Article about Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Late fiction. Change of worldview and later literary successes

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

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

His influence on the development of world literature is enormous. Thousands of articles were written about him during his lifetime. His religious beliefs caused fierce controversy, for which he was excommunicated from the church, but did not suffer from this at all. He was nominated several times for the prestigious Nobel Prize, but took steps to prevent it from being awarded to him.

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

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

Tolstoy’s wife fought for the family’s property until the last moment, which resulted in frequent conflicts. He believed that he had been exchanged for money and left to die in a calm atmosphere.

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

Orphan Kazan

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

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

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

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

Seven years later, my father suddenly died.

The children were placed in the care of their father's sister, who was appointed as their official guardian.

Lev Nikolaevich piece by piece collected the image of his mother. His elder brother Nikolai, his guardian, told him about her, and he learned something from her diary. He loved to walk alone among the trees she planted in the lower garden of Yasnaya Polyana. The heroine of War and Peace, Marya Bolkonskaya, will be largely based on his mother.

When the boy was 12 years old, his aunt died. The children were assigned a new guardian - another of their father's sisters. Pelageya Yushkova was childless. The daughter of the governor of the Kazan province, she led a social life, lived in grand style and did not want to leave for the wilderness. Therefore, the children from Yasnaya Polyana moved to Kazan.

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

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

Aunt Pauline, as the children called their guardian, did a lot for her nephews. She preserved their inheritance, approached everyone’s problems sympathetically, and traveled to Yasnaya Polyana every summer to conduct business there.

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

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

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

His passion for music and musicians dates back to this time. This is reflected in his “Kreutzer Sonata”. He himself played the piano quite well. One day I composed a waltz with a friend. The musical notation of this single piece of music has been preserved. It sounds in the film “Father Sergius.

His other passion was hunting. In the company of his older brother, Ivan Turgenev, Afanasy Fet, he hunted birds, game and animals. There is a well-known story when, before the New Year of 1859, Lev Nikolaevich was almost killed by a bear.

Schools for the poor

An opponent of state education, Tolstoy opens his own education system. He built a school and himself taught classes to peasant children. At 21, he sees pedagogy as a system open relationship between students and teacher. Students sit wherever they want during classes, are free to leave at any time and not do homework.

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

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

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

Military career

In the early 50s he began writing the first part of the autobiographical trilogy “Childhood”. But the work was interrupted by his older brother Nikolai. He offered to go together to the Caucasus, where he took part in battles with the highlanders. He will describe his experience in stories published in the Nekrasov magazine Sovremennik. Leo Tolstoy will appreciate his brother's writing talent. There was a five-year difference between them; Lev respected Nikolai’s opinion, loved him and listened to his advice.

And this time was no exception. Lev Nikolaevich finishes “Childhood”, sends the manuscript to the publishing house and goes to Tiflis. In the story “Cossacks” he describes the flight of a young gentleman to military service in an artillery brigade.

Sideburns, a uniform and epaulettes suited him. He spent almost three years in a boring headquarters environment until he received an appointment to Sevastopol. The Crimean War will reveal in him a brave warrior, commander of an artillery battery. He was awarded the Order of St. Anna and medals. Between shell explosions, he writes “Sevastopol Stories” and manages to send them to Nekrasov’s magazine.

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

By the time he returned home, the 28-year-old lieutenant had already achieved success as a writer, thanks to “Childhood,” which was reviewed very well by eminent colleagues. The whole country was reading his war stories.

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

He will continue to actively write prose, pouring out his impressions of the war on paper. And will begin the second part of the trilogy - “Youth”.

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

In France, he experienced real grief: at the age of 37, his brother Nikolai died of tuberculosis. After the funeral, he goes to the Nikolskoye estate to take possession. After 32 years, he voluntarily gave this estate to his younger brother Sergei.

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

Sonya

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

She was the middle daughter of the Bers family, with whom the Tolstoys had known for a long time. She was 18 years old, he was 34. He did not immediately single her out among the three sisters. But when he conducted the test, he was shocked by her sharp mind and understanding of his thoughts. Tolstoy often encrypted phrases, denoting them only with the first letters, behind which he always knew what word stood. Having explained the scheme, he asked the girl to unravel the phrase encrypted in this way. She called right away. This unique understanding will remain in the family forever. It is not surprising that Tolstoy is happy.

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

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

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

Second me

Closer to the age of fifty, like Aunt Pauline, Tolstoy experienced an internal breakdown. He didn't know what he wanted, he was at a dead end in his thoughts. In his diary he writes that he is thinking about death. He found his way to the top in theological literature, conversations with monks and trips to holy places. From now on he does not write literary texts, only philosophical articles, religious treatises.

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

He confronts state system, openly declaring the violence that the state inflicts, refuses to serve as a jury in court, stigmatizes war. The tsar doesn’t like all this, the writer is put under surveillance, but for the rest of his life he will not be touched, given his merits.

His works on the topic of new philosophy were banned. They were partially published abroad.

He transferred all his property to his family and renounced his copyright. Everything is managed by the wife, who not only had to run the household and raise children, but also immerse herself in publishing. Dostoevsky’s widow helped because she had coped with this task brilliantly for many years.

Sophia independently sold her husband’s works and put collected works on sale on favorable terms. The wife's commercial spirit allowed the large family to survive.

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

In the 90s, famine sets in. Reason: crop failure, crisis, typhus epidemic.

The proceeds from the productions, which were successfully staged in the capital's theaters, were spent on charity. The writer spent these two to three thousand rubles a year to help the starving. With his support, about three hundred canteens were opened in four regions. More than ten thousand people in need survived two difficult winters. A supply of firewood, livestock feed, oat, potato, and millet seeds was organized. Dairy kitchens were opened for infants. Tolstoy's example spread throughout the country. The number of philanthropists grew.

On the basis of moral improvement, selfless service to people, and the rejection of all forms of government, the “Tolstoyism” movement was born. Thousands of followers attacked Yasnaya Polyana. For them, the master was almost a saint. They were actively involved in disseminating the writer’s views, publishing a magazine, and organizing communes. When Tolstoy turned 70, his followers were declared a sect, and he himself was excommunicated from the church.

But Sofya Andreevna finds such life a burden. She loves her husband, the whole family serves him as a writer, takes care of him as a person, but he increasingly withdraws into himself or from home. Quarrels, nervous breakdowns, and reproaches become unbearable for him. Sofya Andreevna is on the defensive, fearing that she will lose the rights to publish her husband’s works. One of Tolstoy's followers, whom he trusts, is already making an attempt on them.

The last large-scale work: the novel “Resurrection” was published in 1999. The clergy once again gave up - the writer always stood on the side of the people, despite his noble origin. But they did not want to have such an “enemy” and invited him to publicly repent in order to return him to their system. Tolstoy remained silent.

Every year the house became empty: the sons got married and started their own household, the daughters Maria and Tatyana got married, but often visited their parents. The family lived as a family of three: with the youngest Alexandra.

At the beginning of the new century, Tolstoy spent the winter in Crimea. He was seriously ill, doctors and relatives fussed over him. Having grown stronger, he returned to the estate and never left again.

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

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

Scandals in the house will flare up more and more brightly. A tired and exhausted writer will somehow wake up at night and see that his wife is again looking for something in his papers. Sofya Andreevna was looking for evidence of a conspiracy - the notorious will transferring the rights to publish all his works to Chertkov, a follower of Tolstoy's teachings. Lev Nikolaevich could not stand it. He walked away from the warring camps of two people close to him into the night, writing a letter with a final “I’m sorry.”

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

Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

Educational complex No. 10

Essay

Biography of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Completed by: Redina Anastasia

Alexandrovna

Head: Bondarenko Victoria

Georgievna

Yenakievo-2011

Plan

1. Biography

1.1 Origin

1.2 Childhood

1.3 Education

1.4 Beginning literary activity

1.5 Military career

1.6 Travel in Europe

1.7 Teaching activities

1.8 Family and offspring

1.9 Creativity flourishes

1.10 Other works

2. Religious quest

2.1 Excommunication

2.2 Moscow census of 1882. L. N. Tolstoy - census participant

2.3 Last years of life. Death and funeral

2.4 World recognition. Memory

Literature

1. Biography

1.1 Origin

He came from a noble family, known, according to legendary sources, since 1353. His paternal ancestor, Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, is known for his role in the investigation of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, for which he was put in charge of the Secret Chancellery. The traits of Pyotr Andreevich’s great-grandson, Ilya Andreevich, are given in “War and Peace” to the good-natured, impractical old Count Rostov. The son of Ilya Andreevich, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794-1837), was the father of Lev Nikolaevich. In some character traits and biographical facts, he was similar to Nikolenka’s father in “Childhood” and “Adolescence” and partly to Nikolai Rostov in “War and Peace.” However, in real life Nikolai Ilyich differed from Nikolai Rostov not only good education, but also with convictions that did not allow him to serve under Nicholas. A participant in the foreign campaign of the Russian army, including participating in the “Battle of the Nations” 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 into bureaucratic service in order not to end up in debtor's prison because of the debts of his father, the Kazan governor, who died under investigation for official abuses. The negative example of his father helped Nikolai Ilyich develop his ideal of life - a private independent life with family joys. To put his upset 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: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry and Lev and a daughter Maria.

Tolstoy's maternal grandfather, Catherine's general, Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, bore some resemblance to the stern rigorist old Prince Bolkonsky in War and Peace. Lev Nikolaevich's mother, similar in some respects to Princess Marya depicted in War and Peace, had a remarkable gift for storytelling, for which, with her shyness passed on to her son, she had to lock herself with the large number of listeners who gathered around her in a dark room.

In addition to the Volkonskys, L.N. Tolstoy was closely related to several other aristocratic families: the princes Gorchakovs, Trubetskoys and others.

1.2 Childhood

Born on August 28, 1828 in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province, on his mother’s hereditary estate - Yasnaya Polyana. Was the 4th child; his three older brothers: Nikolai (1823-1860), Sergei (1826-1904) and Dmitry (1827-1856). In 1830, Sister Maria (1830-1912) was born. His mother died when he was not yet 2 years old.

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

The Yushkov house was one of the most fun in Kazan; All family members highly valued external shine. “My good aunt,” says Tolstoy, “a pure being, always said that she would want nothing more for me than for me to have a relationship with a married woman” (“Confession”).

He wanted to shine in society, but his natural shyness prevented him. The most diverse, as Tolstoy himself defines them, “philosophies” about the most important issues our existence - happiness, death, God, love, eternity - painfully tormented him in that era of life. What he told in “Adolescence” and “Youth” about the aspirations of Irtenyev and Nekhlyudov for self-improvement was taken by Tolstoy from the history of his own ascetic attempts of this time. All this led to Tolstoy developing a “habit of constant moral analysis“, as it seemed to him, “destroyed the freshness of feeling and clarity of mind” (“Youth”).

1.3 Education

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

In 1841, P.I. Yushkova, taking on the role of guardian of her minor 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 Faculty of Mathematics, and Kovalevsky worked at the Eastern Faculty. On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student of the category of oriental literature as a student. In the entrance exams, in particular, he showed excellent results in the compulsory “Turkish-Tatar language” for admission.

Because of a conflict between his family and his teacher Russian history and German, a certain Ivanov, based on the results of the year, had poor performance in the relevant subjects and had to re-take the first-year program. To avoid repeating the course completely, he transferred 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: “Every education imposed by others was always difficult for him, and everything he learned in life, he learned himself, suddenly, quickly, with intense work,” writes Tolstaya in her “Materials for biography of L.N. Tolstoy." In 1904, he recalled: “... for the first year... I did nothing. In the second year I began to study... there was Professor Meyer, who... gave me a work - a comparison of Catherine’s “Order” with Montesquieu’s “Esprit des lois”. ... this work fascinated me, I went to the village, began to read Montesquieu, this reading opened up endless horizons for me; I started reading Rousseau and dropped out of university precisely because I wanted to study.”

While in the Kazan hospital, he began to keep a diary, where, imitating Franklin, he sets goals and rules for self-improvement and notes successes and failures in completing these tasks, analyzes his shortcomings and train of thoughts and motives for his actions.

1.4 Beginning of literary activity

Yasnaya Polyana, where the writer lived most own life

Having dropped out of 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 a new relationship with the peasants.

His attempt to somehow atone for the guilt of the nobility before the people dates back to the same year when Grigorovich’s “Anton the Miserable” and the beginning of Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter” appeared.

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

Having left for St. Petersburg, in the spring of 1848 he began to take the exam for a candidate of rights; He passed two exams, from criminal law and criminal proceedings, successfully, but he did not take the third exam and went to the village.

Later he came to Moscow, where he often succumbed to his passion for gambling, greatly upsetting his financial affairs. During this period of his life, Tolstoy was especially passionately interested in music (he played the piano well and loved classical composers). The author of the “Kreutzer Sonata” drew an exaggerated description in relation to most people of the effect that “passionate” music produces from the sensations excited by the world of sounds in his own soul.

Tolstoy's favorite composers were Bach, Handel and Chopin. In the late 1840s, Tolstoy, in collaboration with his acquaintance, composed a waltz, which in the early 1900s he performed under the composer Taneev, 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 lost German musician, whom he later described in Alberta. Tolstoy came up with the idea of ​​saving him: he took him to Yasnaya Polyana and played a lot with him. A lot of time was also spent on carousing, gaming and hunting.

In the winter of 1850-1851. started writing "Childhood". In March 1851 he wrote “The History of Yesterday.”

This is how 4 years passed after leaving the university, when Tolstoy’s brother Nikolai, who served in the Caucasus, came to Yasnaya Polyana and began inviting him there. Tolstoy did not give in to his brother’s call until a major loss in Moscow helped the decision. In order to pay off, it was necessary to reduce his expenses to a minimum - and in the spring of 1851, Tolstoy hastily left Moscow for the Caucasus without a specific goal. Soon he decided to enlist in military service, but obstacles arose in the form of a lack of necessary papers, which were difficult to obtain, and Tolstoy lived for about 5 months in complete solitude 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 “Cossacks”, who appears there under the name Eroshka.

Count, Russian writer, corresponding member (1873), honorary academician (1900) of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Starting with the autobiographical trilogy "Childhood" (1852), "Adolescence" (1852 54), "Youth" (1855 57), a study of "fluidity" inner world, the moral foundations of the individual became the main theme of Tolstoy’s works. The painful search for the meaning of life, moral ideal, hidden general patterns existence, spiritual and social criticism, revealing the “untruth” of class relations, run through all of his work. In the story "Cossacks" (1863), the hero, a young nobleman, seeks a way out by connecting with nature, with a natural and integral life. common man. The epic "War and Peace" (1863 69) recreates the life of various layers of Russian society in Patriotic War 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 paths of spiritual self-determination of a reflective personality and the elements of Russian folk life with its “swarm” consciousness are shown as equivalent components of natural-historical existence. In the novel “Anna Karenina” (1873 77) about the tragedy of a woman in the power of destructive “criminal” passion Tolstoy exposes the false foundations of secular society, shows the collapse of the patriarchal structure, the destruction of family foundations. He contrasts the perception of the world by an individualistic and rationalistic consciousness with the intrinsic value of life as such in its infinity, uncontrollable variability and material concreteness (“the seer of the flesh” D. S. Merezhkovsky). Since the late 1870s it has been experiencing spiritual crisis, later captured by the idea of ​​moral improvement and “simplification” (which gave rise to the “Tolstoyism” movement), Tolstoy came to an increasingly irreconcilable criticism of the social structure modern bureaucratic institutions, the state, the church (in 1901 he was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church), civilization and culture, the entire way of life "educated classes": the novel "Resurrection" (1889 99), the story "The Kreutzer Sonata" (1887 89), the dramas "The Living Corpse" (1900, published in 1911) and "The Power of Darkness" (1887). At the same time, attention to the themes of death, sin, repentance and moral rebirth is increasing (the stories “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, 1884 86; “Father Sergius”, 1890 98, published in 1912; “Hadji Murat”, 1896 1904, published . in 1912). Journalistic works of a moralizing nature, including “Confession” (1879 82), “What is my faith?” (1884), where the Christian teaching about love and forgiveness is transformed into a preaching of non-resistance to evil through violence. the desire to harmonize the way of thinking and life leads to Tolstoy leaving his home in Yasnaya Polyana; died at Astapovo station.

Biography

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

After the death of his parents (his mother died in 1830, his father in 1837), the future writer with three brothers and a sister moved to Kazan, to live with his guardian P. Yushkova. As a sixteen-year-old boy, he entered Kazan University, first to 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 property 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 social life in Moscow (1848), took exams for the degree of candidate of law at St. Petersburg University (spring 1849), decided to serve as a clerical employee in the Tula Noble Deputy Assembly (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 military operations against the Chechens. Episodes Caucasian War described by him in the stories “Raid” (1853), “Cutting Wood” (1855), and in the story “Cossacks” (1852 63). Passed the cadet exam, preparing to become an officer. In 1854, being an artillery officer, he transferred to the Danube Army, which operated against the Turks.

In the Caucasus, Tolstoy began to seriously engage in literary creativity, writing the story "Childhood", which was approved by Nekrasov and published in the magazine "Sovremennik". Later the story “Adolescence” (1852 54) was published there.

Soon 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 bravery" and medals "For the defense of Sevastopol". IN " Sevastopol stories“He created a mercilessly reliable picture of the war, which made a huge impression on Russian society. During these 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 and met Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, and Chernyshevsky.

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

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

In May 1861 (the year of the abolition of serfdom) he returned to Yasnaya Polyana, took office as a peace mediator and actively defended the interests of the peasants, resolving their disputes with the landowners about land, for which the Tula nobility, dissatisfied with his actions, demanded his removal from office. In 1862, the Senate issued a decree dismissing Tolstoy. Secret surveillance of him began from Section III. 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 communications with Herzen in London.

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

The years 1860 and 1870 were marked by the publication of two works by Tolstoy, which 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 this time on, Tolstoy spent winters in Moscow. Here in 1882 he took part in the census of the Moscow population and became closely acquainted with the life of the inhabitants of the city 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 his new worldview in his work “Confession” (1879㭎), where he spoke about a revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in a break with the ideology of the noble class and a transition to the side of the “simple working people.” This turning point led Tolstoy to the denial of the state, the state-owned church and property. The awareness of the meaninglessness of life in the face of inevitable death led him to faith in God. He bases his teaching on the moral commandments of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil through violence 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 and began physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright ownership of all his works written after 1880.

Under the influence of friends and true admirers of his talent, as well as 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), and the novel "Resurrection" (1889 99).

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

Over the last decade I have been busy, as always, with intense creative work. The story "Hadji Murat" (1896 1904), the drama "The Living Corpse" (1900), and the story "After the Ball" (1903) were written.

At the beginning of 1900, he wrote a number of articles exposing the entire system of public administration. The government of Nicholas II issued a resolution according to which 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 Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, and often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

IN last years life, when Tolstoy made his will, he found himself in the center of intrigue and contention 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 lifestyle into line with his beliefs and being burdened by the lordly way of life on the estate. Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana on November 10, 1910. The health of the 82-year-old writer could not withstand the journey. He caught a cold and, falling ill, died on November 20 on the way at the Astapovo Ryazans station of the Ko-Ural railway.

He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, Russian empire- died on November 7 (20), 1910 at Astapovo station, Ryazan province. One of the most widely known Russian writers and thinkers, revered as one of greatest writers peace. Participant in the defense of Sevastopol. Educator, publicist, religious thinker, his authoritative opinion caused the emergence of a new religious and moral movement - Tolstoyism. Corresponding Member Imperial Academy Sciences (1873), honorary academician by category belles lettres (1900).

A writer who was recognized during his lifetime as the head of Russian literature. The work of Leo Tolstoy marked new stage in Russian and world realism, acting as a bridge between the classic novel of the 19th century and the literature of the 20th century. Leo Tolstoy had a strong influence on the evolution of European humanism, as well as on the development of realistic traditions in world literature. The works of Leo Tolstoy have been filmed and staged many times in the USSR and abroad; his plays have been staged on stages all over the world.

The most famous works of Tolstoy are the novels “War and Peace”, “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection”, the autobiographical trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”, the stories “Cossacks”, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “Kreutzerova” sonata”, “Hadji Murat”, a series of essays “Sevastopol Stories”, dramas “The Living Corpse” and “The Power of Darkness”, autobiographical religious and philosophical works “Confession” and “What is my faith?” and etc..

He came from the noble Tolstoy family, known since 1351. The features of Ilya Andreevich’s grandfather are given in “War and Peace” to the good-natured, impractical old Count Rostov. The son of Ilya Andreevich, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794-1837), was the father of Lev Nikolaevich. In some character traits and biographical facts, he was similar to Nikolenka’s father in “Childhood” and “Adolescence” 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 Nicholas I.

A participant in the foreign campaign of the Russian army against, including participating in the “Battle of the Nations” near Leipzig and was captured by the French, but was able to escape, after the conclusion of peace he retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Pavlograd Hussar Regiment. Soon after his resignation, he was forced to go into bureaucratic service in order not to end up in debtor's prison because of the debts of his father, the Kazan governor, who died under investigation for official abuses. The negative example of his father helped Nikolai Ilyich develop his ideal of life - a private, independent life with family joys. To put his upset affairs in order, Nikolai Ilyich (like Nikolai Rostov) married the no longer very young Princess Maria Nikolaevna from the Volkonsky family in 1822, the marriage was happy. They had five children: Nikolai (1823-1860), Sergei (1826-1904), Dmitry (1827-1856), Lev, Maria (1830-1912).

Tolstoy's maternal grandfather, Catherine's general, Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, bore some resemblance to the stern rigorist old Prince Bolkonsky in War and Peace. Lev Nikolaevich's mother, similar in some respects to Princess Marya depicted in War and Peace, had a remarkable gift as a storyteller.

In addition to the Volkonskys, L.N. Tolstoy was closely related to several other aristocratic families: the princes Gorchakovs, Trubetskoys and others.

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

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

The Yushkov house was considered one of the most fun in Kazan; All family members highly valued external shine. " My good aunt,- says Tolstoy, - the purest being, she always said that she would like nothing more for me than for me to have a relationship with a married woman».

Lev Nikolaevich wanted to shine in society, but his natural shyness and lack of external attractiveness hampered him. The most varied, as Tolstoy himself defines them, “philosophies” about the most important questions of our existence - happiness, death, God, love, eternity - left an imprint on his character in that era of life. What he told in “Adolescence” and “Youth”, in the novel “Resurrection” about the aspirations of Irtenyev and Nekhlyudov for self-improvement, was taken by Tolstoy from the history of his own ascetic attempts of this time. All this, wrote the critic S. A. Vengerov, led to the fact that Tolstoy created, in the words of his story “Adolescence”, “the habit of constant moral analysis, which destroyed the freshness of feeling and clarity of reason”.

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

In 1843, P.I. Yushkova, taking on the role of guardian of her minor 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 Faculty of Mathematics, and Kovalevsky worked at the Eastern Faculty. On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student of the category of Eastern (Arabic-Turkish) literature as a self-paid student - paying for his studies. In the entrance exams, in particular, he showed excellent results in the compulsory “Turkish-Tatar language” for admission. According to the results of the year, he had poor performance in the relevant subjects, did not pass the transition exam and had to re-take the first-year program.

To avoid repeating the course completely, he transferred to law school, where his problems with grades in some subjects continued. The transitional May 1846 exams were passed satisfactorily (received one A, three Bs and four Cs; the average result was three), and Lev Nikolaevich was transferred to the second year. Leo Tolstoy spent less than two years at the Faculty of Law: “Every education imposed by others was always difficult for him, and everything he learned in life, he learned on his own, suddenly, quickly, with intense work.”, writes S. A. Tolstaya in her “Materials for the biography of L. N. Tolstoy.”

In 1904 he recalled: “The first year I...didn’t do anything. In the second year I began studying...there was Professor Meyer, who...gave me a work - comparing Catherine’s “Order” with Esprit des lois (“Spirit of Laws”). ...this work fascinated me, I went to the village, began to read Montesquieu, this reading opened up endless horizons for me; I started reading and left university precisely because I wanted to study.”.

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

After finishing the treatment, in the spring of 1847, Tolstoy left his studies at the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana, which he inherited under the division.; his activities there are partly described in the work “The Morning of the Landowner”: Tolstoy tried to establish a new relationship with the peasants. His attempt to somehow smooth out the young landowner’s feeling of guilt before the people dates back to the same year when D. V. Grigorovich’s “Anton the Miserable” and the beginning of “Notes of a Hunter” appeared.

In his diary, Tolstoy formulated for himself a large number of life rules and goals, but managed to follow only a small part of them. Among those who succeeded were serious studies in English, music, and law. In addition, neither his diary nor his letters reflected the beginning of Tolstoy’s involvement in pedagogy and charity, although in 1849 he first opened a school for peasant children. The main teacher was Foka Demidovich, a serf, but Lev Nikolaevich himself often taught classes.

In mid-October 1848, Tolstoy left for Moscow, settling where many of his relatives and acquaintances lived - in the Arbat area. He stayed at Ivanova’s house on Nikolopeskovsky Lane. In Moscow, he was going to begin preparing for the candidate exams, but classes never started. Instead, he was attracted to a completely different side of life - social life. In addition to the passion for social life, In Moscow, in the winter of 1848-1849, Lev Nikolaevich first developed a passion for playing cards. But since he played very recklessly and did not always think through his moves, he often lost.

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

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

Tolstoy's favorite composers were Bach, Handel and. 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 lost German musician, whom he later described in the story “Albert.” In 1849, Lev Nikolaevich settled the musician Rudolf in Yasnaya Polyana, with whom he played four hands on the piano. Having become interested in music at that time, he played works by Schumann, Chopin, and Mendelssohn for several hours a day. In the late 1840s, Tolstoy, in collaboration with his friend Zybin, composed a waltz, which in the early 1900s was performed under the composer S.I. Taneyev, who made a musical notation of this musical work (the only one composed by Tolstoy). A lot of time was also spent on carousing, gaming and hunting.

In the winter of 1850-1851. started writing "Childhood". In March 1851 he wrote “The History of Yesterday.” 4 years after he left the university, Lev Nikolayevich’s brother Nikolai, who served in the Caucasus, came to Yasnaya Polyana and invited his younger brother to join military service in the Caucasus. Lev did not immediately agree, until a major loss in Moscow accelerated the final decision.

The writer’s biographers note the significant and positive influence of brother Nikolai on the young and inexperienced Leo in everyday affairs. In the absence of his parents, his older brother was his friend and mentor. To pay off his debts, it was necessary to reduce his expenses to a minimum - and in the spring of 1851, Tolstoy hastily left Moscow for the Caucasus without a specific goal. Soon he decided to enter military service, but for this he lacked necessary documents

, left in Moscow, in anticipation of which Tolstoy lived for about five months in Pyatigorsk, in a simple hut. He spent a significant part of his time hunting, in the company of the Cossack Epishka, the prototype of one of the heroes of the story “Cossacks”, who appears there under the name Eroshka. In the fall of 1851, Tolstoy, having passed the exam in Tiflis, entered as a cadet in the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade, stationed in Starogladovskaya on the banks of the Terek, near Kizlyar. With some changes in details, she is depicted in the story “Cossacks”. The story reproduces a picture of the inner life of a young gentleman who fled from Moscow life. In the Cossack village, Tolstoy began to write again and in July 1852 he sent the first part of the future autobiographical trilogy - “Childhood”, signed only with initials, to the editors of the most popular magazine at that time, Sovremennik. "L. N.T.”. When sending the manuscript to the journal, Leo Tolstoy included a letter that said: “...I look forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or force me to burn everything I started.”.

Having received the manuscript of “Childhood,” the editor of Sovremennik immediately recognized its literary value and wrote a kind letter to the author, which had a very encouraging effect on him. In a letter to I. S. Turgenev, Nekrasov noted: “This talent is new and seems reliable”. The manuscript of an as yet unknown author was published in September of the same year. Meanwhile, the novice and inspired author began to continue the tetralogy “Four Epochs of Development”, the last part of which - “Youth” - never took place. He pondered the plot of “The Landowner’s Morning” (the completed story was only a fragment of “The Roman of a Russian Landowner”), “The Raid,” and “The Cossacks.” Published in Sovremennik on September 18, 1852, “Childhood” was extremely successful; after publication, the author immediately began to be ranked among the luminaries of the young literary school along with I. S. Turgenev, D. V. Grigorovich, Ostrovsky, who already enjoyed great literary fame. Critics Apollo Grigoriev, Annenkov, Druzhinin appreciated the depth psychological analysis, the seriousness of the author's intentions and the bright salience of realism.

The relatively late start of his 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 means of living, but in the sense of the predominance of literary interests. He did not take the interests of literary parties to heart, and was reluctant to talk about literature, preferring to talk about issues of faith, morality, and social relations.

As a cadet, Lev Nikolaevich remained for two years in the Caucasus, where he participated in many skirmishes with the highlanders led by Shamil, and was exposed to the dangers of military Caucasian life. He had the right to the St. George Cross, but in accordance with his convictions, he “gave it” to a fellow soldier, considering that a significant improvement in the conditions of service of a colleague was higher than personal vanity.

With the beginning of the Crimean War, Tolstoy transferred to the Danube Army, participated in the battle of Oltenitsa and the siege of Silistria, and from November 1854 to the end of August 1855 he was in Sevastopol.

For a long time lived on the 4th bastion, which was often attacked, commanded a battery at the Battle of Chernaya, and was during the bombardment during the assault on Malakhov Kurgan. Tolstoy, despite all the everyday hardships and horrors of the siege, at this time wrote the story “Cutting Wood,” which reflected Caucasian impressions, and the first of the three “Sevastopol stories” - “Sevastopol in December 1854.” He sent this story to Sovremennik. It was quickly published and read with interest throughout Russia, making a stunning impression with the picture of horrors that befell the defenders of Sevastopol. The story was noticed Russian Emperor; he ordered to take care of the gifted officer.

Even during the life of Emperor Nicholas I, Tolstoy intended to publish, together with artillery officers, a “cheap and popular” magazine “Military Leaflet”, but Tolstoy failed to implement the magazine project: “For the project, my Sovereign Emperor most graciously deigned to allow our articles to be published in Invalid.”, - Tolstoy bitterly ironized about this.

For the defense of Sevastopol, Tolstoy was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 4th degree with the inscription “For bravery,” medals “For the defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855” and “In memory of the war of 1853-1856.”

Subsequently, he was awarded two medals “In memory of the 50th anniversary of the defense of Sevastopol”: a silver one as a participant in the defense of Sevastopol and a bronze medal as the author of “Sevastopol Stories”. Tolstoy, enjoying the reputation of a brave officer and surrounded by the brilliance of fame, had every chance of a career. However, his career was spoiled by writing several satirical songs, stylized as soldiers' songs. One of these songs was dedicated to the failure during the battle near the Chernaya River on August 4 (16), 1855, when General Read, misunderstanding the order of the commander-in-chief, attacked Fedyukhin Heights. A song called“Like the fourth, the mountains carried us hard to take away” , which touched important generals, was a huge success. For her, Lev Nikolaevich had to answer to the assistant chief of staff A. A. Yakimakh.

Immediately after the assault on August 27 (September 8), Tolstoy was sent by courier to St. Petersburg, where he completed “Sevastopol in May 1855.” and wrote “Sevastopol in August 1855,” published in the first issue of Sovremennik for 1856 with the author’s full signature. “Sevastopol Stories” finally strengthened his reputation as a representative of a new literary generation, and in November 1856 the writer left military service forever.

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

At this time, “Blizzard”, “Two Hussars” were written, “Sevastopol in August” and “Youth” were completed, and the writing of the future “Cossacks” continued.

However, cheerful and rich life left a bitter aftertaste in Tolstoy’s soul, at the same time he began to have a strong discord with the circle of writers close to him. As a result, “people became disgusted with him, and he became disgusted with himself” - and at the beginning of 1857, Tolstoy left St. Petersburg without any regret and went abroad.

On his first trip abroad, he visited Paris, where he was horrified by the cult of Napoleon I (“The idolization of the villain, terrible”), while at the same time he attended balls, museums, and admired the “sense of social freedom.” However, his presence at the guillotine made such a grave impression that Tolstoy left Paris and went to places associated with the French writer and thinker J.-J. Rousseau - to Lake Geneva. In the spring of 1857, I. S. Turgenev described his meetings with Leo Tolstoy in Paris after his sudden departure from St. Petersburg as follows: “Indeed, Paris is not at all in harmony with its spiritual system; He’s a strange person, I’ve never met anyone like him and I don’t quite understand him. A mixture of poet, Calvinist, fanatic, barich - something reminiscent of Rousseau, but more honest than Rousseau - a highly moral and at the same time unsympathetic creature.”.

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

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

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

Around the same time, he began an affair with the peasant woman Aksinya Bazykina, and plans for marriage were maturing.

On his next trip, he was mainly interested in public education and institutions aimed at raising the educational level of the working population. Questions public education he studied it closely in Germany and France, both theoretically and practically - in conversations with specialists. Of the outstanding people in Germany, he was most interested in him as the author of the “Black Forest Stories” 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 Disterweg. During his stay in Brussels, Tolstoy met Proudhon and Lelewell. I visited London and attended a lecture.

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

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

In May 1862, Lev Nikolaevich, suffering from depression, on the recommendation of doctors, went to the Bashkir farm of Karalyk, Samara province, to be treated with a new and fashionable method of kumis treatment at that time. Initially, he was going to stay in Postnikov’s kumiss clinic near Samara, but, having learned that many high-ranking officials were supposed to arrive at the same time (secular society, which the young count could not tolerate), he went to the Bashkir nomadic camp of Karalyk, on the Karalyk River, in 130 miles from Samara. There Tolstoy lived in a Bashkir tent (yurt), ate lamb, took sunbathing, drank kumiss, tea, and also had fun with the Bashkirs playing checkers. The first time he stayed there for a month and a half. In 1871, when he had already written War and Peace, he returned there again due to deteriorating health. He wrote about his impressions like this: “The melancholy and indifference have passed, I feel myself returning to the Scythian state, and everything is interesting and new... Much is new and interesting: the Bashkirs, who smell of Herodotus, and Russian peasants, and villages, especially charming in the simplicity and kindness of the people.”.

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

In July 1866, Tolstoy appeared at a military court as a defender of Vasil Shabunin, a company clerk stationed near Yasnaya Polyana of the Moscow Infantry Regiment. Shabunin hit the officer, who ordered him to be punished with canes for being drunk. Tolstoy argued that Shabunin was insane, but the court found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Shabunin was shot. This episode made a great impression on Tolstoy, since in this terrible phenomenon he saw the merciless force represented by a state based on violence. On this occasion, he wrote to his friend, publicist P.I. Biryukov: “This incident had much more influence on my whole life than all the seemingly more important events life: loss or recovery of a condition, success or failure in literature, even the loss of loved ones".

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

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

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

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

The author showed national Russian features in “ latent heat patriotism”, in aversion to ostentatious heroism, in a calm belief in justice, in the modest dignity and courage of ordinary soldiers. He portrayed Russia's war with Napoleonic troops as a nationwide war. The epic style of the work is conveyed through the completeness and plasticity of the image, the branching and crossing of destinies, and incomparable pictures of Russian nature.

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

Tolstoy was pleased with his own work, but already in January 1871 he sent a letter to A. A. Fet: “How happy I am... that I will never write verbose rubbish like “War” again”. However, Tolstoy hardly underestimated the importance of his previous creations. When asked by Tokutomi Rock in 1906 which of his works Tolstoy loved most, the writer replied: "Novel "War and Peace"".

In March 1879, in Moscow, Leo Tolstoy met Vasily Petrovich Shchegolenok, and in the same year, at his invitation, he came to Yasnaya Polyana, where he stayed for about a month and a half. The Shchegolenok told Tolstoy many folk tales, epics and legends, of which more than twenty were written down by Tolstoy, and Tolstoy, if he didn’t write them down on paper, remembered the plots of some of them: six works written by Tolstoy have their source in the stories of the Shchegolenok (1881 - “How People Live” , 1885 - “Two Old Men” and “Three Elders”, 1905 - “Korney Vasiliev” and “Prayer”, 1907 - “Old Man in the Church”). In addition, Tolstoy diligently wrote down many sayings, proverbs, individual expressions and words told by the Goldfinch.

Tolstoy’s new worldview was most fully expressed in his works “Confession” (1879-1880, published in 1884) and “What is My Faith?” (1882-1884). Tolstoy dedicated the story “The Kreutzer Sonata” (1887-1889, published in 1891) and “The Devil” (1889-1890, published in 1911) to the theme of the Christian principle of love, devoid of all self-interest and rising above sensual love in the fight against the flesh. In the 1890s, trying to theoretically substantiate his views on art, he wrote the treatise “What is Art?” (1897-1898). But the main thing artistic work of those years was his novel “Resurrection” (1889-1899), the plot of which was based on a true court case. Harsh criticism church rituals in this work became one of the reasons for the excommunication of Tolstoy by the Holy Synod from the Orthodox Church in 1901. The highest achievements of the early 1900s were the story “Hadji Murat” and the drama “The Living Corpse”. In “Hadji Murad,” the despotism of Shamil and Nicholas I is equally exposed. In the story, Tolstoy glorified the courage of struggle, the power of resistance and love of life. The play "The Living Corpse" became evidence of new artistic quest

At the beginning of his reign, Tolstoy wrote to the emperor with a request to pardon the regicides in the spirit of evangelical forgiveness. Since September 1882, secret surveillance has been established over him to clarify relations with sectarians; in September 1883 he refused to serve as a juror, citing incompatibility with his religious worldview. At the same time, he received a ban on public speaking in connection with the death of Turgenev. Gradually, the ideas of Tolstoyism begin to penetrate society. At the beginning of 1885, a precedent was set in Russia for refusing military service with reference to Tolstoy's religious beliefs. A significant part of Tolstoy’s views could not receive open expression in Russia and were presented in full only in foreign editions of his religious and social treatises.

There was no unanimity regarding Tolstoy's artistic works written during this period. Thus, in a long series of short stories and legends, intended primarily for folk reading(“How People Live”, etc.), Tolstoy, in the opinion of his unconditional admirers, reached the pinnacle of artistic power. At the same time, according to people who reproach Tolstoy for turning from an artist into a preacher, these artistic teachings, written for a specific purpose, were grossly tendentious.

High and terrible truth“The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” according to fans, which puts this work on a par with the main works of Tolstoy’s genius, according to others, is deliberately harsh, it sharply emphasized the soullessness of the upper strata of society in order to show the moral superiority of the simple “kitchen peasant” Gerasim. “The Kreutzer Sonata” (written in 1887-1889, published in 1890) also aroused opposite reviews - the analysis of marital relations made one forget about the amazing brightness and passion with which this story was written. The work was banned by censorship, but it was published thanks to the efforts of S. A. Tolstoy, who achieved a meeting with Alexander III. As a result, the story was published in a censored form in the Collected Works of Tolstoy with the personal permission of the Tsar. Alexander III was pleased with the story, but the queen was shocked. But folk drama“The Power of Darkness,” according to Tolstoy’s admirers, became a great manifestation of his artistic power: in the tight framework of an ethnographic reproduction of Russian peasant life, Tolstoy was able to fit so many universal human traits that the drama with tremendous success went around all the stages of the world.

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

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

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

Turning away from teaching Orthodox Church The time for him was the second half of 1879. In the 1880s, he took a position of unambiguously critical attitude towards church doctrine, the clergy, and official church life. The publication of some of Tolstoy's works was prohibited by both spiritual and secular censorship. In 1899, Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” was published, in which the author showed the life of various social strata in contemporary Russia; the clergy were depicted mechanically and hastily performing rituals, and some took the cold and cynical Toporov for a caricature of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod.

Leo Tolstoy applied his teaching primarily to his own way of life. He denied church interpretations of immortality and rejected church authority; he did not recognize the rights of the state, since it is built (in his opinion) on violence and coercion. He criticized the church teaching, according to which “the life that exists here on earth, with all its joys, beauties, with all the struggle of the mind against darkness, is the life of all the people who lived before me, my whole life with my inner struggle and victories of the mind there is not true life, but fallen life, hopelessly spoiled; true, sinless life is in faith, that is, in the imagination, that is, in madness.” Leo Tolstoy did not agree with the teaching of the church that man from his birth, in his essence, is vicious and sinful, since, in his opinion, such a teaching “undercuts at the root everything that is best in human nature.” Seeing how the church was quickly losing its influence on the people, the writer, according to K. N. Lomunov, came to the conclusion: “Everything living is independent of the church.”

In February 1901, the Synod finally decided to publicly condemn Tolstoy and declare him outside the church. Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) played an active role in this. As it appears in the Chamber-Fourier journals, on February 22, Pobedonostsev visited Nicholas II in the Winter Palace and talked with him for about an hour. Some historians believe that Pobedonostsev came to the Tsar directly from the Synod with a ready-made definition.

In November 1909, he wrote down a thought that indicated his broad understanding of religion: “I do not want to be a Christian, just as I did not advise and would not want there to be Brahmanists, Buddhists, Confucionists, Taoists, Mohammedans and others. We must all find, each in his own faith, what is common to all, and, abandoning what is exclusive, what is our own, cling to what is common.”.

At the end of February 2001, the count's great-grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, manager of the writer's museum-estate in Yasnaya Polyana, sent a letter to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' with a request to reconsider the synodal definition. In response to the letter, the Moscow Patriarchate stated that the decision to excommunicate Leo Tolstoy from the Church, made exactly 105 years ago, cannot be reviewed, since (according to Church Relations Secretary Mikhail Dudko), it would be wrong in the absence of the person who the action of the ecclesiastical court applies.

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

On the morning of October 31 (November 13), L.N. Tolstoy and his entourage set off from Shamordino to Kozelsk, where they boarded train No. 12, Smolensk - Ranenburg, which had already arrived at the station, heading to east direction. There was no time to buy tickets upon boarding; Having reached Belyov, we purchased tickets to the Volovo station, where we intended to transfer to some train heading south. Those who accompanied Tolstoy later also testified that the trip had no specific purpose. After the meeting, they decided to go to his niece E. S. Denisenko, in Novocherkassk, where they wanted to try to get foreign passports and then go to Bulgaria; if this fails, go to the Caucasus. However, on the way, L.N. Tolstoy felt worse - the cold turned into lobar pneumonia and the accompanying people were forced to interrupt the trip that same day and take the sick Tolstoy out of the train at the first large station near the settlement. This station was Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region).

The news of Leo Tolstoy's illness caused a great stir both in high circles and among members of the Holy Synod. Encrypted telegrams were systematically sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Moscow Gendarmerie Directorate about his state of health and the state of affairs. railways. An emergency secret meeting of the Synod was convened, at which, on the initiative of Chief Prosecutor Lukyanov, the question was raised about the attitude of the church in the event of a sad outcome of Lev Nikolaevich’s illness. But the issue was never resolved positively.

Six doctors tried to save Lev Nikolaevich, but to their offers to help, he only replied: “God will arrange everything.” When they asked him what he himself wanted, he said: “I want no one to bother me.” His last meaningful words, which he uttered a few hours before his death to his eldest son, which he was unable to understand due to excitement, but which were heard by the doctor Makovitsky, were: “Seryozha... the truth... I love a lot, I love everyone...”.

On November 7 (20), at 6:50 a.m., after a week of severe and painful illness (he was suffocating), Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy died in the house of the station chief, I. I. Ozolin.

When L.N. Tolstoy came to Optina Pustyn before his death, Elder Barsanuphius was the abbot of the monastery and the monastery leader. Tolstoy did not dare to enter the monastery, and the elder followed him to the Astapovo station to give him the opportunity to reconcile with the Church. But he was not allowed to see the writer, just as his wife and some of his closest relatives from among the Orthodox believers were not allowed to see him.

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

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

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

Family of Leo Tolstoy:

Lev Nikolaevich with teenage years was acquainted with Lyubov Alexandrovna Islavina, married Bers (1826-1886), loved to play with her children Lisa, Sonya and Tanya. When the Bersov daughters grew up, Lev Nikolaevich thought about marrying eldest daughter Lise, hesitated for a long time until he made a choice in favor of his middle daughter Sophia. Sofya Andreevna agreed when she was 18 years old, and the count was 34 years old, and on September 23, 1862, Lev Nikolaevich married her, having previously admitted his premarital affairs.

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

For his family, Leo Tolstoy proposed a certain “life plan”, according to which he proposed giving part of his income to the poor and schools, and significantly simplifying his family’s lifestyle (life, food, clothing), while also selling and distributing “everything unnecessary”: piano, furniture, carriages. His wife, Sofya Andreevna, was clearly not happy with this plan, which led to their first serious conflict and the beginning of her “undeclared war” for a secure future for their children. And in 1892, Tolstoy signed a separate deed and transferred all the property to his wife and children, not wanting to be the owner. Nevertheless, they lived together in great love for almost fifty years.

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

In addition, Sofia Andreevna’s father, physician Andrei Gustav (Evstafievich) Bers, even before his marriage to Islavina, had a daughter, Varvara, from Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva, the mother of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. On her mother’s side, Varya was the sister of Ivan Turgenev, and on her father’s side, S. A. Tolstoy, thus, together with marriage, Leo Tolstoy acquired a relationship with I. S. Turgenev.

From the marriage of Lev Nikolaevich with Sofia Andreevna, 13 children were born, five of whom died in childhood. Children:

1. Sergei (1863-1947), composer, musicologist.
2. Tatiana (1864-1950). 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).
3. Ilya (1866-1933), writer, memoirist. In 1916 he left Russia and went to the USA.
4. Leo (1869-1945), writer, sculptor. In exile in France, Italy, then in Sweden.
5. Maria (1871-1906). Since 1897 she has been married to Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky (1872-1934). She died of pneumonia. Buried in the village. Kochaki of Krapivensky district (modern Tula region, Shchekinsky district, village of Kochaki).
6. Peter (1872-1873)
7. Nikolai (1874-1875)
8. Varvara (1875-1875)
9. Andrey (1877-1916), official special assignments under the Tula governor. Participant Russo-Japanese War. He died in Petrograd from general blood poisoning.
10. Mikhail (1879-1944). In 1920 he emigrated and lived in Turkey, Yugoslavia, France and Morocco. Died on October 19, 1944 in Morocco.
11. Alexey (1881-1886)
12. Alexandra (1884-1979). At the age of 16 she became her father's assistant. For her participation in the First World War, she was awarded three St. George Crosses and was awarded the rank of colonel. In 1929 she emigrated from the USSR and in 1941 received US citizenship. She died on September 26, 1979 in Valley Cottage, New York.
13. 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 around the world. Most of them are descendants of Lev Lvovich Tolstoy, who had 10 children, the third son of Lev Nikolaevich. Since 2000, once every two years, meetings of the writer’s descendants have been held in Yasnaya Polyana.

Quotes about Leo Tolstoy:

French writer and member of the French Academy Andre Maurois argued that Leo Tolstoy is one of the three greatest writers in the entire history of culture (along with Shakespeare and Balzac).

German writer, laureate Nobel Prize on literature Thomas Mann said that the world did not know another artist in whom the epic, Homeric principle would be as strong as Tolstoy’s, and that the elements of the epic and indestructible realism live in his works.

The Indian philosopher and politician spoke of Tolstoy as the most honest man of his time, who never tried to hide the truth or embellish it, without fear of either the spiritual or secular power, backing up his preaching with deeds and making any sacrifices for the sake of the truth.

The Russian writer and thinker said in 1876 that only Tolstoy shines because, in addition to the poem, he “knows to the smallest accuracy (historical and current) the reality depicted.”

Russian writer and critic Dmitry Merezhkovsky wrote about Tolstoy: “His face is the face of humanity. If the inhabitants of other worlds asked our world: who are you? - humanity could answer by pointing to Tolstoy: here I am.”

A Russian poet spoke of Tolstoy: “Tolstoy is the greatest and only genius of modern Europe, the highest pride of Russia, a man whose one name is fragrance, a writer of great purity and holiness.”

The Russian writer in the English “Lectures on Russian Literature” wrote: “Tolstoy is an unsurpassed Russian prose writer. Leaving aside his predecessors Pushkin and Lermontov, all the great Russian writers can be arranged in the following sequence: the first is Tolstoy, the second is Gogol, the third is Chekhov, the fourth is Turgenev.”

Russian religious philosopher and writer V. V. Rozanov about Tolstoy: “Tolstoy is only a writer, but not a prophet, not a saint, and therefore his teaching does not inspire anyone.”

Famous theologian Alexander Men said that Tolstoy is still the voice of conscience and a living reproach for people who are confident that they live in accordance with moral principles.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy
Born: September 9, 1828
Died: November 10, 1910

Biography

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy born on August 28 (September 9 n.s.) in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, Tula province. By origin he belonged to the oldest aristocratic families in Russia. He received home education and upbringing.

After the death of his parents (his mother died in 1830, his father in 1837), the future writer with three brothers and a sister moved to Kazan, to live with his guardian P. Yushkova. As a sixteen-year-old boy, 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 property 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 social life in Moscow (1848), took exams for the degree of candidate of law at St. Petersburg University (spring 1849), decided to serve as a clerical employee in the Tula Noble Society parliamentary 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 military operations against the Chechens. Episodes of the Caucasian War were described by him in the stories "Raid" (1853), "Cutting Wood" (1855), and in the story "Cossacks" (1852 - 63). Passed the cadet exam, preparing to become an officer. In 1854, being an artillery officer, he transferred to the Danube Army, which operated against the Turks.

In the Caucasus Tolstoy began to seriously engage in literary creativity, writes the story “Childhood”, which was approved by Nekrasov and published in the magazine “Sovremennik”. Later the story "Adolescence" (1852 - 54) was published there.

Soon after the start of the Crimean War Tolstoy at his personal request, he 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 bravery" and medals "For the defense of Sevastopol". In "Sevastopol Stories" he created a mercilessly reliable picture of the war, which made a huge impression on Russian society. During these 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 fall of 1856 he retired (“A military career is not mine...” he writes in his diary) and in 1857 he went on a six-month trip abroad to France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.

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

In May 1861 (the year of the abolition of serfdom) he returned to Yasnaya Polyana, took office as a peace mediator and actively defended the interests of the peasants, resolving their disputes with the landowners about land, for which the Tula nobility, dissatisfied with his actions, demanded his removal from office. In 1862, the Senate issued a decree dismissing Tolstoy. Secret surveillance of him began from Section III. 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 communications with Herzen in London.

In 1862 life Tolstoy, his life was streamlined for many years: he married the daughter of a Moscow doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers, and patriarchal life began on his estate as the head of an ever-increasing family. Fat raised nine children.

The 1860s - 1870s were marked by the publication of two works by Tolstoy, which 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 this time of winter Tolstoy spent in Moscow. Here in 1882 he took part in the census of the Moscow population and became closely acquainted with the life of the inhabitants of the city 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!”

New worldview Tolstoy expressed in his work “Confession” (1879), where he spoke about a revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in a break with the ideology of the noble class and a transition to the side of the “simple working people.” This fracture led Tolstoy to the denial of the state, the state church and property. The awareness of the meaninglessness of life in the face of inevitable death led him to faith in God. He bases his teaching on the moral commandments of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil through violence 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, took up physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, and switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright ownership of all his works written after 1880.

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

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

In the last decade, as always, I have been engaged in intense creative work. The story "Hadji Murat" (1896 - 1904), the drama "The Living Corpse" (1900), and the story "After the Ball" (1903) were written.

At the beginning of 1900, he wrote a number of articles exposing the entire system of public administration. The government of Nicholas II issued a resolution 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 Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, and often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

In the last years of his life, when Tolstoy was drawing up his will, he found himself at the center of intrigue and contention 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 lifestyle into line with his beliefs and being burdened by the lordly way of life on the estate. Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana on November 10, 1910. The health of the 82-year-old writer could not withstand the journey. He caught a cold and, falling ill, died on November 20 on the way at the Astapovo station of the Ryazan-Ural Railway.

He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Novels

Trilogy: Childhood, Adolescence and Youth

Stories

Stories