Childhood... Adolescence... Youth...

"The great writer of the Russian land", Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in the village of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province. His father, a hussar lieutenant colonel, and his mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, are described partly in Childhood and Boyhood, partly in War and Peace. The boy was one and a half years old when his mother died, and nine years old when his father died; an orphan, he remained in the care of his aunt, Countess Osten-Saken; the upbringing of the boy was entrusted to a distant relative, T. A. Ergolskaya. Tolstoy later touchingly recalled this kind and meek woman, who had a beneficial effect on the children entrusted with her upbringing. Being 24 years old, he wrote to her from the Caucasus: "The tears that I shed, thinking of you and your love for us, are so joyful that I let them flow without any false shame."

Having received a home education, which was common at that time for the children of landlords, in 1844 Tolstoy entered the Kazan University at the Faculty of Oriental Languages; a year later he goes to law school. A young man precocious, prone to self-observation and a critical attitude towards everything around him, Tolstoy remains extremely dissatisfied with the composition of professors and university teaching. At first, he quite diligently set to work, began to write an essay, where he drew a parallel between the “Instruction” by Catherine the Great II and the works of Montesquieu; but soon these studies were abandoned, and Tolstoy was temporarily taken over by the interests secular life: shiny outside secular world and his eternal festivities, picnics, balls, receptions, captivated the impressionable young man; he gave himself up to the interests of this world with all the passion of his nature. And, as in everything in his life, he was consistent here to the end, denying at that time everything that was not included in the circle of interests of a secular person.

But, as shown in "Childhood, Adolescence and Youth", which contains a lot of autobiographical material, even in childhood Tolstoy showed signs of self-deepening, some kind of persistent moral and mental quest; the boy was forever haunted by the questions of his still vague inner world. It can be said, judging by the writer left to us artistic material that he almost did not know about a carefree childhood, with its unconscious joy. Self-loving, always subordinating everything to his reflection, he, like most great people, spent a painful childhood, depressed by various questions of life, external and internal, which it was beyond his childish strength to resolve.

It was this peculiarity of the nature of the young Tolstoy that took over in him after a certain period of time spent in secular pleasures. Under the influence of his own reflections and reading, Tolstoy decided to change his life dramatically. What he decided was immediately carried out. Convinced of the emptiness of secular life, disappointed with university studies, Tolstoy returns to his constant ideals of life. In "Childhood" and Adolescence, we read more than once about how the boy, the hero of the story, draws up programs for the future pure and intelligent life that meets some vague requirements of conscience. As if an unknown voice always resounded in his soul, the voice of moral commands, and forced him to follow him. The same was in Kazan. Tolstoy throws secular entertainment, stops attending the university, is fond of Rousseau and spends days and nights over the books of this writer, who had a great influence on him.

In books, Tolstoy is looking not for intellectual pleasures and not for knowledge in itself, but for practical answers to questions, how live and how to live, that is, in what to see the meaning and true content of life. Under the influence of these reflections and the reading of Rousseau's books, Tolstoy wrote the essay "On the Purpose of Philosophy", in which he defines philosophy as a "science of life", that is, as one that clarifies the goals and way of life of a person. Already at this time, Rousseau's books posed a problem for young Tolstoy that irresistibly attracted his mental gaze: about moral perfection. Tolstoy, through increased spiritual tension, determines the plan for his future life: it should take place in the implementation of good and in active help to people. Having come to this conclusion, Tolstoy left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana to take care of the life of the peasants and improve their situation. Here, many failures and disappointments awaited him, described in the story “Morning of the Landowner”: it was impossible to solve such a big task with the help of one person at once, especially since many imperceptible little things and interference made the work difficult.

Leo Tolstoy in his youth. Photo 1848

In 1851 Tolstoy left for the Caucasus; here awaits him a mass of impressions, strong and fresh, which the heroic nature of the 23-year-old Tolstoy craved. Hunting for wild boars, elks, birds, grandiose pictures of Caucasian nature, and finally, skirmishes and battles with mountaineers (Tolstoy enlisted as a cadet in the artillery) - all this made a great impression on the future writer. In battles, he was cold-blooded and courageous, he was always in the most dangerous places and was repeatedly presented for a reward. The way of life at that time Tolstoy led a Spartan, healthy and simple; composure and courage did not leave him at the most dangerous moments, as, for example, in the case when, while hunting a bear, he missed the beast and was crushed by it, saved a minute later by other hunters and miraculously escaped with two non-dangerous wounds. But he led a life not only of fighting and hunting, he also had hours for literary work, which few people knew about yet. At the end of 1851, he tells Ergolskaya that he is writing a novel, not knowing if it will ever be published, but working on it gives him deep pleasure. Characteristic of the young Tolstoy is the lack of ambition and endurance in leisurely and diligent work. “I redid the work that I started a long time ago three times,” he writes to Ergolskaya, “and I expect to redo it again to be satisfied; I write not out of vanity, but out of inclination, it is pleasant and useful for me to work, and I work.

The manuscript that Tolstoy was working on at that time was the story "Childhood"; among all the impressions of the Caucasus, the young writer loved to revive childhood memories with sadness and love, reviving every feature past life. Life in the Caucasus did not roughen his impressionable and childish gentle soul. In 1852, Tolstoy's first story was published in Nekrasov's journal Sovremennik with a modest signature L.N.; only a few close people knew the author of this story, noted in critical literature. Behind “Childhood” appeared “Boyhood” and a number of stories from the Caucasian military life: “Raid”, “Cutting the Forest” and the large story “Cossacks”, outstanding in its artistic merit and reflecting the features of a new world outlook. In this story, Tolstoy first emphasized negative attitude to urban cultural life and the advantage over it is simple and healthy life in the fresh bosom of nature, in proximity to the simple and pure spiritual masses of the people.

Tolstoy's military wandering life continued during the then outbreak of the Crimean War. He participated in the unsuccessful siege of Silistria on the Danube and observed with curiosity the life of southern peoples. Promoted to officer in 1854, Tolstoy arrived in Sevastopol, where he survived the siege until the surrender of the city in 1855. Here Tolstoy tried to start a magazine for the soldiers, but did not get permission. Courageous, as always, who was here in the most dangerous places, Tolstoy reproduced rich observations of this siege in three stories “Sevastopol in December, in May and in August”. Appearing also in Sovremennik, these stories drew general attention.

After the fall of Sevastopol, Tolstoy retired, moved to St. Petersburg and devoted himself primarily to literary interests; he draws closer to the circle of writers of that time - Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Nekrasov, Druzhinin, is friends with Fet. But to a large extent determined in Tolstoy during his solitary life in the Caucasian wilderness, his new views on life, on culture, on the goals and objectives of a person’s personal life, were alien to the general views of writers and alienated Tolstoy from them: he remained generally closed and lonely.

After several years of living introspectively and alone, having reached several certain items of his own worldview, created by great spiritual tension, Tolstoy now, with some kind of mental greed, seeks to embrace all the heritage of the spiritual culture of the West. After classes at Yasnaya Polyana agriculture and school, he travels abroad, visits Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, looks closely at the life and institutions of the Western world, absorbs a lot of books on philosophy, sociology, history, public education, etc. Everything seen and heard, everything read , everything that strikes his mind and soul becomes material for internal processing in the process of achieving the firm foundations of the worldview, which Tolstoy's thought is tirelessly looking for.

A great event for his inner life was the death of his brother, Nicholas; questions about the purpose and meaning of life, questions about death, took possession of his soul with even greater force, for a time inclining him to extremely pessimistic conclusions. But soon the ardent thirst for mental labor and activity again seizes him. Studying the organization of school affairs in Western European countries, Tolstoy comes to his own pedagogical theory, which he tries to implement upon his return to Yasnaya Polyana. He started a school there for peasant children and a pedagogical magazine called Yasnaya Polyana. Education, as a powerful tool for social reform, appears to him the most important thing life. In Yasnaya Polyana, he wanted to make something in miniature that could then take root all over the world. At the heart of Tolstoy's theory was the same point of view of the need for personal improvement of a person, not by forcible inoculation of views and beliefs, but in accordance with the basic properties of his nature.

Having married S. A. Bers and having arranged a quiet family life, Tolstoy devotes himself to the study of philosophy, ancient classics, his own literary works without forgetting school or Agriculture. The period of time from the sixties to the eighties of the last century is distinguished for Tolstoy by exceptional artistic productivity: during these years he wrote the most important in artistic value and outstanding in volume of his works. From 1864 to 1869, he was busy with the huge historical epic "War and Peace" (see summary and analysis of this novel). From 1873 to 1876 he worked on the novel Anna Karenina. In this novel, in the history of Levin's inner life, the turning point in the spiritual life of Tolstoy himself is already reflected. In him, that desire for the realization in his personal life of the ideas of goodness and truth recognized by him, which manifested itself in him from his youth, finally prevails. Religious and moral-philosophical interests take precedence over literary and artistic interests. He depicted the history of this spiritual turn in Confession, written in 1881.

Portrait of Leo Tolstoy. Artist I. Repin, 1901

Since then, Tolstoy literary activity subordinates to accepted moral ideas, becoming a preacher and moralist (see Tolstoy), denying his lived artistic activity. His mental productivity is still enormous: in addition to a whole series of religious-philosophical and social treatises, he writes dramas, stories and novels. Since the end of the eighties, stories have appeared for the people: “What makes people alive”, “Two old men”, “Candle”, “You will miss the fire, you will not put it out”; novels: "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", "Kreutzer Sonata", "Master and Worker", the dramas "The Power of Darkness" and "The Fruits of Enlightenment", and the novel "Resurrection".

Tolstoy's fame in these years becomes worldwide, his works are translated into the languages ​​of all countries, his name enjoys great honor and respect among the entire educated world; in the west, special societies are organized dedicated to the study of the works of the great writer. Yasnaya Polyana, where he lived, was visited by people from all countries, driven by the desire to talk with the great writer. Until the very end of his life, an unexpected end that struck the whole world, Tolstoy, an 80-year-old elder, tirelessly devoted himself to mental pursuits, creating new philosophical and artistic works.

Wishing to retire before the end of his life and live in complete harmony with the spirit of his teaching, which was always his cherished aspiration, Tolstoy went to last days October 1910 from Yasnaya Polyana, but on the way to the Caucasus he fell ill and had to stop at the Astapovo station, where he died 11 days later - on November 7 (20), 1910.

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy is one of the greatest novelists in the world. He is not only the world's largest writer, but also a philosopher, religious thinker and enlightener. You will learn more about all this from this.

But where he really succeeded was in personal diary. This habit inspired him to write his novels and stories, and also allowed him to form most of his life goals and priorities.

An interesting fact is that this nuance of Tolstoy's biography (keeping a diary) was the result of imitation of the great.

Hobbies and military service

Naturally, Leo Tolstoy had. He was extremely fond of music. His favorite composers were Bach, Handel and Chopin.

From his biography it clearly follows that sometimes he could play works by Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann on the piano for several hours in a row.

It is authentically known that the elder brother of Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai, had a great influence on him. He was a friend and mentor of the future writer.

It was Nicholas who invited younger brother join to military service in the Caucasus. As a result, Leo Tolstoy became a cadet, and in 1854 he was transferred to Sevastopol, where he participated in the Crimean War until August 1855.

Creativity Tolstoy

During the service, Lev Nikolaevich had quite a lot of free time. During this period he wrote autobiographical story"Childhood", in which he masterfully described the memories of the first years of life.

This work has become important event to write his biography.

After that, Leo Tolstoy writes the following story - "The Cossacks", in which he describes his army life in the Caucasus.

Work on this work was carried out until 1862, and was completed only after serving in the army.

An interesting fact is that Tolstoy did not stop his writing activity even while participating in the Crimean War.

During this period, from under his pen comes the story "Boyhood", which is a continuation of "Childhood", as well as "Sevastopol stories".

After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy leaves the service. Upon arrival home, he already has great fame in the literary field.

His distinguished contemporaries talk about a major acquisition for Russian literature in the person of Tolstoy.

While still young, Tolstoy was distinguished by arrogance and stubbornness, which is clearly visible in him. He refused to belong to one or another philosophical school, and once publicly called himself an anarchist, after which he decided to leave for France in 1857.

He soon developed an interest in gambling. But it didn't last long. When he lost all his savings, he had to return home from Europe.

By the way, the passion for gambling is observed in the biographies of many writers.

Despite all the difficulties, he writes the last, third part of his autobiographical trilogy"Youth". It happened in the same 1857.

Since 1862, Tolstoy began to publish the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana, where he himself was the main contributor. However, not having a calling as a publisher, Tolstoy managed to publish only 12 issues.

Family of Leo Tolstoy

On September 23, 1862, a sharp turn takes place in Tolstoy's biography: he marries Sofya Andreevna Bers, who was the daughter of a doctor. From this marriage, 9 sons and 4 daughters were born. Five of the thirteen children died in childhood.

When the wedding took place, Sofya Andreevna was only 18 years old, and Count Tolstoy was 34 years old. An interesting fact is that before his marriage, Tolstoy confessed future wife in their premarital relationships.

For some time in the biography of Tolstoy, the brightest period begins.

He is truly happy, and largely due to the practicality of his wife, material wealth, outstanding literary creativity and in connection with it all-Russian and even worldwide fame.

In the person of his wife, Tolstoy found an assistant in all matters, practical and literary. In the absence of a secretary, it was she who several times copied his drafts cleanly.

However, very soon their happiness is overshadowed by the inevitable petty quarrels, fleeting quarrels and mutual misunderstanding, which only gets worse over the years.

The fact is that Leo Tolstoy proposed a kind of “life plan” for his family, according to which he intended to give part of the family income to the poor and schools.

The way of life of his family (food and clothing), he wanted to greatly simplify, while he intended to sell and distribute "everything superfluous": pianos, furniture, carriages.

Naturally, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, was clearly not satisfied with such an ambiguous plan. On the basis of this, they broke out the first serious conflict, which served as the beginning of an "undeclared war" to secure the future of their children.

In 1892, Tolstoy signed a separate act and, not wanting to be the owner, transferred all the property to his wife and children.

It must be said that Tolstoy's biography is in many ways extraordinarily contradictory precisely because of his relationship with his wife, with whom he lived for 48 years.

Tolstoy's works

Tolstoy is one of the most prolific writers. His works are large-scale not only in terms of volume, but also in terms of the meanings that he touches on them.

Most popular works Tolstoy are considered "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection".

"War and Peace"

In the 1860s, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy lived with his entire family in Yasnaya Polyana. It was here that his very famous novel"War and Peace".

Initially, part of the novel was published in the Russian Messenger under the title "1805".

After 3 years, 3 more chapters appear, thanks to which the novel was completely over. He was destined to become the most outstanding creative result in Tolstoy's biography.

Both critics and the public have long discussed the work "War and Peace". The subject of their disputes were the wars described in the book.

Thoughtful but still fictional characters were also sharply discussed.

The novel also became interesting because it featured 3 meaningful satirical essays on the laws of history.

Among all other ideas, Leo Tolstoy tried to convey to the reader that the position of a person in society and the meaning of his life are derivatives of his daily activities.

"Anna Karenina"

After Tolstoy wrote War and Peace, he began work on his second, no less famous novel, Anna Karenina.

The writer contributed many autobiographical essays to it. This is easy to see when looking at the relationship between Kitty and Levin, the main characters in Anna Karenina.

The work was published in parts between 1873-1877, and was very highly appreciated by both critics and society. Many have noticed that Anna Karenina is practically Tolstoy's autobiography, written in the third person.

For his next work, Lev Nikolaevich received fabulous fees for those times.

"Sunday"

In the late 1880s, Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection. Its plot was based on a genuine court case. It is in the "Resurrection" that the author's sharp views on church rites are clearly indicated.

By the way, this work was one of the reasons that led to a complete break between the Orthodox Church and Count Tolstoy.

Tolstoy and religion

Despite the fact that the works described above were a tremendous success, this did not bring any joy to the writer.

He was in a depressed state and experienced a deep inner emptiness.

In this regard, the next stage in Tolstoy's biography was a continuous, almost convulsive search for the meaning of life.

Initially, Lev Nikolayevich looked for answers to questions in the Orthodox Church, but this did not bring him any results.

Over time, he began to criticize in every possible way both the Orthodox Church itself and in general christian religion. Your thoughts on these sensitive issues he began to publish in the publication "Intermediary".

His main position was that Christian doctrine good, but Jesus Christ himself does not seem to be needed. That is why he decided to make his own translation Gospels.

Generally religious views Tolstoy were extremely complex and confusing. It was some incredible mixture of Christianity and Buddhism, seasoned with various Eastern beliefs.

In 1901, the decision of the Holy Governing Synod on Count Leo Tolstoy was issued.

It was a decree that officially announced that Leo Tolstoy was no longer a member of the Orthodox Church, since his publicly expressed convictions were incompatible with such membership.

Definition Holy Synod sometimes erroneously interpreted as excommunication (anathema) of Tolstoy from the church.

Copyright and conflict with his wife

In connection with his new beliefs, Leo Tolstoy wanted to distribute all his savings and give up his own property in favor of the poor. However, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, expressed a categorical protest in this regard.

In this regard, the main family crisis was outlined in Tolstoy's biography. When Sofya Andreevna found out that her husband had publicly renounced the copyright to all his works (which, in fact, was their main source of income), they began to have violent conflicts.

From Tolstoy's diary:

“She does not understand, and the children do not understand, spending money, that every ruble they live on and earn by books is suffering, my shame. Let it be a shame, but what a weakening of the effect that the preaching of the truth could have had.

Of course, it is not difficult to understand the wife of Lev Nikolayevich. After all, they had 9 children, whom he, by and large, left without a livelihood.

Pragmatic, rational and active Sofya Andreevna could not allow this to happen.

Ultimately, Tolstoy made a formal will, transferring the rights youngest daughter, Alexandra Lvovna, who fully sympathized with his views.

At the same time, the will was accompanied by explanatory note that in fact these texts should not become anyone's property, and V.G. Chertkov is a faithful follower and student of Tolstoy, who was supposed to take all the writings of the writer, right down to drafts.

Later work of Tolstoy

Tolstoy's later works were realistic fiction, as well as stories filled with moral content.

In 1886, one of Tolstoy's most famous stories appeared - "The Death of Ivan Ilyich".

Her main character realizes that most he had wasted his life, and the realization came too late.

In 1898, Lev Nikolaevich wrote at least famous work"Father Sergius". In it, he criticized his own beliefs that he had after his spiritual rebirth.

The rest of the works are devoted to the theme of art. These include the play The Living Corpse (1890) and the brilliant story Hadji Murad (1904).

In 1903 Tolstoy wrote little story, which is called "After the ball." It was published only in 1911, after the death of the writer.

last years of life

The last years of his biography, Leo Tolstoy was better known as a religious leader and moral authority. His thoughts were directed towards resisting evil in a non-violent way.

Even during his lifetime, Tolstoy became an idol for the majority. However, despite all his achievements, in his family life there were serious flaws, which became especially aggravated with old age.

The writer's wife, Sofya Andreevna, did not agree with her husband's views and felt hostility towards some of his followers, who often came to Yasnaya Polyana.

She said: "How can you love humanity, and hate those who are next to you."

All this could not last long.

In the autumn of 1910, Tolstoy, accompanied only by his doctor D.P. Makovitsky leaves Yasnaya Polyana forever. However, he did not have any specific plan of action.

Death of Tolstoy

However, on the way, Leo Tolstoy felt unwell. First, he caught a cold, and then the disease turned into pneumonia, in connection with which he had to interrupt the trip and take the sick Lev Nikolayevich out of the train at the first large station near the village.

This station was Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy, Lipetsk region).

The rumor about the writer's illness instantly spread throughout the neighborhood and far beyond. Six doctors tried in vain to save the great old man: the disease progressed inexorably.

On November 7, 1910, Leo Tolstoy died at the age of 83. He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

“I sincerely regret the death of the great writer, who, during the heyday of his talent, embodied in his works the images of one of the glorious years of Russian life. May the Lord God be his merciful judge."

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Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in the estate of his mother Yasnaya Polyana, Krapivensky district, Tula province. Among the ancestors of the writer on the paternal side is an associate of Peter I - P. A. Tolstoy, one of the first in Russia to receive county title. Member of the Patriotic War of 1812 was the father of the writer gr. N. I. Tolstoy. On the maternal side, Tolstoy belonged to the family of the princes Bolkonsky, related by kinship with the princes Trubetskoy, Golitsyn, Odoevsky, Lykov and other noble families. On his mother's side, Tolstoy was a relative of A. S. Pushkin. By the time Leo was born, the family already had three eldest sons: - Nikolai (1823-1860), Sergey (1826 -1904) and Dmitry (1827 - 1856), and in 1830 Lev's younger sister Maria was born.

When Tolstoy was in his ninth year, his father took him to Moscow for the first time, the impressions of the meeting with which were vividly conveyed by the future writer in children's essay"Kremlin". The first period of young Tolstoy's life in Moscow lasted less than four years. He was orphaned early, having lost first his mother and then his father. With his sister and three brothers, young Tolstoy moved to Kazan. Here lived one of the father's sisters, who became their guardians. In Tolstoy's autobiographical "Childhood" Irtenyev's mother dies when the boy is 10-12 years old and he is quite conscious. However, the portrait of the mother is described by the writer exclusively from the stories of his relatives. After the death of their mother, the orphaned children were taken in by a distant relative, T. A. Ergolskaya. She is represented by Sonya from War and Peace.

Living in Kazan, Tolstoy spent two and a half years preparing to enter the university, where he studied from 1844, first at the Oriental Faculty, and then at the Faculty of Law. Studied Turkish and Tatar languages from the famous Turkologist Professor Kazembek.

Classes in government programs and textbooks weighed heavily on Tolstoy the student. He got carried away independent work above historical theme and, leaving the university, he left Kazan for Yasnaya Polyana, which he received under the division of his father's inheritance. Then he went to Moscow, where at the end of 1850 he began his writing activity: an unfinished story from the gypsy life (the manuscript has not been preserved) and a description of one day lived ("The History of Yesterday"). Then the story "Childhood" was started. Soon Tolstoy decided to go to the Caucasus, where his older brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, an artillery officer, served in the army. Having entered the army as a cadet, he later passed the exam for a junior officer rank. Writer's impressions Caucasian war reflected in the stories "The Raid" (1853), "Cutting the Forest" (1855), "Degraded" (1856), in the story "Cossacks" (1852-1863). In the Caucasus, the story "Childhood" was completed, which was published in 1852 in the journal Sovremennik.

When did it start Crimean War, Tolstoy was transferred from the Caucasus to the Danube army, which acted against the Turks, and then to Sevastopol, besieged by the combined forces of England, France and Turkey.

In the autumn of 1856 he retired and soon went on a six-month trip abroad, visiting France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. In 1859, Tolstoy opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana, and then helped open more than 20 schools in the surrounding villages.

One of the first works of the writer were the stories "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth", "Youth" (which, however, was not written). As conceived by the author, they were to compose the novel "Four Epochs of Development".

In the early 1860s for decades, the order of Tolstoy's life, his way of life, is established. In 1862, he married the daughter of a Moscow doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers.

The writer is working on the novel "War and Peace" (1863-1869). After completing War and Peace, Tolstoy spent several years studying materials about Peter I and his time. However, after writing several chapters of the "Petrine" novel, Tolstoy abandoned his plan.

In St. Petersburg, L.N. Tolstoy met the staff of the Sovremennik magazine with N.A. Nekrasov, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Goncharov, N.G. Chernyshevsky.

At the beginning of 1857 Tolstoy went abroad. On the road in Germany, Switzerland, England, Italy, France, he spends a year and a half. Travel does not bring him pleasure. Your disappointment European life he expressed in the story "Lucerne". And returning to Russia, Lev Nikolaevich took up the improvement of schools in Yasnaya Polyana.

In the late 1850s, Tolstoy met Sophia Andreevna Bers, born in 1844, the daughter of a Moscow doctor from Baltic Germans. He was almost 40 years old, and Sophia was only 17. It seemed to him that this difference was too great and sooner or later Sophia would fall in love with a young guy who had not become obsolete. These experiences of Lev Nikolaevich are set forth in his first novel, Family Happiness.

In September 1862, Leo Tolstoy nevertheless married 18-year-old Sofya Andreevna Bers. For 17 years life together they had 13 children. During the same period, "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" were created. In 1861-62. finishes his story "The Cossacks", the first of the works in which great talent Tolstoy was recognized as a genius.

In the early 70s, Tolstoy again showed interest in pedagogy, wrote the ABC and New ABC, composed fables and stories, which made up four Russian Books for Reading.

In the spring of 1873, Tolstoy began and four years later completed work on a large novel about modernity, naming it by name main character— Anna Karenina.

At the beginning of 1880s. Tolstoy moved with his family from Yasnaya Polyana to Moscow, taking care to educate his growing children. In 1882, a census of the Moscow population took place, in which the writer took part. He saw the inhabitants of the city's slums up close and described them terrible life in the article on the census and in the treatise "So what shall we do?" (1882-1886).

On the basis of social and psychological contrast, Tolstoy's story "The Master and the Worker" (1895) is built, stylistically connected with the cycle of his folk stories written in the 80s.

In order to answer the questions and doubts of a religious nature that tormented him, Lev Nikolayevich began to study theology. In 1891, in Geneva, the writer writes and publishes a Study of Dogmatic Theology, in which he criticizes Bulgakov's Orthodox Dogmatic Theology. He first had conversations with priests and monarchs, read theological treatises, studied ancient Greek and Hebrew.

All the writer's works are united by the thought of the inevitable and close in time "decoupling" of social contradictions, of replacing the obsolete social "order". “What the denouement will be, I don’t know,” wrote Tolstoy in 1892, “but that things are coming to it and that life cannot go on like this, in such forms, I am sure.” This idea inspired the largest work of all the work of the "late" Tolstoy - the novel "Resurrection" (1889-1899).

Leo Tolstoy wrote: “The people of our world live without any faith. One part of the people, an educated, wealthy minority, freed from church suggestion, does not believe in anything, because they consider all faith to be either stupidity or only a useful tool for dominating the masses. The vast poor, uneducated majority, with few exceptions of people who really believe, being under the influence of hypnosis, thinks that they believe in what is suggested to them under the guise of faith, but that it is not faith, because it not only does not explain to a person his position in world, but only obscures
his. From this position and mutual relationship unbelieving, pretending minority and hypnotized majority, and the life of our world, called Christian, is composed. And this life, both of the minority holding the means of hypnotization in their hands, and of the hypnotized majority, is terrible both in terms of the cruelty and immorality of those in power, and in terms of the oppression and stupidity of the large working masses.

In the early 1900s By the Holy Synod, Lev Nikolaevich was excommunicated from Orthodox Church. L. N. Tolstoy lost all interest in life, he was tired of enjoying the prosperity he had achieved. He is fond of simple physical labor, becomes a vegetarian, gives his family all his fortune, renounces literary property rights.

In the last decade of his life, the writer worked on the story "Hadji Murad" (1896-1904), in which he sought to compare the "two poles of imperious absolutism" - the European, personified by Nicholas I, and the Asian, personified by Shamil. article "I can not be silent", in which he protested against the repression of participants in the events of 1905-1907. The writer's stories "After the Ball" and "For What?" belong to the same period.

Burdened by the way of life in Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy more than once intended and for a long time did not dare to leave it. But he could no longer live according to the "together-apart" principle, and on the night of October 28 (November 10) he secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, he fell ill with pneumonia and was forced to make a stop at the small station Astapovo (now Leo Tolstoy), where he died. On November 10 (23), 1910, the writer was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, in the forest, on the edge of a ravine, where, as a child, he and his brother were looking for a "green stick" that kept the "secret" of how to make all people happy.

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

Graf, Russian writer. Father T. Count ... ... Big soviet encyclopedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tolstoy (Count Lev Nikolaevich) famous writer, which has reached an unprecedented in history literature XIX in. glory. In his face powerfully united great artist with a great moralist. Tolstoy's personal life, his stamina, indefatigability, ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Books

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