Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a great Russian writer, by birth a count from a famous noble family. He was born on August 28, 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate located in the Tula province, and died on October 7, 1910 at the Astapovo station.
The writer's childhood
Lev Nikolaevich was a representative of a large noble family, the fourth child in it. His mother, Princess Volkonskaya, died early. At this time, Tolstoy was not yet two years old, but he formed an idea of his parent from the stories of various family members. In the novel "War and Peace" the image of the mother is represented by Princess Marya Nikolaevna Bolkonskaya.
Biography of Leo Tolstoy early years marked by another death. Because of her, the boy became an orphan. Leo Tolstoy's father, a participant in the War of 1812, like his mother, died early. This happened in 1837. At that time the boy was only nine years old. Leo Tolstoy's brothers, he and his sister, were handed over to T. A. Ergolskaya for education, distant relative, which had a huge influence on the future writer. Childhood memories have always been the happiest for Lev Nikolaevich: family legends and impressions of life in the estate became rich material for his works, reflected, in particular, in the autobiographical story “Childhood”.
Study at Kazan University
Biography of Leo Tolstoy early years marked by such an important event as studying at the university. When the future writer turned thirteen years old, his family moved to Kazan, to the house of the children’s guardian, a relative of Lev Nikolaevich P.I. Yushkova. In 1844, the future writer was enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy of Kazan University, after which he transferred to the Faculty of Law, where he studied for about two years: study did not arouse keen interest in the young man, so he devoted himself with passion to various social entertainment. Having submitted a request for dismissal in the spring of 1847, due to poor health and “domestic circumstances,” Lev Nikolaevich went to Yasnaya Polyana with the intention of studying a full course of legal sciences and passing an external exam, as well as learning languages, “practical medicine”, history, agriculture, geographical statistics, painting, music and writing a dissertation.
Years of youth
In the fall of 1847, Tolstoy left for Moscow and then to St. Petersburg in order to pass candidate exams at the university. During this period, his lifestyle often changed: he either studied various subjects all day long, then devoted himself to music, but wanted to start a career as an official, or dreamed of joining a regiment as a cadet. Religious sentiments that reached the point of asceticism alternated with cards, carousing, and trips to the gypsies. The biography of Leo Tolstoy in his youth is colored by the struggle with himself and introspection, reflected in the diary that the writer kept throughout his life. During the same period, interest in literature arose, and the first artistic sketches appeared.
Participation in the war
In 1851, Nikolai, Lev Nikolayevich’s older brother, an officer, persuaded Tolstoy to go to the Caucasus with him. Lev Nikolaevich lived for almost three years on the banks of the Terek, in a Cossack village, traveling to Vladikavkaz, Tiflis, Kizlyar, participating in hostilities (as a volunteer, and then was recruited). The patriarchal simplicity of the life of the Cossacks and the Caucasian nature struck the writer with their contrast with the painful reflection of representatives of educated society and the life of the noble circle, and provided extensive material for the story “Cossacks,” written in the period from 1852 to 1863 on autobiographical material. The stories “Raid” (1853) and “Cutting Wood” (1855) also reflected his Caucasian impressions. They also left a mark in his story “Hadji Murat,” written between 1896 and 1904, published in 1912.
Returning to his homeland, Lev Nikolaevich wrote in his diary that he really fell in love with this wild land, which combines “war and freedom,” things that are so opposite in essence. Tolstoy began to create his story “Childhood” in the Caucasus and anonymously sent it to the magazine “Sovremennik”. This work appeared on its pages in 1852 under the initials L.N. and, along with the later “Adolescence” (1852-1854) and “Youth” (1855-1857), constituted the famous autobiographical trilogy. His creative debut immediately brought real recognition to Tolstoy.
Crimean campaign
In 1854, the writer went to Bucharest, to the Danube Army, where the work and biography of Leo Tolstoy were further developed. However, soon a boring staff life forced him to transfer to besieged Sevastopol, to the Crimean Army, where he was a battery commander, showing courage (awarded with medals and the Order of St. Anne). During this period, Lev Nikolaevich was captured by new literary plans and impressions. He began writing "Sevastopol stories", which were a great success. Some ideas that arose even at that time allow one to discern in the artillery officer Tolstoy the preacher of later years: he dreamed of a new “religion of Christ,” purified of mystery and faith, a “practical religion.”
In St. Petersburg and abroad
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg in November 1855 and immediately became a member of the Sovremennik circle (which included N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. S. Turgenev, I. A. Goncharov and others). He took part in the creation of the Literary Fund at that time, and at the same time became involved in conflicts and disputes among writers, but he felt like a stranger in this environment, which he conveyed in “Confession” (1879-1882). Having retired, in the fall of 1856 the writer left for Yasnaya Polyana, and then, at the beginning of the next year, 1857, he went abroad, visiting Italy, France, Switzerland (impressions from visiting this country are described in the story “Lucerne”), and also visited Germany. In the same year in the fall, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy returned first to Moscow and then to Yasnaya Polyana.
Opening of a public school
In 1859, Tolstoy opened a school for peasant children in the village, and also helped organize more than twenty similar educational institutions in the Krasnaya Polyana area. In order to get acquainted with the European experience in this area and apply it in practice, the writer Leo Tolstoy again went abroad, visited London (where he met with A.I. Herzen), Germany, Switzerland, France, and Belgium. However, European schools somewhat disappoint him, and he decides to create his own pedagogical system, based on personal freedom, publishes teaching aids and works on pedagogy, applies them in practice.
"War and Peace"
Lev Nikolaevich in September 1862 married Sofya Andreevna Bers, the 18-year-old daughter of a doctor, and immediately after the wedding he left Moscow for Yasnaya Polyana, where he devoted himself entirely to household concerns and family life. However, already in 1863, he was again captured by a literary idea, this time creating a novel about the war, which was supposed to reflect Russian history. Leo Tolstoy was interested in the period of our country's struggle with Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1865, the first part of the work “War and Peace” was published in the Russian Bulletin. The novel immediately evoked many responses. Subsequent parts provoked heated debate, in particular, the fatalistic philosophy of history developed by Tolstoy.
"Anna Karenina"
This work was created in the period from 1873 to 1877. Living in Yasnaya Polyana, continuing to teach peasant children and publish his pedagogical views, Lev Nikolaevich in the 70s worked on a work about the life of contemporary high society, building his novel on the contrast of two storylines: the family drama of Anna Karenina and the domestic idyll of Konstantin Levin, close and psychological drawing, both in convictions and in the way of life of the writer himself.
Tolstoy strove for an externally non-judgmental tone of his work, thereby paving the way for the new style of the 80s, in particular folk stories. The truth of peasant life and the meaning of existence of representatives of the “educated class” - these are the range of questions that interested the writer. “Family thought” (according to Tolstoy, the main one in the novel) is translated into a social channel in his work, and Levin’s self-exposures, numerous and merciless, his thoughts about suicide are an illustration of the author’s spiritual crisis experienced in the 1880s, which had matured even while working on this novel.
1880s
In the 1880s, Leo Tolstoy's work underwent a transformation. The revolution in the writer’s consciousness was reflected in his works, primarily in the experiences of the characters, in the spiritual insight that changes their lives. Heroes like these occupy central place in such works as “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” (years of creation - 1884-1886), “The Kreutzer Sonata” (a story written in 1887-1889), “Father Sergius” (1890-1898), the drama “The Living Corpse” ( remained unfinished, begun in 1900), as well as the story “After the Ball” (1903).
Tolstoy's journalism
Tolstoy’s journalism reflects his spiritual drama: depicting pictures of the idleness of the intelligentsia and social inequality, Lev Nikolayevich posed questions of faith and life to society and himself, criticized the institutions of the state, going so far as to deny art, science, marriage, court, and the achievements of civilization.
The new worldview is presented in “Confession” (1884), in the articles “So what should we do?”, “On hunger”, “What is art?”, “I cannot remain silent” and others. The ethical ideas of Christianity are understood in these works as the foundation of the brotherhood of man.
As part of a new worldview and a humanistic understanding of the teachings of Christ, Lev Nikolaevich spoke out, in particular, against the dogma of the church and criticized its rapprochement with the state, which led to him being officially excommunicated from the church in 1901. This caused a huge resonance.
Novel "Sunday"
Mine last novel Tolstoy wrote between 1889 and 1899. It embodies the entire range of problems that worried the writer during the years of his spiritual turning point. Dmitry Nekhlyudov, main character, is a person internally close to Tolstoy who goes through the path of moral purification in the work, ultimately leading him to comprehend the need for active good. The novel is built on a system of evaluative oppositions that reveal the unreasonableness of the structure of society (falsity social world and the beauty of nature, the falsehood of the educated population and the truth of the peasant world).
Last years of life
The life of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy in recent years was not easy. The spiritual turning point turned into a break with one’s environment and family discord. The refusal to own private property, for example, caused discontent among the writer’s family members, especially his wife. The personal drama experienced by Lev Nikolaevich was reflected in diary entries.
In the fall of 1910, at night, secretly from everyone, 82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, whose life dates were presented in this article, accompanied only by his attending physician D.P. Makovitsky, left the estate. The journey turned out to be too much for him: on the way, the writer fell ill and was forced to disembark at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last week of his life in a house that belonged to her boss. The whole country was following reports about his health at that time. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana; his death caused a huge public outcry.
Many contemporaries came to say goodbye to this great Russian writer.
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is one of the five most readable writers. His work made Russian literature recognizable abroad. Even if you haven’t read these works, you probably know Natasha Rostova, Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky at least from films or jokes. The biography of Lev Nikolaevich can be of interest to every person, because his personal life is always of interest famous person, parallels are drawn with his creative activity. Let's try to trace the life path of Leo Tolstoy.
The future classic came from a noble family known since the 14th century. Peter Andreevich Tolstoy, the writer’s ancestor on his father’s side, earned the favor of Peter I by investigating the case of his son, who was suspected of treason. Then Pert Andreevich headed the Secret Chancellery, and his career took off. Nikolai Ilyich, the father of the classic, received a good education. However, it was combined with unshakable principles that did not allow him to advance at court.
The fortune of the father of the future classic was upset due to the debts of his parent, and he married the middle-aged but wealthy Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. Despite the initial calculation, they were happy in marriage and had five children.
Childhood
Lev Nikolaevich was born fourth (there was also the youngest Maria and the elders Nikolai, Sergei and Dmitry), but after his birth he received little attention: his mother died two years after the birth of the writer; the father moved with the children to Moscow for a short time, but soon died too. The impressions from the trip were so strong that young Leva created his first essay, “The Kremlin.”
The children were raised by several guardians at once: first T.A. Ergolskaya and A. M. Osten-Sacken. A. M. Osten-Sacken died in 1840, and the children went to Kazan to live with P. I. Yushkova.
Boyhood
Yushkova’s house was secular and cheerful: receptions, evenings, external splendor, high society - all this was very important for the family. Tolstoy himself strived to shine in society, to be “comme il faut,” but shyness did not allow him to unfold. Real entertainment for Lev Nikolayevich was replaced by reflection and introspection.
The future classicist studied at home: first under the guidance of the German tutor Saint-Thomas, and then with the Frenchman Reselman. Following the example of the brothers, Lev decides to enter the Imperial Kazan University, where Kovalevsky and Lobachevsky worked. In 1844, Tolstoy began studying at the Faculty of Oriental Studies (the admissions committee was amazed by his knowledge of the “Turkish-Tatar language”), and later transferred to the Faculty of Law.
Youth
The young man had a conflict with his home history teacher, so the grades in the subject were unsatisfactory, and he had to take the course again at the university. In order to avoid repeating what had happened, Lev transferred to law school, but did not finish, left the university and went to Yasnaya Polyana, his parents’ estate. Here he is trying to run a household using new technologies, he tried, but was unsuccessful. In 1849, the writer went to Moscow.
During this period, keeping a diary begins; entries will continue until the death of the writer. They are the most important document; in Lev Nikolaevich’s diaries he describes the events of his life, and engages in introspection, and reasons. It also described the goals and rules that he tried to follow.
Success story
The creative world of Leo Tolstoy took shape in his adolescence, in his emerging need for constant psychoanalysis. Systematically, this quality was manifested in diary entries. It was as a result of constant self-analysis that Tolstoy’s famous “dialectics of the soul” appeared.
First works
The children's work was written in Moscow, and the real works were also written there. Tolstoy creates stories about gypsies, about his daily routine (unfinished manuscripts have been lost). In the early 50s, the story “Childhood” was also written.
Leo Tolstoy – participant in the Caucasian and Crimean wars. Military service gave the writer many new plots and emotions, described in the stories “Raid”, “Cutting Wood”, “Demoted”, and in the story “Cossacks”. “Childhood”, which brought fame, was also completed here. Impressions from the battle for Sevastopol helped write the series “ Sevastopol stories" But in 1856, Lev Nikolaevich left the service forever. The personal history of Leo Tolstoy taught him a lot: having seen enough bloodshed in the war, he realized the importance of peace and true values - family, marriage, his people. It is these thoughts that he will subsequently put into his works.
Confession
The story “Childhood” was created in the winter of 1850-51, and published a year later. This work and its sequels “Adolescence” (1854), “Youth” (1857) and “Youth” (never written) were supposed to form the novel “Four Epochs of Development” about spiritual formation person.
The trilogies tell about the life of Nikolenka Irtenyev. He has parents, an older brother Volodya and a sister Lyubochka, he is happy in his home world, but suddenly the father announces his decision to move to Moscow, Nikolenka and Volodya go with him. Their mother dies just as unexpectedly. A severe blow of fate ends childhood. In adolescence, the hero conflicts with others and with himself, trying to comprehend himself in this world. Nikolenka’s grandmother dies, he not only grieves for her, but also bitterly notes that some people only care about her inheritance. During the same period, the hero begins to prepare for university and meets Dmitry Nekhlyudov. Having entered the university, he feels like an adult and rushes into the pool of secular pleasures. This pastime leaves no time for studying, the hero fails his exams. This event led him to the idea that the chosen path was wrong, leading to self-improvement.
Personal life
It’s always difficult for writers’ families: creative person may be impossible in everyday life, and besides, he always has no time for earthly things, he is engulfed in new ideas. What was life like for Leo Tolstoy’s family?
Wife
Sofya Andreevna Bers was born into a doctor's family, she was smart, educated, simple. The writer met his future wife when he was 34 and she was 18. The clear, bright and pure girl attracted the experienced Lev Nikolaevich, who had already seen a lot and was ashamed of his past.
After the wedding, the Tolstoys began to live in Yasnaya Polyana, where Sofya Andreevna took care of the house, children and helped her husband in all matters: she rewrote manuscripts, published works, was a secretary and translator. After the opening of a hospital in Yasnaya Polyana, she helped there too, examining patients. Tolstoy’s family relied on her care, because it was she who carried out all the economic activities.
During a spiritual crisis, Tolstoy came up with a special charter of life and decided to renounce his property, depriving his children of his fortune. Sofya Andreevna opposed this, family life gave a crack. However, Lev Nikolaevich has only one wife, and she made a great contribution to his work. He had an ambivalent attitude towards her: on the one hand, he respected and idolized her, on the other, he blamed her for being more involved in material matters than spiritual ones. This conflict was continued in his prose. For example, in the novel “War and Peace” the surname negative hero, angry, indifferent and obsessed with hoarding, - Berg, which is very consonant with maiden name wives.
Children
Leo Tolstoy had 13 children, 9 boys and 4 girls, but five of them died in childhood. The image of the great father lived in his children, all of them were connected with his work.
Sergei was involved in his father’s work (he founded a museum, commented on works), and also became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Tatyana was a follower of her father's teachings and also became a writer. Ilya led a chaotic life: he dropped out of school, did not find a suitable job, and after the revolution he emigrated to the USA, where he lectured on the worldview of Lev Nikolaevich. Leo, too, at first followed the ideas of Tolstoyism, but later became a monarchist, so he also emigrated and was engaged in creativity. Maria shared her father’s ideas, abandoned the light and was engaged in educational work. Andrey highly valued his noble origin, participated in the Russo-Japanese War, then stole his wife from her boss, and soon died suddenly. Mikhail was musical, but became a military man and wrote memoirs about life in Yasnaya Polyana. Alexandra helped her father in all matters, then became the keeper of his museum, but due to emigration, her achievements in Soviet era tried to forget.
Creative crisis
In the second half of the 60s and early 70s, Tolstoy experienced a painful spiritual crisis. The writer was accompanied for several years panic attacks, thoughts of suicide, fear of death. Lev Nikolaevich could not find the answer to the questions of existence that tormented him anywhere, and he created his own philosophical teaching.
Change of worldview
The path to victory over the crisis was unusual: Leo Tolstoy created his own moral teaching. His thoughts were expressed in books and articles: “Confession”, “So what should we do”, “What is art”, “I cannot remain silent”.
The writer’s teaching was anti-Orthodox in nature, since Orthodoxy, according to Lev Nikolaevich, distorted the essence of the commandments, its dogmas are not acceptable from a moral point of view, and were imposed by centuries-old traditions forcibly instilled in the Russian people. Tolstoyism found a response among the common people and the intelligentsia; pilgrims from different classes for advice. The Church reacted sharply to the spread of Tolstoyism: in 1901 the writer was excommunicated from it.
Tolstoyism
Morality, ethics and philosophy are combined in Tolstoy's teachings. God is the best in man, his moral center. That is why one cannot follow dogmas and justify any violence (which the Church did, according to the author of the teaching). The brotherhood of all people and victory over world evil are the ultimate goals of humanity, which can be achieved through self-improvement of each of us.
Lev Nikolaevich took a different look not only at his personal life, but also at his work. Only the common people are close to the truth, and art should only separate good and evil. And this role is fulfilled by one folk art. This leads Tolstoy to abandon his past works and simplify his new works as much as possible with the addition of edifying content (“Kholstomer”, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “The Master and the Worker”, “Resurrection”).
Death
Since the early 80s family relationships aggravated: the writer wants to give up the copyright on his books, his property and distribute everything to the poor. The wife sharply opposed it, promising to accuse her husband of being crazy. Tolstoy realized that the problem could not be solved peacefully, so he decided to leave his home, go abroad and become a peasant.
Accompanied by Dr. D.P. Makovitsky, the writer left the estate (later his daughter Alexandra joined). However, the writer’s plans were not destined to come true. Tolstoy's temperature rose and he stopped at the head of the Astapovo station. After ten days of illness, the writer died.
Creative heritage
Researchers distinguish three periods in the work of Leo Tolstoy:
- Creativity of the 50s (“young Tolstoy”)- during this period, the writer’s style, his famous “dialectics of the soul” takes shape, he accumulates impressions, and helps with this military service.
- Creativity of the 60s-70s (classical period)- it was at this time that the most famous works writer.
- 1880-1910 (Tolstoyan period)- bear the imprint of a spiritual revolution: renunciation of past creativity, new spiritual principles and problems. The style is simplified, as are the plots of the works.
Interesting? Save it on your wall!
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (1828 - 1910) is one of the most famous Russian writers and thinkers, one of the greatest writers in the world, educator, publicist and religious thinker.
Brief biography of Tolstoy
Write short biography of Tolstoy quite difficult, since he lived a long and very varied life.
In principle, all short biographies can be called “short” only conditionally. Nevertheless, we will try to convey in a concise form the main points of the biography of Leo Tolstoy.
Childhood and youth
The future writer was born in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, into a wealthy aristocratic family. He entered Kazan University, but then left it.
At the age of 23 he went to war with Chechnya and Dagestan. Here he began to write the trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”.
In the Caucasus he took part in hostilities as an artillery officer. During the Crimean War he went to Sevastopol, where he continued to fight. After the end of the war, he went to St. Petersburg and published “Sevastopol Stories” in the Sovremennik magazine, which clearly reflected his outstanding writing talent.
In 1857 Tolstoy went on a trip to Europe. From his biography it clearly follows that this trip disappointed the thinker.
From 1853 to 1863 wrote the story “Cossacks”, after which he decided to interrupt literary activity and become a landowner, doing educational work in the village. For this purpose, he went to Yasnaya Polyana, where he opened a school for peasant children and created his own system of pedagogy.
Tolstoy's creativity
In 1863-1869 he wrote the fundamental work “War and Peace”. It was this work that brought him worldwide fame. In 1873-1877 the novel “Anna Karenina” was published.
Portrait of Leo Tolstoy
During these same years, the writer’s worldview was fully formed, which later resulted in the religious movement “Tolstoyism.” Its essence is indicated in the works: “Confession”, “What is my faith?” and "Kreutzer Sonata".
From Tolstoy’s biography it is clearly clear that the doctrine of “Tolstoyism” is set forth in the philosophical and religious works “Study of Dogmatic Theology”, “Connection and Translation of the Four Gospels”. The main emphasis in these works is on the moral improvement of man, the exposure of evil and non-resistance to evil through violence.
Later, a duology was published: the drama “The Power of Darkness” and the comedy “The Fruits of Enlightenment,” then a series of stories and parables about the laws of existence.
Admirers of the writer’s work came to Yasnaya Polyana from all over Russia and the world, whom they treated as a spiritual mentor. In 1899 the novel “Resurrection” was published.
The writer’s latest works are the stories “Father Sergius”, “After the Ball”, “ Posthumous notes Elder Fyodor Kuzmich" and the drama "The Living Corpse".
Tolstoy and the church
Tolstoy's confessional journalism gives a detailed idea of his spiritual drama: painting pictures of social inequality and idleness of the educated strata, Tolstoy harshly posed questions of the meaning of life and faith to society, criticized everything state institutions, going so far as to deny science, art, court, marriage, and the achievements of civilization.
Tolstoy's social declaration is based on the idea of Christianity as a moral teaching, and he interpreted the ethical ideas of Christianity in a humanistic manner, as the basis of the universal brotherhood of man.
In a short biography of Tolstoy, there is no point in mentioning the writer’s numerous harsh statements about the church, but they can be easily found in various sources.
In 1901, a resolution of the Holy Governing Synod was issued, which officially announced that Count Leo Tolstoy was no longer a member Orthodox Church, since his (publicly expressed) beliefs are incompatible with such membership.
This caused an enormous public outcry, since Tolstoy’s popular authority was extremely great, although everyone was well aware of the writer’s critical mood in relation to the Christian church.
Last days and death
On October 28, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana from his family, fell ill on the way and was forced to get off the train at the small Astapovo Ryazan-Uralskaya railway station railway.
Here, seven days later, in the house of the station master, he died at the age of 82.
We hope that this short biography of Tolstoy will interest you. further study his creative heritage. And lastly: you may not know this, but in mathematics there is a riddle of Tolstoy, the author of which is himself great writer. We highly recommend checking it out.
If you like short biographies of great people, subscribe to InFAK.ru - it’s always interesting with us!
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy- outstanding Russian prose writer, playwright and public figure. Born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate Tula region. On his mother’s side, the writer belonged to the eminent family of Princes Volkonsky, and on his father’s side, to the ancient family of Count Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy's great-great-grandfather, grandfather and father were military men. Representatives ancient family Even under Ivan the Terrible, the Tolstoys served as governors in many cities of Rus'.
The writer’s maternal grandfather, “descendant of Rurik,” Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, was enlisted in military service at the age of seven. He was a participant in the Russian-Turkish war and retired with the rank of general-in-chief. The writer's paternal grandfather, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, served in the navy and then in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. The writer's father, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, voluntarily entered military service at the age of seventeen. He participated in Patriotic War 1812, was captured by the French and was liberated by Russian troops who entered Paris after the defeat of Napoleon's army. On his mother's side, Tolstoy was related to the Pushkins. Their common ancestor was boyar I.M. Golovin, an associate of Peter I, who studied shipbuilding with him. One of his daughters is the poet's great-grandmother, the other is the great-grandmother of Tolstoy's mother. Thus, Pushkin was Tolstoy’s fourth cousin.
The writer's childhood took place in Yasnaya Polyana - an ancient family estate. Tolstoy’s interest in history and literature arose in his childhood: while living in the village, he saw how the life of the working people proceeded, from him he heard a lot folk tales, epics, songs, legends. The life of the people, their work, interests and views, oral creativity- everything living and wise - Yasnaya Polyana revealed to Tolstoy.
Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya, the writer’s mother, was a kind and sympathetic person, an intelligent and educated woman: she knew French, German, English and Italian, played the piano, and studied painting. Tolstoy was not even two years old when his mother died. The writer did not remember her, but he heard so much about her from those around him that he clearly and vividly imagined her appearance and character.
Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, their father, was loved and appreciated by children for his humane attitude towards serfs. In addition to taking care of the house and children, he read a lot. During his life, Nikolai Ilyich collected a rich library, consisting of rare books of French classics, historical and natural history works at that time. It was he who first noticed his inclination youngest son to a living perception of the artistic word.
When Tolstoy was nine years old, his father took him to Moscow for the first time. The first impressions of Lev Nikolaevich’s Moscow life served as the basis for many paintings, scenes and episodes of the hero’s life in Moscow Tolstoy's trilogy "Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth". Young Tolstoy saw not only the open side of big city life, but also some hidden, shadow sides. With his first stay in Moscow, the writer connected the end of the earliest period of his life, childhood, and the transition to adolescence. The first period of Tolstoy's Moscow life did not last long. In the summer of 1837, while traveling to Tula on business, his father died suddenly. Soon after the death of his father, Tolstoy and his sister and brothers had to endure a new misfortune: their grandmother, whom everyone close to them considered the head of the family, died. The sudden death of her son was a terrible blow for her and less than a year later it took her to the grave. A few years later, the first guardian of the orphaned Tolstoy children, their father’s sister, Alexandra Ilyinichna Osten-Saken, died. Ten-year-old Lev, his three brothers and sister were taken to Kazan, where their new guardian, Aunt Pelageya Ilyinichna Yushkova, lived.
Tolstoy wrote about his second guardian as a “kind and very pious” woman, but at the same time very “frivolous and vain.” According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Pelageya Ilyinichna did not enjoy authority with Tolstoy and his brothers, therefore the move to Kazan is considered to be a new stage in the writer’s life: his upbringing ended, a period of independent life began.
Tolstoy lived in Kazan for more than six years. It was the time of formation of his character and choice life path. Living with his brothers and sister with Pelageya Ilyinichna, young Tolstoy spent two years preparing to enter Kazan University. Having decided to enter the eastern department of the university, special attention he devoted himself to preparing for exams in foreign languages. In exams in mathematics and Russian literature, Tolstoy received fours, and in foreign languages - fives. Lev Nikolayevich failed in the exams in history and geography - he received unsatisfactory grades.
Failure in the entrance exams served as a serious lesson for Tolstoy. He devoted the entire summer to a thorough study of history and geography, passed additional exams on them, and in September 1844 he was enrolled in the first year of the eastern department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Kazan University in the category of Arabic-Turkish literature. However, Tolstoy was not interested in studying languages, and after the summer holidays in Yasnaya Polyana he transferred from the Faculty of Oriental Studies to the Faculty of Law.
But in the future, university studies did not awaken Lev Nikolaevich’s interest in the sciences he was studying. Most of For a time, he independently studied philosophy, compiled “Rules of Life” and carefully wrote notes in his diary. By the end of the third year of studies, Tolstoy was finally convinced that the then university order only interfered with independent creative work, and he decided to leave the university. However, he needed a university diploma to obtain the license to enter the service. And in order to receive a diploma, Tolstoy passed university exams as an external student, spending two years of living in the village preparing for them. Having received university documents from the chancellery at the end of April 1847, former student Tolstoy left Kazan.
After leaving the university, Tolstoy again went to Yasnaya Polyana, and then to Moscow. Here at the end of 1850 he began literary creativity. At this time, he decided to write two stories, but did not finish either of them. In the spring of 1851, Lev Nikolaevich, together with his older brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, who served in the army as an artillery officer, arrived in the Caucasus. Here Tolstoy lived for almost three years, being mainly in the village of Starogladkovskaya, located on the left bank of the Terek. From here he traveled to Kizlyar, Tiflis, Vladikavkaz, and visited many villages and villages.
It began in the Caucasus Tolstoy's military service. He took part in military operations of Russian troops. Tolstoy's impressions and observations are reflected in his stories “The Raid”, “Cutting Wood”, “Demoted”, and in the story “Cossacks”. Later, turning to the memories of this period of his life, Tolstoy created the story “Hadji Murat”. In March 1854, Tolstoy arrived in Bucharest, where the office of the chief of artillery troops was located. From here, as a staff officer, he traveled throughout Moldavia, Wallachia and Bessarabia.
In the spring and summer of 1854, the writer took part in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Silistria. However, the main place of hostilities at this time was the Crimean Peninsula. Here Russian troops under the leadership of V.A. Kornilov and P.S. Nakhimov heroically defended Sevastopol for eleven months, besieged by Turkish and Anglo-French troops. Participation in the Crimean War - important stage in Tolstoy's life. Here he got to know ordinary Russian soldiers, sailors, and residents of Sevastopol closely, and sought to understand the source of the heroism of the city’s defenders, to understand the special character traits inherent in the defender of the Fatherland. Tolstoy himself showed bravery and courage in the defense of Sevastopol.
In November 1855, Tolstoy left Sevastopol for St. Petersburg. By this time he had already earned recognition in advanced literary circles. During this period, attention public life Russia was centered around the issue of serfdom. Tolstoy's stories of this time ("Morning of the Landowner", "Polikushka", etc.) are also devoted to this problem.
In 1857 the writer committed foreign travel. He visited France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Traveling around different cities, the writer became acquainted with great interest in the culture and social system of Western European countries. Much of what he saw was subsequently reflected in his work. In 1860, Tolstoy made another trip abroad. A year earlier, in Yasnaya Polyana, he opened a school for children. Traveling through the cities of Germany, France, Switzerland, England and Belgium, the writer visited schools and studied the features of public education. In most of the schools that Tolstoy visited, caning discipline was in effect and corporal punishment was used. Returning to Russia and visiting a number of schools, Tolstoy discovered that many teaching methods that were in effect in Western European countries, particularly Germany, had penetrated into Russian schools. At this time, Lev Nikolaevich wrote a number of articles in which he criticized the public education system both in Russia and in Western European countries.
Arriving home after a trip abroad, Tolstoy devoted himself to working at school and publishing the pedagogical magazine Yasnaya Polyana. The school founded by the writer was located not far from his home - in an outbuilding that has survived to this day. In the early 70s, Tolstoy compiled and published a number of textbooks for primary school: “ABC”, “Arithmetic”, four “Books to read”. More than one generation of children learned from these books. The stories from them are read with enthusiasm by children even today.
In 1862, when Tolstoy was away, landowners arrived in Yasnaya Polyana and searched the writer’s house. In 1861, the Tsar's manifesto announced the abolition of serfdom. During the implementation of the reform, disputes broke out between landowners and peasants, the settlement of which was entrusted to the so-called peace mediators. Tolstoy was appointed as a peace mediator in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province. When examining controversial cases between nobles and peasants, the writer most often took a position in favor of the peasantry, which caused discontent among the nobles. This was the reason for the search. Because of this, Tolstoy had to stop working as a peace mediator, close the school in Yasnaya Polyana and refuse to publish a pedagogical magazine.
In 1862 Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna Bers, daughter of a Moscow doctor. Arriving with her husband in Yasnaya Polyana, Sofya Andreevna tried with all her might to create an environment on the estate in which nothing would distract the writer from his hard work. In the 60s, Tolstoy led a solitary life, completely devoting himself to work on War and Peace.
At the end of the epic War and Peace, Tolstoy decided to write a new work - a novel about the era of Peter I. However, social events in Russia caused by the abolition of serfdom so captured the writer that he left work on historical novel and began to create a new work, which reflected the post-reform life of Russia. This is how the novel Anna Karenina appeared, to which Tolstoy devoted four years to work.
In the early 80s, Tolstoy moved with his family to Moscow to educate his growing children. Here the writer, well acquainted with rural poverty, witnessed urban poverty. In the early 90s of the 19th century, almost half of the central provinces of the country were gripped by famine, and Tolstoy joined the fight against the national disaster. Thanks to his appeal, the collection of donations, purchase and delivery of food to the villages was launched. At this time, under the leadership of Tolstoy, about two hundred free canteens were opened in the villages of the Tula and Ryazan provinces for the starving population. A number of articles written by Tolstoy about the famine date back to the same period, in which the writer truthfully depicted the plight of the people and condemned the policies of the ruling classes.
In the mid-80s Tolstoy wrote drama "The Power of Darkness", which depicts the death of the old foundations of patriarchal-peasant Russia, and the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, dedicated to fate a person who only before death realized the emptiness and meaninglessness of his life. In 1890, Tolstoy wrote the comedy “The Fruits of Enlightenment,” which shows the true situation of the peasantry after the abolition of serfdom. In the early 90s it was created novel "Sunday", on which the writer worked intermittently for ten years. In all his works relating to this period of creativity, Tolstoy openly shows whom he sympathizes with and whom he condemns; depicts the hypocrisy and insignificance of the “masters of life.”
The novel “Sunday” was subject to censorship more than other works of Tolstoy. Most of the novel's chapters were released or abridged. Ruling circles launched an active policy against the writer. Fearing popular outrage, the authorities did not dare to use open repression against Tolstoy. With the consent of the Tsar and at the insistence of the Chief Prosecutor Holy Synod Pobedonostsev Synod adopted a resolution to excommunicate Tolstoy from the church. The writer was under police surveillance. The world community was outraged by the persecution of Lev Nikolaevich. The peasantry, advanced intelligentsia and ordinary people were on the side of the writer and sought to express their respect and support to him. The love and sympathy of the people served as reliable support for the writer in the years when the reaction sought to silence him.
However, despite all the efforts of reactionary circles, every year Tolstoy denounced the noble-bourgeois society more sharply and boldly and openly opposed the autocracy. Works of this period ( “After the Ball”, “For What?”, “Hadji Murat”, “Living Corpse”) are imbued with deep hatred of the royal power, the limited and ambitious ruler. In journalistic articles dating back to this time, the writer sharply condemned the instigators of wars and called for a peaceful resolution of all disputes and conflicts.
In 1901-1902, Tolstoy suffered serious illness. At the insistence of doctors, the writer had to go to Crimea, where he spent more than six months.
In Crimea, he met with writers, artists, artists: Chekhov, Korolenko, Gorky, Chaliapin, etc. When Tolstoy returned home, hundreds warmly greeted him at the stations ordinary people. In the fall of 1909, the writer made his last trip to Moscow.
In Tolstoy's diaries and letters last decades His life was reflected by difficult experiences that were caused by the writer’s discord with his family. Tolstoy wanted to transfer the land that belonged to him to the peasants and wanted his works to be published freely and free of charge by anyone who wanted. The writer’s family opposed this, not wanting to give up either the rights to the land or the rights to the works. The old landowner way of life, preserved in Yasnaya Polyana, weighed heavily on Tolstoy.
In the summer of 1881, Tolstoy made his first attempt to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but a feeling of pity for his wife and children forced him to return. Several more attempts by the writer to leave his native estate ended with the same result. On October 28, 1910, secretly from his family, he left Yasnaya Polyana forever, deciding to go south and spend the rest of his life in peasant hut, among the ordinary Russian people. However, on the way, Tolstoy became seriously ill and was forced to get off the train at the small Astapovo station. The great writer spent the last seven days of his life in the house of the station master. News of the death of one of the outstanding thinkers, a wonderful writer, a great humanist, deeply struck the hearts of all the leading people of this time. Creative heritage Tolstoy is of great importance for world literature. Over the years, interest in the writer’s work does not wane, but, on the contrary, grows. As A. France rightly noted: “With his life he proclaims sincerity, directness, purposefulness, firmness, calm and constant heroism, he teaches that one must be truthful and one must be strong... It is precisely because he was full of strength that he always was truthful!”
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (28.08. (09.09.) 1828 - 07 (20).11.1910)
Russian writer, philosopher. Born in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, into a wealthy aristocratic family. He entered Kazan University, but then left it. At the age of 23 he went to war with Chechnya and Dagestan. Here he began to write the trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”.
In the Caucasus he took part in hostilities as an artillery officer. During the Crimean War he went to Sevastopol, where he continued to fight. After the end of the war, he went to St. Petersburg and published “Sevastopol Stories” in the Sovremennik magazine, which clearly reflected his outstanding writing talent. In 1857, Tolstoy went on a trip to Europe, which disappointed him.
From 1853 to 1863 wrote the story “Cossacks”, after which he decided to interrupt his literary activity and become a landowner, doing educational work in the village. For this purpose, he went to Yasnaya Polyana, where he opened a school for peasant children and created his own system of pedagogy.
In 1863-1869. wrote his fundamental work “War and Peace”. In 1873-1877. created the novel Anna Karenina. During these same years, the writer’s worldview, known as Tolstoyism, was fully formed, the essence of which is visible in the works: “Confession”, “What is my faith?”, “The Kreutzer Sonata”.
The teaching is set forth in the philosophical and religious works “Study of Dogmatic Theology”, “Connection and Translation of the Four Gospels”, where the main emphasis is on the moral improvement of man, the denunciation of evil, and non-resistance to evil through violence.
Later, a duology was published: the drama “The Power of Darkness” and the comedy “The Fruits of Enlightenment,” then a series of stories and parables about the laws of existence.
Admirers of the writer’s work came to Yasnaya Polyana from all over Russia and the world, whom they treated as a spiritual mentor. In 1899, the novel “Resurrection” was published.
The writer's latest works are the stories "Father Sergius", "After the Ball", "Posthumous Notes of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich" and the drama "The Living Corpse".
Tolstoy's confessional journalism gives a detailed idea of his spiritual drama: painting pictures of social inequality and idleness of the educated strata, Tolstoy harshly posed questions of the meaning of life and faith to society, criticized all state institutions, going so far as to deny science, art, court, marriage, achievements of civilization. Tolstoy's social declaration is based on the idea of Christianity as a moral teaching, and he interpreted the ethical ideas of Christianity in a humanistic manner, as the basis of the universal brotherhood of man. In 1901 the reaction of the Synod followed: worldwide famous writer was officially excommunicated from the church, which caused enormous public outcry.
On October 28, 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana from his family, fell ill on the way and was forced to get off the train at the small Astapovo railway station of the Ryazan-Ural Railway. Here, in the station master's house, he spent the last seven days of his life.
