

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

"War and Peace"

Unprecedented success fell to the lot of "War and Peace". An excerpt from the novel entitled "1805" appeared in the "Russian Messenger" of 1865; in 1868, three of its parts were published, followed soon by the other two. The release of "War and Peace" was preceded by the novel "The Decembrists" (1860-1861), to which the author repeatedly returned, but which remained unfinished.

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

"Anna Karenina"

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

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

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

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

In the sphere of material interests, he began to say to himself: Well, all right, you will have 6,000 acres in the Samara province - 300 heads of horses, and then?»; in the field of literature: Well, well, you will be more glorious than Gogol, Pushkin, Shakespeare, Moliere, all the writers in the world - so what!". Starting to think about raising children, he asked himself: For what?»; arguing "about how the people can achieve prosperity," he " suddenly he said to himself: what does it matter to me?"In general, he" felt that what he stood on had given way, that what he had lived for was no more.” The natural result was the thought of suicide.

« I, a happy man, hid the string from me so as not to hang myself on the crossbar between the cupboards in my room, where I was alone every day, undressing, and stopped going hunting with a gun, so as not to be tempted by a too easy way to rid myself of life. I myself did not know what I wanted: I was afraid of life, strove to get away from it and, meanwhile, hoped for something else from it.».

Other works

In March 1879, in the city of Moscow, Leo Tolstoy met Vasily Petrovich Shchegolyonok and in the same year, at his invitation, he came to Yasnaya Polyana, where he stayed for about a month and a half. The dandy told Tolstoy many folk tales and epics, of which more than twenty were recorded by Tolstoy, and Tolstoy remembered some of the plots, if he did not write them down on paper (these records are printed in vol. XLVIII of the Jubilee edition of Tolstoy's works). Six works written by Tolstoy are based on the legends and stories of Schegolyonok (1881 - “What people are alive for”, 1885 - “Two old men” and “Three old men”, 1905 - “Roots Vasiliev” and “Prayer”, 1907 - “The old man in the church”) . In addition, Count Tolstoy diligently wrote down many sayings, proverbs, individual expressions and words told by Shchegolyonok.

Last journey, death and funeral

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

On the morning of October 31 (November 13) L.N. Tolstoy and his companions set off from Shamordino to Kozelsk, where they boarded train No. 12, which had already approached the station, heading south. We did not have time to buy tickets when boarding; having reached Belev, we bought tickets to the Volovo station. According to the testimonies of those who accompanied Tolstoy, the journey had no definite purpose. After the meeting, we decided to go to Novocherkassk, where we would try to get foreign passports and then go to Bulgaria; if this fails, go to the Caucasus. However, on the way, L. N. Tolstoy fell ill with pneumonia and was forced to leave the train on the same day at the first large station near the village. This station turned out to be Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region), where on November 7 (20) L. N. Tolstoy died in the house of the head of the station, I. I. Ozolin.

On November 10 (23), 1910, he was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, on the edge of a ravine in the forest, where, as a child, he and his brother were looking for a “green stick” that kept the “secret” of how to make all people happy.

In January 1913, a letter was published by Countess Sophia Tolstaya dated December 22, 1912, in which she confirms the news in the press that a funeral was performed at her husband's grave by a certain priest (she denies rumors that he was not real) in her presence. In particular, the countess wrote: “I also declare that Lev Nikolayevich never expressed a desire not to be buried before his death, but earlier he wrote in his diary of 1895, as if a testament:“ If possible, then (bury) without priests and funerals. But if it is unpleasant for those who will bury, then let them bury as usual, but as cheaply and simply as possible.

Report of the head of the St. Petersburg security department, Colonel von Kotten, to the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire:

« In addition to the reports of November 8, I report to Your Excellency information about the unrest of young students that took place on November 9 ... on the occasion of the day of the burial of the deceased Leo Tolstoy. At 12 noon, a memorial service for the late L. N. Tolstoy was served in the Armenian Church, which was attended by about 200 people praying, mostly Armenians, and a small part of the student youth. At the end of the memorial service, the worshipers dispersed, but a few minutes later students and female students began to arrive at the church. It turned out that 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" ...»

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