There lived Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy: a short biography

Tolstoy - national pride of his people. It is difficult to overestimate his services to Russian and world culture. Gorky rightly wrote:

He told us about Russian life almost as much as the rest of our literature. Historical meaning Tolstoy's work is already understood as the result of everything experienced by Russian society over the entire 19th century, and his books will remain for centuries, as a monument to the hard work done by a genius ...

Not only as a writer, but also as a thinker and public figure Tolstoy did an incredible amount for the development of thought; in his writings he collected and expressed all character traits, the mood of his era, and his personality is itself a reflection of the time in which he lived. Therefore, not only creativity, but also the biography of Tolstoy is of interest to numerous researchers. And to tell how Leo Tolstoy died, it is necessary brief retelling his life.

Stages of Tolstoy's life

The life and work of Leo Tolstoy is usually divided into several periods.

He spent his childhood in Yasnaya Polyana, the family estate of his mother (who died from when Tolstoy was not even two years old). Then the family moved to Moscow, three years later - to Kazan, where Tolstoy entered the university. True, he did not finish his studies there, left the Faculty of Law and came back to his estate. There he tried to make changes that would improve the life of the peasants (at the same time he opened the famous Yasnaya Polyana school), but he succeeded little and again left for Moscow. In Moscow he led a secular disorderly life, was fond of gambling and because of this, he was subsequently forced to leave for the Caucasus in order to cut costs and improve his financial situation.

It was in the Caucasus that Tolstoy first turned to literary activity. Then he wrote the semi-autobiographical story "Childhood", after positive feedback about her, Nekrasov (who worked at Sovremennik, which published the work) began to continue. Already in connection with the first parts of the trilogy, many critics and writers noted the extraordinary accuracy psychological portraits created by Tolstoy. The "democratic trend", which later became the main one in Tolstoy's work, is still far away, but this theme has already emerged here in the characters of the courtyards and servants of the noble house.

Since the beginning Crimean War leaves to serve in Sevastopol, and his "Sevastopol stories" appear there - it is in them that the most vivid in early work Tolstoy expressed his deep interest in the people.

After a creative crisis and the unsuccessful novel Family Happiness, Tolstoy rethinks his views, and his work takes a slightly different direction. In 1862, "Cossacks" appear, where for the first time the depraved and idle life are opposed higher strata society and the simple, working, close to nature life of the people. Subsequently, this folk life, close to primitive, alien to the corrupting action of civilization, will become the ideal of the writer, to whom, before he died, Tolstoy dedicated most his literary and social activities.

In War and Peace, Tolstoy further developed this idea of folk life, about the spontaneous movement of the mass that determines the entire world history and order.

Crucial moment

At the end of the seventies, Tolstoy completed a turning point in his worldview. He talks about this in his treatise "Confessions". The elements of the crisis accumulated gradually, it was a long process of revising all the old beliefs and convictions and at the same time clarifying and defining a new ideological position.

Having broken with his aristocratic-gentry environment, Tolstoy became the spokesman for the interests of the patriarchal peasantry. From the position of this peasantry, he subjected to ruthless criticism all the contemporary orders of autocratic Russia and bourgeois society in general. Rejecting the foundations of this society, Tolstoy speaks of their hostility natural needs man, his very nature.

Throughout the rest of his life (and, remembering the year in which Tolstoy died, this is more than 30 years), the writer will follow his convictions.

Tolstoyanism

At the same time, in his articles, he sets out his religious and ethical teaching - the "new religion", or "purified Christianity", and unfolds great activity to spread it among the broad masses of the people.

The principles of the new doctrine coincide in many respects with the Christian ones. Most widely, Tolstoy preaches violence, "non-doing", which consists in the fight against existing orders, their non-observance, the rejection of the life dictated by bourgeois society. He denies the significance of the achievements of culture, science and religion and believes that the main asset of a person is simplicity; sings heavy peasant physical labor.

According to Tolstoy, it was his teaching that was called upon to save humanity from all social disasters, to destroy evil on earth and to establish fraternal unity among people.

Parables and stories

To spread his teachings, Tolstoy writes both journalistic articles and works of art. With the "readers of the people" in mind, for whom his literature was intended, Tolstoy develops a completely new style their " folk stories": extremely simple in form and content, they are imbued with his ideas, in all with various variations the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bnecessity is affirmed" good life", about love for one's neighbor, about Christian forgiveness and repentance for one's sins. In fact, they resemble evangelical sermons, which undoubtedly lost all the features of Tolstoy's prose before the turning point - deep and intense psychological analysis, which was the basis of his former artistic method.

Literary creativity

However, along with such short stories on final stages of his life, Tolstoy creates and really significant for Russian culture literary works: the story "Hadji Murad" (never finished), the drama "The Living Corpse", the story "After the Ball". They combine both the deep psychologism developed by Tolstoy and the new accusatory pathos, criticism of the existing way of life and human relations.

He finally settled in his ancestral home back in the sixties (but even after that he visited Moscow and St. Petersburg). Even then, he enthusiastically set about transforming, hoping to improve the life of the peasants and create good conditions life. However, the gap between the landowner and the serfs was then too great, and he did not succeed (later the writer will try to comprehend his failures in the story "The Morning of the Landowner"), but his Yasnaya Polyana school for peasant children aroused great interest. Tolstoy's unique educational experiment was a great success and became the subject of study for many pedagogical schools.

In 1862, Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna, and it was thanks to this heroic woman that the house in the estate acquired the form in which we know it (or rather, the outbuilding that remained after the sale of the large Yasnaya Polyana house). Also, Tolstoy himself planted many apple orchards and forests that adorned the estate.

During that period of his life and until his death, Tolstoy himself worked a lot on the territory of his estate and on land in accordance with his ideas about ennobling peasant labor.

Care

The story begins directly about how Leo Tolstoy died.

The last years of Tolstoy's life were overshadowed by a deterioration in relations with his wife. Despite the large circulations in which the writer's books were published, his large family was always in a difficult situation. financial situation: under the influence of all the same ideas, Tolstoy renounced proprietary rights to everything he wrote, and it was sometimes difficult for Sofya Alexandrovna to find means of subsistence. In addition, she did not agree with all the judgments of her husband, and disagreements in this area also did not strengthen marital happiness.

In the end, sometimes fearing for Tolstoy's mental health and in order to avoid new unusual actions on his part, Sofya Andreevna begins to literally follow him, like a small child. Tolstoy notices this, and more and more moves away from his family. He begins to keep a new, secret diary, which he hides from everyone.

In the end, Tolstoy decides that he must conform to the ideas of his teaching as completely as possible; having come to this conclusion, he understands the impossibility of his further stay in the estate, and on the night of October 28, 1910 he secretly leaves Yasnaya Polyana. He wants to go to the southern provinces and start there peasant life. In a note left in the name of Sofya Andreevna, he writes that he cannot continue to lead a life that runs counter to his convictions, and asks not to look for him and not to disturb him.

Tolstoy began his journey by rail, at the station. Together with him was his doctor Makovetsky. First, he went to Kozelsk, to Optina Pustyn, where he had not been for 17 years, to talk with the elders. By that time he had already been excommunicated from the church. Then the writer went to the nearby Shamardinsky convent where his sister Maria lived.

There he was found by the daughter of Alexander Tolstaya. Together with her, he returned from the monastery to Kozelsk and boarded a train there. On the way to Astapovo station, he develops a fever; the writer has to get off the train.

How Tolstoy died

At five o'clock in the morning on November 20 (7), 1910, there was a sharp deterioration in his condition. Near the patient by that time was the whole family. The exact answer to the question of when Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy died is 6:50 in the morning: the patient, without uttering a single word, died. He died without regaining consciousness.

The place where - the station Astapovo Ryazan-Ural railway. Now there is a museum here.

In the reasons why Tolstoy died, they indicate pneumonia, which the body, weakened by old age, did not endure.

The writer bequeathed to bury himself without a grave. And on November 9, his funeral took place in Yasnaya Polyana - a civil one, since Tolstoy died, remaining excommunicated from the church. The writer's grave has neither a cross nor a tombstone, it is only a small mound on the edge of a ravine in the Old Order forest.

Tradition contemporary museum Yasnaya Polyana - complete silence, which is observed by all visitors on the alley leading to Tolstoy's grave, and near it itself.

The entire world community started up after these events. His departure and death throughout 1910 were covered in newspapers throughout Europe. Many Russian writers celebrated this event with their notes or full-fledged essays-memoirs. V. Ya. Bryusov, who was present at the burial, wrote in the article “At the funeral of Tolstoy. Impressions and observations":

Future generations will learn much about Tolstoy that we do not know. But how they will envy everyone who had the opportunity to see him, talk to him, get any closer to the great man, and even those who, like me, could collect information about Tolstoy from those who knew him personally! Now that Tolstoy is gone, we begin to understand how much it meant to be his contemporary!

Now you know in what year Leo Tolstoy died, under what circumstances.

The outstanding Russian writer, philosopher and thinker Count is known all over the world. Even in the farthest corners of the world, as soon as it comes to Russia, they certainly remember Peter the Great, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and a few more from Russian history.

We decided to collect the most interesting facts from the life of Tolstoy to remind you of them, and maybe even surprise you with some things.

So let's get started!

1. Tolstoy was born in 1828 and died in 1910 (he lived for 82 years). Married at 34 to 18-year-old Sofya Andreevna. They had 13 children, five of whom died in childhood.

   Leo Tolstoy with his wife and children

2. Before the wedding, the count gave his future wife to re-read his diaries, which described his many fornications. He considered it fair and just. According to the writer's wife, she remembered their content for the rest of her life.
3. At the beginning family life the young couple had complete harmony and mutual understanding, but over time, relations began to deteriorate more and more, reaching a peak shortly before the death of the thinker.
4. Tolstoy's wife was real hostess and exemplary conduct of business.
5. An interesting fact is that Sofya Andreevna (Tolstoy's wife) rewrote almost all the works of her husband in order to send manuscripts to the publishing house. This was necessary because no editor would have made out the handwriting of the great writer.

   Diary of Tolstoy L.N.

6. Almost all her life, the thinker's wife rewrote her husband's diaries. However, shortly before his death, Tolstoy began to keep two diaries: one that his wife read, and the other personal. The elderly Sofya Andreevna was furious that she could not find him, although she searched through the whole house.
7. All significant works("War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection") Leo Tolstoy wrote after his marriage. That is, until the age of 34, he did not engage in serious writing.

   Tolstoy in his youth

8. The creative heritage of Lev Nikolaevich is 165 thousand sheets of manuscripts and ten thousand letters. complete collection works published in 90 volumes.
9. An interesting fact is that in life Tolstoy could not stand when dogs bark, and also did not like cherries.
10. Despite the fact that he was a count from birth, he always gravitated towards the people. Often the peasants saw him plowing the field on his own. On this occasion, there is a funny anecdote: “Leo Tolstoy is sitting in a canvas shirt and writing a novel. A footman in livery and white gloves enters. “Your Excellency, it’s time to plow!”
11. Since childhood, he was an incredibly gambler and gambler. However, like the other great writer – .
12. Interestingly, once Count Tolstoy lost one of the buildings of his estate Yasnaya Polyana in cards. His partner dismantled the property that had passed to him to the carnation and took everything out. The writer himself dreamed of buying back this extension, but never did it.
13. Excellent command of English, French and German. Read in Italian, Polish, Serbian and Czech. He studied Greek and Church Slavonic, Latin, Ukrainian and Tatar, Hebrew and Turkish, Dutch and Bulgarian.

    Portrait of the writer Tolstoy

14. Anna Akhmatova as a child taught letters from the primer, which L.N. Tolstoy wrote for peasant children.
15. All his life he tried to help the peasants in everything he had the strength to do.

    Tolstoy with assistants makes lists of peasants in need of help

16. The novel "War and Peace" was written for 6 years, and then another 8 times corresponded. Tolstoy rewrote separate fragments up to 25 times.
17. The work “War and Peace” is considered the most significant in the work of the great writer, but he himself said the following in a letter to A. Fet: “I am happy that I will never write again verbose rubbish like War.
18. An interesting fact about Tolstoy is also that the count, by the end of his life, developed several serious principles of his worldview. The main ones are reduced to non-resistance to evil by violence, denial of private property and complete disregard for any authority, be it church, state or any other.

    Tolstoy in the family circle in the park

19. Many believe that Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church. In fact, the definition of the Holy Synod sounded literally like this:

“Therefore, testifying of his (Tolstoy’s) falling away from the Church, we pray together that the Lord grant him repentance into the mind of truth.”

That is, the Synod simply testified that Tolstoy "self-excommunicated" from the Church. In fact, it was so, if we analyze the writer's numerous statements addressed to the Church.

1. In fact, by the end of his life, Lev Nikolayevich really expressed his convictions that were very far from Christianity. Quote:

“I don’t want to be a Christian, just as I didn’t advise and wouldn’t want there to be Buddhists, Confucianists, Taoists, Mohammedans and others.”



“Pushkin was like a Kyrgyz. Everyone still admires Pushkin. And just think about the excerpt from his "Eugene Onegin", placed in all the readers for children: "Winter. Peasant, triumphant ... ". Whatever the stanza, then nonsense!

And, meanwhile, the poet, obviously, worked a lot and for a long time on the verse. "Winter. Peasant, triumphant ... ". Why "celebrating"? “Perhaps he is going to the city to buy himself salt or shag.

“On the firewood, it renews the path. His horse, smelling snow ... ". How can you "smell" the snow?! After all, she runs through the snow - so what does the flair have to do with it? Further: "Weaving at a trot somehow ...". This "somehow" is a historically stupid thing. And got into the poem only for the rhyme.

This was written by the great Pushkin, no doubt clever man, wrote because he was young and, like a Kyrgyz, sang instead of talking.

To this Tolstoy was asked a question: But what, Lev Nikolaevich, to do? Should you quit writing?

Tolstoy A: Of course quit! I say this to all beginners. This is my usual advice. Now is not the time to write. You need to do business, live exemplarily and teach others to live by your own example. Drop literature if you want to obey the old man. What do I do! I will die soon…"




“Over the years, Tolstoy expresses his opinions about women more and more often. These opinions are terrible.

“If you need a comparison, then marriage should be compared with a funeral, and not with a name day,” said Leo Tolstoy.

- The man walked alone - five pounds were tied to his shoulders, and he rejoices. What is there to say, that if I walk alone, then I am free, and if my foot is tied with the foot of a woman, then she will follow me and interfere with me.

- Why did you get married? the countess asked.

“But I didn’t know that then.”

Leo Tolstoy with his wife

Despite the interesting facts described above about Leo Tolstoy, he always declared that supreme value in society, it is the family.




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




If you want to get acquainted with more detailed information from Tolstoy's biography, then we recommend that you read his own work, Confession. We are sure that some things from personal life outstanding thinker you are simply shocked!

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

Biography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tolstoy expressed the new worldview in his work "Confession" (1879㭎), where he spoke about the revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in the break with the ideology of the noble class and the transition to the side of the "simple working people". This turning point led Tolstoy to deny the state, the official church and property. Consciousness of the meaninglessness of life in the face inevitable death led him to believe in God. He bases his teaching on the moral precepts of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil by 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, engaged in physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright on all his writings written after 1880.

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

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

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

At the beginning of 1900 he wrote a series of articles exposing the whole system government controlled. The government of Nicholas II passed 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 the Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

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

Buried at Yasnaya Polyana.

Biography and episodes of life Lev Tolstoy. When born and died Lev Tolstoy, memorable places and dates important events his life. writer quotes, Photo and video.

Years of Leo Tolstoy's life:

born September 9, 1828, died November 20, 1910

Epitaph

"I hear the sound of his speeches...
In the midst of all the confusion
Great old man of our days
Calls to the path of non-resistance.
Simple, clear words -
And who was imbued with their rays,
How to touch the deity
And speaks through his mouth.
From a poem by Arkady Kots, dedicated to memory Tolstoy

Biography

The biography of Leo Tolstoy is a biography of the most famous Russian writer, whose works are still read all over the world. Even during the life of Tolstoy, his books were translated into many languages, and today his immortal works are included in the golden fund of world literature. But no less interesting and personal, not writer's biography Tolstoy, who all his life tried to understand what is the essence of the destiny of man.

He was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate, which today houses the Tolstoy Museum. The writer, who comes from a rich and noble count family, lost his mother as a child, and when it came time to enter the university, his father, who left the family's financial affairs in poor condition. Before entering Kazan University, Leo Tolstoy was brought up by relatives in Yasnaya Polyana. Studying Tolstoy was easy, after Kazan University he studied Arabic-Turkish literature, but a conflict with one of the teachers forced him to quit his studies and return to Yasnaya Polyana. Already in those years, Tolstoy began to think about what his purpose was, who he should become. In his diaries, he set himself goals for self-improvement. He continued to keep diaries all his life, trying to answer important questions in them, analyzing his actions and judgments. Then, in Yasnaya Polyana, he began to feel guilty towards the peasants - for the first time he opened a school for serf children, where he himself often conducted classes. Soon Tolstoy again went to Moscow to prepare for candidate exams, but the young landowner was carried away by Savor and card games which inevitably led to debt. And then, on the advice of his brother, Lev Nikolaevich left for the Caucasus, where he served for four years. In the Caucasus, he began to write his famous trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth", which later brought him great fame in the literary circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Despite the fact that Tolstoy was warmly received after his return and he was well received in all the secular salons of both capitals, over time the writer began to experience disappointment in his environment. Did not bring him pleasure and a trip to Europe. He returned to Yasnaya Polyana and began to improve it, and soon married - a girl who was much younger than him. And at the same time he finished his story "The Cossacks", after which Tolstoy's talent as a brilliant writer was recognized. Sofya Andreevna Bers bore Tolstoy 13 children, and over the years he wrote Anna Karenina and War and Peace.

In Yasnaya Polyana, surrounded by his family and his peasants, Tolstoy again began to think about the destiny of man, about religion and theology, about pedagogy. His desire to get to the very core of religion and human existence, and the theological writings that followed, caused a backlash in the Orthodox Church. spiritual crisis the writer was reflected in everything - both in his relationship with his family and in his success in writing. The well-being of Count Tolstoy ceased to bring him joy - he became a vegetarian, walked barefoot, engaged in physical labor, renounced the rights to his literary works, gave all his property to his family. Before his death, Tolstoy quarreled with his wife and, wanting to live the last years of his life in accordance with his spiritual views, secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell seriously ill and died.

The funeral of Leo Tolstoy was held in Yasnaya Polyana, several thousand people came to say goodbye to the great writer - friends, admirers, peasants, students. The ceremony was not Orthodox rite, since the writer was excommunicated in the early 1900s. Tolstoy's grave is located in Yasnaya Polyana - in the forest where once, as a child, Lev Nikolayevich was looking for a "green stick" that kept the secret of universal happiness.

life line

September 9, 1828 Date of birth of Leo Tolstoy.
1844 Admission to Kazan University in the Department of Oriental Languages.
1847 Dismissal from the university.
1851 Departure for the Caucasus.
1852-1857 Writing an autobiographical trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth".
1855 Moving to St. Petersburg, joining the Sovremennik circle.
1856 Retirement, return to Yasnaya Polyana.
1859 The opening of a school for peasant children by Tolstoy.
1862 Marriage to Sophia Bers.
1863-1869 Writing the novel "War and Peace".
1873-1877 Writing the novel "Anna Karenina".
1889-1899 Writing the novel "Resurrection".
November 10, 1910 Secret departure of Tolstoy from Yasnaya Polyana.
November 20, 1910 Date of Tolstoy's death.
November 22, 1910 Farewell ceremony for the writer.
November 23, 1910 Funeral of Tolstoy.

Memorable places

1. Yasnaya Polyana, the estate of Leo Tolstoy, the state memorial and natural reserve where Tolstoy is buried.
2. Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy in Khamovniki.
3. Tolstoy's house in childhood, the first Moscow address of the writer, where he was brought at the age of 7 and where he lived until 1838.
4. Tolstoy's house in Moscow in 1850-1851, where his literary activity began.
5. The former Chevalier Hotel, where Tolstoy stayed, including shortly after his marriage with Sophia Tolstaya.
6. State Museum L. N. Tolstoy in Moscow.
7. Tolstoy Center on Pyatnitskaya, former home Vargin, where Tolstoy lived in 1857-1858.
8. Monument to Tolstoy in Moscow.
9. Kochakovsky necropolis, Tolstoy family cemetery.

Episodes of life

Tolstoy married Sofya Bers when she was 18 years old and he was 34. Before they got married, he confessed to his bride in his premarital affairs - the hero of his work Anna Karenina, Konstantin Levin, did the same later. Tolstoy admitted in his letters to his grandmother: “I constantly have the feeling that I have stolen undeserved happiness that was not assigned to me. Here she comes, I hear her, and so well. Long years Sofya Tolstaya was a friend and colleague of her husband, they were very happy, but with Tolstoy's passion for theology and spiritual quest, omissions began to arise between the spouses.

Leo Tolstoy disliked War and Peace, his greatest and most significant work. Once, in a correspondence with Fet, the writer even called his famous epic "wordy rubbish."

It is known that the last years of his life Tolstoy refused meat. He believed that meat-eating was not humane, and he hoped that one day people would look at him with the same disgust that they now look at cannibalism.

Tolstoy believed that education in Russia was fundamentally wrong, and tried to contribute to its change: he opened a school for peasant children, published a pedagogical magazine, wrote ABC, New ABC and Books for Reading. Despite the fact that he wrote these textbooks primarily for peasant children, more than one generation of children, including noble ones, learned from them. According to the ABC, Tolstoy was taught letters by the Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova.

Covenant

"Everything comes to those who know how to wait."

"Beware of everything that your conscience disapproves of."

Documentary "Living Tolstoy"

condolences

“November 7, 1910 ended at the Astapovo station not only the life of one of the most extraordinary people who ever lived in the world - also ended some extraordinary human feat, an extraordinary struggle in its strength, longitude and difficulty ... "
Ivan Bunin, writer

“It is remarkable that not a single one, not only from Russians, but also from foreign writers, had and still does not have such world significance as Tolstoy. None of the writers abroad was as popular as Tolstoy. This one fact in itself points to the significance of this man's talent."
Sergei Witte, statesman

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

The land of Russia has given mankind a whole scattering of talented writers. In many parts of the world, people know and love the works of I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, N. V. Gogol and many other Russian authors. This publication aims to in general terms describe life and creative way remarkable writer L.N. Tolstoy as one of the most prominent Russians, who covered world fame himself and the Fatherland.

Childhood

In 1828, or rather, on August 28, in the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana (at that time the Tula province), the fourth child was born in the family, who was named Leo. Despite the imminent loss of his mother - she died when he was not yet two years old - he will carry her image through his whole life and use it in the War and Peace trilogy as Princess Volkonskaya. Tolstoy lost his father before reaching the age of nine, and it would seem that he would perceive these years as a personal tragedy. However, brought up by relatives who gave him love and a new family, the writer considered the years of his childhood the happiest. This was reflected in his novel "Childhood".

It is interesting, but Leo began to transfer his thoughts and feelings to paper as a child. One of the first attempts at pen of the future literary classic became short story"Kremlin", written under the impression of visiting the Moscow Kremlin.

Adolescence and youth

Having received a great elementary education(he was taught by excellent teachers from France and Germany) and having moved with his family to Kazan, the young Tolstoy entered Kazan University in 1844. The study was not exciting. After less than two years, he, allegedly for health reasons, drops out of school and returns to the family estate with the thought of completing his studies in absentia.

Having experienced all the delights of unsuccessful management, which will then be reflected in the story "The Morning of the Landowner", Lev moves first to Moscow, and later to St. Petersburg with the hope of getting a diploma at the university. The search for oneself during this period led to amazing metamorphoses. Preparation for exams, the desire to become a military man, religious asceticism, suddenly replaced by revelry and revelry - this is far from complete list his activities at this time. But it is at this stage of life that a serious desire arises.

Adulthood

Heeding the advice of his older brother, Tolstoy becomes a cadet and goes to serve in the Caucasus in 1851. Here he takes part in hostilities, becomes close to the inhabitants of the Cossack village and realizes the huge difference between noble life and everyday reality. During this period, he writes the story "Childhood", which is published under a pseudonym and brings the first success. Having supplemented his autobiography to a trilogy with the stories Boyhood and Youth, Tolstoy gains recognition among writers and readers.

Participating in the defense of Sevastopol (1854), Tolstoy was awarded not only an order and medals, but also new experiences that became the basis of "Sevastopol stories". This collection finally convinced the critics of his talent.

After the war

Having finished with military adventures in 1855, Tolstoy returned to St. Petersburg, where he immediately became a member of the Sovremennik circle. He falls into the company of such people as Turgenev, Ostrovsky, Nekrasov and others. But social life did not please him, and, having been abroad and finally breaking with the army, he returned to Yasnaya Polyana. Here, in 1859, Tolstoy, mindful of the contrast between the common people and the nobles, opened a school for peasant children. With his assistance, 20 more such schools were created in the vicinity.

"War and Peace"

After the wedding with the 18-year-old daughter of a doctor Sophia Bers in 1862, the couple returned to Yasnaya Polyana, where they indulged in the joys of family life and household chores. But a year later, Tolstoy was carried away by a new idea. A trip to the Borodino field, work in the archives, painstaking study of the correspondence of people of the era of Alexander I and spiritual uplift from family happiness led to the publication of the first part of War and Peace in 1865. Full version trilogy was published in 1869 and still causes admiration and controversy regarding the novel.

"Anna Karenina"

The iconic novel known throughout the world was the result of deep analysis life of Tolstoy's contemporaries and saw the light in 1877. In this decade, the writer lived in Yasnaya Polyana, teaching peasant children and defending his own views on pedagogy through the press. Family life, decomposed through a social prism, illustrates the entire spectrum of human emotions. Despite not the best, to put it mildly, relations between writers, even F.M. Dostoevsky.

Broken soul

Contemplating around you social inequality, now he considers the dogmas of Christianity as an impulse to humanity and justice. Tolstoy, understanding the role of God in people's lives, continues to denounce the corruption of his servants. This period of complete denial of the established way of life explains the criticism of the church and state institutions. It got to the point that he questioned art, denied science, the bonds of marriage and much more. As a result, he was officially excommunicated in 1901, and also caused discontent among the authorities. This period of the writer's life gave the world many sharp, sometimes controversial, works. The result of understanding the views of the author was his last novel "Sunday".

Care

Because of disagreements in the family and misunderstood secular society, Tolstoy, having decided to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but, having got off the train due to poor health, died at a small, godforsaken station. It happened in the autumn of 1910, and next to him was only his doctor, who turned out to be powerless against the writer's illness.

L. N. Tolstoy was one of the first who dared to describe human life without embellishment. His heroes possessed all, sometimes unattractive, feelings, desires and character traits. Therefore, they remain relevant today, and his works are rightfully included in the heritage of world literature.

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy brief information.