Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's mother years of life. Expert assessment of individual statements by Tolstoy. Film adaptations of his works

Tolstoy Nikolai Ilyich (1794-1837) - Tolstoy’s father, born on June 26, 1794. “The father was of average height, a well-built, lively sanguine man, with a pleasant face and always sad eyes,” Tolstoy wrote about him in “Memoirs.” He mentioned other characteristics of his father, who had a “sanguine red neck,” a “cheerful, quick step,” a “cheerful, gentle voice,” “kind, beautiful eyes,” and “graceful, courageous movements.”

He was the only son in a loving patriarchal family, where children and parents adored each other, where besides him, two more daughters grew up, Polina and Alina (the hunchbacked brother Ilya died in early childhood). Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy was born on June 26, 1795. As a five-year-old boy, his father enlisted with the rank of provincial registrar in the Kremlin Building Expedition, which was in charge of the construction and maintenance of buildings in the Kremlin and all the imperial palaces in Moscow and the Moscow region. At the age of 15, Nikolai Ilyich was already a collegiate registrar, and at the age of 16 he became provincial secretary. Such a rapid career in the civil service was interrupted Patriotic War 1812.

In June 1812, at the age of seventeen, he voluntarily joined the 3rd Ukrainian Cossack regular regiment as a cornet; on July 28, 1812 he was transferred to the Moscow Hussar Regiment. On December 17, 1812, the Saltykovsky regiment was merged into the Irkutsk Dragoons and renamed the Hussars. On December 28, 1812, he wrote to his parents from Grodno: “Having never been in battle before and having no hope of being in it soon, I saw all the terrible things that war has; I saw places for ten miles covered with bodies; you can’t imagine how many of them there are along the road from Smolensk to the town of Krasnoye.”

From his formal list we learn that “Count Nikolai Ilyin son of Tolstoy” after the expulsion of Napoleon’s army from Russia “was on campaigns on April 1813 from the 2nd in the Principality of Warsaw, Silesia and Saxony, from there during the retreat of the army to the city of Lucen; from April 21 in rearguard affairs, on the 26th and 27th when holding the enemy near the city of Dresden and when crossing the Elbe River; for the distinction rendered in these matters he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant; on May 8th and 9th he was in battles and skirmishes at the General Battle of the city of Bautzen and at the approach to the Schweidnets fortress; at the end of the truce, he was pursued to the city of Teplitz, on August 14, with a strong reconnaissance and the city of Dresden, then to the fortress of Koenigsstein and during the blockade thereof; for the distinction rendered in these matters he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow; October 2, 4, 6 and 7 in the General Battle of Leipzig, for distinction in this he was awarded the rank of Headquarters Captain; then in pursuit of the enemy to the city of Erfurt and during the blockade thereof until the 17th of October; from there on a campaign to the city of Göttingen, from there he was sent by the General of the Cavalry Count Wittgenstein as a courier with the necessary dispatches to the Minister of War in the city of St. Petersburg and, returning back to the army, was captured by the enemy at the town of St. Obie, from which when captured the city of Paris was liberated. He can read and write in Russian, French, German, knows mathematics, geography, and has never been fined.”

General Wittgenstein’s adjutant in 1813 was Lieutenant Pavel Ivanovich Pestel, the future Decembrist, author of the famous “Russian Truth,” and leader of the Southern Society. Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy was a member of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Gorchakov, commander of the 1st Infantry Corps in Wittgenstein’s group of troops. Both Tolstoy and Pestel were awarded for the battles near Leipzig, Pestel was seriously wounded in this battle, therefore, obviously, it was not P.I. who was sent with reports to St. Petersburg. Pestel, and Gorchakov’s adjutant N.I. Tolstoy.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy’s father was not a member of a secret society, but was closely acquainted with many Decembrists: S.P. Trubetskoy, S.G. Volkonsky, A.I. Odoevsky, Z.G. Chernyshev, F.P. Tolstoy.

Cornet Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy was enrolled in the unit on December 17, 1812 - following the cornet, future diplomat, poet, author of the comedy “Woe from Wit” Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov.

Returning to Russia, on August 8, 1814, Tolstoy was transferred to a cavalry regiment and appointed adjutant to the corps commander, Lieutenant General Prince Andrei Ivanovich Gorchakov, his mother’s second cousin.

On December 11, 1817, Tolstoy was transferred with the rank of major to the Prince of Orange's hussar regiment. The reasons for this translation are curious. A report addressed to Alexander I from the commander-in-chief of the second army, General Bennigsen, has been preserved that the corps commander, Lieutenant General Prince Gorchakov, asks to transfer his adjutant, staff captain Count Tolstoy, to the hussar regiment for the reason that Tolstoy, “having a zealous desire to continue serving your Imperial Majesty at the front, not due to his insufficient condition, does not have the opportunity to continue serving in the cavalry regiment.” This report, dated November 15, 1817, indicates the cramped financial situation of N.I. Tolstoy.

On March 14, 1819, Tolstoy was dismissed “due to illness” with the rank of lieutenant colonel and went to his parents in Kazan, where his father, Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy, who was already completely bankrupt, was governor. In 1821, after the death of his father, having arrived with his mother Pelageya Nikolaevna from Kazan to Moscow, Nikolai Ilyich entered service in the Military Orphan Department at the Moscow Commandant's Office.

Nikolai was left with a family in his arms that required care and attention: his old mother, accustomed to luxury, his sister Alina with her adopted daughter, and his cousin, his mother’s pupil, Tatyana Yergolskaya. The latter was the same age as Nikolai; from childhood they grew up and were raised together, experiencing a romantic feeling of falling in love with each other. After the death of his father, huge debts remained; on December 15, 1821, Nikolai was forced to enlist in the very insignificant position of caretaker assistant (educator) in the Moscow Military Orphan Department under the Moscow Commandant's Office.

In 1822, Count N.I. Tolstoy wooed a wealthy heiress, Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, who accepted his proposal. On July 9, 1822, in the church of the village of Yaseneva near the estate of the Trubetskoy princes of Znamensky, Count N.I. Tolstoy married Princess M.N. Volkonskaya, daughter of Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky and Ekaterina Dmitrievna Trubetskoy. “A cheerful, brilliant young man with a name and connections” (he was 28 years old) became the husband of the not very beautiful, four years older than him, Princess Marya, who had a very significant fortune. It was a classic marriage of convenience, which turned out to be a marriage of love. The fat ones immediately left for Yasnaya Polyana to begin that family life, closed in a circle of household chores and joys. In 1823, the young Tolstoys had their first son, Nikolai. After several unsuccessful births, Sergei was born in 1826, Dmitry in 1827, and Lev in 1828. The only daughter, Maria, was born in 1830.

Tolstoy recalled his father’s affairs in Yasnaya Polyana: “His occupation consisted of farming and, most importantly, processes, of which everyone had a lot at that time and, it seems, especially a lot of his father, who had to unravel the affairs of his grandfather. These processes forced my father to often leave home. In addition, he often left for hunting - both for guns and for hounds.” In addition to housekeeping (his father completed the large house started by his grandfather Volkonsky and planted a garden), he took care of the children and read a lot, collecting a library in Yasnaya Polyana that consisted of French classics, historical and natural science works (he even brought several dozen books from Paris).

The fat people lived on the estate summer and winter, without moving to the city, leading a very secluded lifestyle. Later, when creating the images of the heroes of “War and Peace”, Princess Marya and Nikolai Rostov, the writer used some facts from the life of his father and mother. Many features of the appearance and character of Tolstoy’s father are captured not only in “War and Peace”, but also in the trilogy “Childhood. Adolescence. Youth" and in the early manuscript of the trilogy, which is published under the title "Four Epochs of Development."

In 1829 N.I. Tolstoy bought Nikolskoye-Vyazemskoye and in 1836 built a stone church here.

N.I. Tolstoy died suddenly on July 21, 1837 in Tula and was buried next to his wife in the family crypt at the Kochakovsky cemetery.

The youngest son Lev was almost 9 years old when his father died, and he remembered his father’s funny jokes and stories at lunch and dinner, when his grandmother, aunts, and children laughed while listening to him. The children looked with interest at the drawings that he made for them and which seemed to them “the height of perfection.” Lyovochka remembered his father’s preparations for hunting, general walks around Yasnaya Polyana. I remember how in the evenings the children came to their father’s office to play or say goodbye before going to bed, how he caressed them and sometimes, to their great joy, let them sit behind him on the leather sofa, while continuing to read or talk with the clerk.

Lyovochka, with special tenderness, saying goodbye to his father in the evening, kissed “his white, sinewy hand” and was “touchingly happy” when his father caressed him. “I loved my father very much, but I did not yet know how strong my love for him was until he died.”

Lua error in Module:CategoryForProfession on line 52: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).

Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya
Maria Volkonskaya
Maria Volkonskaya in her youth (1800s) Maria Volkonskaya in her youth (1800s)

Birth name:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Type of activity:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Date of birth:
Mother:	Ekaterina Dmitrievna Trubetskaya
Spouse:
Spouse:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Children:	4 sons and daughter
Awards and prizes:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Autograph:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Website:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Miscellaneous:	Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Wikidata on line 170: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value).
[[Lua error in Module:Wikidata/Interproject on line 17: attempt to index field "wikibase" (a nil value). \|Works]] in Wikisource

Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, married countess Fat(November 10, 1790 - August 4, 1830) - mother of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

Maria Nikolaevna's outward reticence and her father's caustic disposition scared potential suitors away from the family, and by the age of 30, the princess had practically resigned herself to the fate of an old maid. She had large features, which Leo Tolstoy inherited, and, in his opinion, she was “not pretty.”

When Nikolai Sergeevich unexpectedly died in 1821, it was a big blow for his only daughter and heir. Immediately upon entering into inheritance rights, Maria Nikolaevna gave 75,000 rubles to her companion Miss Hanessen and arranged her wedding with her cousin Mikhail Volkonsky.

This behavior of a lonely relative worried the Volkonskys and Trubetskoys, who began to bother about her marriage. The wife of Prince Ivan Trubetskoy arranged her marriage with Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, a bankrupt representative of a good family. A. Ya. Bulgakov wrote from Moscow in May 1822:

Princess Volkonskaya, daughter of the late Nick. Sergeevich with large eyebrows, an old girl, bad-looking and who, not hoping for the sweetness of marriage, gave away part of her estate to an Englishwoman who lived with her, now regrets her generosity, being engaged to Count Tolstoy.

Countess Tolstaya became friends with her husband's second cousin, Tatyana Ergolskaya, and regularly corresponded with her. Judging by the letters, she was immersed in raising children and kept a diary of raising her eldest son Nikolenka. According to Lev Nikolaevich, his mother “told fairy tales excellently; if this happened in the dark, she was shy in the light.”

Six months after the birth of her daughter, Maria Nikolaevna died of a “nervous fever” that lasted several days. She was buried at the Tolstoy family necropolis at St. Nicholas Church in the village of Kochaki. Daughter Maria said that soon after her birth her mother received a head injury:

She had a swing, she always asked to be swung higher. Once she was rocked very strongly, the board fell off and hit her in the head. After that she always had a headache.<…>The mother died of brain inflammation. She suddenly began to say God knows what, she was sitting reading a book - the book was turned upside down.

Although Lev Nikolaevich did not remember his mother, he idolized her and studied her diaries in detail. According to the recollections of his wife, Tolstoy spent every morning in the lower garden of Yasnaya Polyana - where Maria Nikolaevna often rested and many trees were planted by herself. The bright image of the mother is reflected in Tolstoy’s story “Childhood”. In many ways, Tolstoy’s mother became the prototype of Princess Marya Bolkonskaya from the novel “War and Peace”.

Write a review of the article "Tolstaya, Maria Nikolaevna (1790)"

Notes

An excerpt characterizing Tolstaya, Maria Nikolaevna (1790)

“Oh, I think they’re not going to kill me so easily...” the cardinal smiled bitterly. – But even before death, in the basements of Caraffa, they make you pray for her... Isn’t that right? Go away, Madonna! I'll try to survive. And I will remember you with gratitude...
I sadly looked around the stone “cell”, suddenly remembering with a shudder the dead Girolamo hanging on the wall... How long will all this horror continue?!.. Will I really not find a way to destroy Caraffa, and innocent lives will still end one after the other? another, destroyed by him with impunity?..
Someone's footsteps were heard in the corridor. A moment later the door opened with a creak - Caraffa was standing on the threshold....
His eyes sparkled with lightning. Apparently, one of the diligent servants immediately reported that I had gone to the cellars and now “Holiness” was clearly going, instead of me, to take out his anger on the unfortunate cardinal, who was sitting helplessly next to me...
– Congratulations, Madonna! You obviously liked this place, even if you come back here alone! - Well, let me give you pleasure - we will now show you a cute performance! – and smiling contentedly, he sat down in his usual large chair, intending to enjoy the upcoming “spectacle”...
I felt dizzy from hatred... Why?!.. Well, why did this monster think that he owned any human life, with every right to take it away whenever he pleases?..
“Your Holiness, is it really possible that among the faithful servants of your beloved church there are heretics?..,” I asked, barely restraining my indignation, mockingly.
- Oh, in in this case This is just serious disobedience, Isidora. There is no smell of heresy here. I just don't like it when my orders aren't followed. And every disobedience needs little lesson for the future, isn’t it, my dear Morone?.. I think you agree with me on this?
Morone!!! Well, of course! That's why this man seemed familiar to me! I saw him only once at the Pope's personal reception. But the cardinal delighted me then with his truly natural greatness and the freedom of his sharp mind. And I remember that Caraffa then seemed very benevolent towards him and pleased with him. How did the cardinal manage to do so much wrong now that the vindictive Pope dared to put him in this terrible stone bag?..
- Well, my friend, do you want to admit your mistake and return back to the Emperor to correct it, or will you rot here until you wait for my death... which, as I know, will not happen very soon... .
I froze... What did that mean?! What has changed?! Caraffa was going to live long??? And he stated this very confidently! What could have happened to him during his absence?..
– Don’t try, Karaffa... This is no longer interesting. You have no right to torture me and keep me in this basement. And you know this very well,” Morone answered very calmly.
He still had that unfailing dignity that had once so sincerely delighted me. And then our first and only meeting came back very vividly to my memory...
This happened late in the evening at one of Caraffa’s strange “night” receptions. There were almost no people left waiting, when suddenly, a servant as thin as a pole announced that His Eminence Cardinal Morone had come to the reception, who, moreover, was “in a hurry.” Caraffa was clearly delighted. Meanwhile, a man entered the hall with a majestic step... If anyone deserved the title of the highest hierarch of the church, it was he! Tall, slender and fit, magnificent in his bright moire robe, he walked with a light, springy gait along the richest carpets, as if on autumn leaves, proudly carrying his beautiful head, as if the world belonged only to him. Thoroughbred from the roots of his hair to the very tips of his aristocratic fingers, he aroused involuntary respect for himself, even without even knowing him.
– Are you ready, Morone? – Caraffa exclaimed cheerfully. – I hope that you will please Us with your efforts! Well, have a good trip to you, cardinal, greet the Emperor from Us! – and stood up, clearly planning to leave.
I couldn’t stand Caraffa’s manner of talking about himself as “we,” but this was the privilege of Popes and kings, and, naturally, no one ever tried to challenge it. I was very upset by such an exaggerated emphasis on one’s importance and exclusivity. But those who had such a privilege were, of course, completely satisfied with this, without causing any negative feelings in them. Not paying attention to Caraffa’s words, the cardinal easily knelt, kissing the “ring of sinners,” and, already rising, looked very intently at me with his bright cornflower blue eyes. They reflected unexpected delight and obvious attention... which Karaffa, naturally, did not like at all.
“You came here to see me, and not to break the hearts of beautiful ladies!” – Dad croaked displeased. - Bon voyage, Morone!
“I must talk to you before I begin to act, Your Holiness,” Morone said with all possible courtesy, without being embarrassed at all. “A mistake on my part could cost us a lot.” Therefore, I ask you to give me a little of your precious time before I leave you.
I was surprised by the shade of prickly irony that sounded in the words “your precious time”... It was almost elusive, but still – it was clearly there! And I immediately decided to take a closer look at the unusual cardinal, marveling at his courage. After all, usually not a single person dared to joke, much less ironize, with Karaffa. What in this case showed that Morone was not at all afraid of him... But what was the reason for such confident behavior - I immediately decided to find out, since I did not miss the slightest opportunity to recognize someone who could someday help I need at least some help in destroying the “Holiness”... But in this case, unfortunately, I was unlucky... Taking the cardinal by the arm and ordering me to wait in the hall, Caraffa took Morone to his chambers, without even allowing me say goodbye to him. And for some reason I was left with a feeling of strange regret, as if I had missed some important, even if very small, chance to receive someone else’s support...

The memories that belonged to the most precious category for Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy are memories of his childhood. Childhood is the start of a lifetime, and this is what was significant for the writer.

Childhood is the beginning of a journey, and even the most trivial fact, if it comes from childhood, was filled with special meaning for the great writer. The first story that Lev Nikolaevich began writing was, of course, about childhood. In it, he revealed not just the concept of “childhood,” he told us about what childhood was like for him.

It should be noted that Lev Nikolaevich always thought about childhood with great seriousness; he emphasized that the main building blocks of the human soul are laid precisely in childhood.

The brightest, most tender memory was the image of his mother. Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, married to Countess Tolstaya, wife of Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy - she is the one we are talking about.

Family memories formed the basis of the factual material not only of War and Peace, but also of others, some of them unfinished literary works Lev Nikolaevich. Great value In general, to find out his spiritual makeup, they have certificates about the personal qualities of his parents. His mother died when Nikolenka was not yet two years old, but later she “came to life” for her famous son in the memoirs of the servant and, mainly, in her notes about raising her son Nikolai, her letters, and diaries.

She was not even a well-educated woman for her time, with a habit of self-analysis in her diaries and letters, with a developed aesthetic sense and great self-control, which, in the era of the heyday of serfdom, kept her from inappropriate antics in her personal treatment of people serving in the house.

In Tolstoy’s memory, not even so much in his memory as in his imagination, mother is “the highest idea of pure love.”

Subsequently, Lev Nikolaevich wrote that it just so happened that not a single portrait of his mother remained, and he could not imagine a dear face.

The spiritual appearance of matter, and everything he knew about it, was beautiful. People around Lev Nikolayevich spoke about his mother only in positive terms. And Lev Nikolayevich formed an image of her - the image of an intelligent woman, capable of the arts, who played the piano well, with a literary gift. She was a magnificent storyteller and inventor. Interesting stories just flowed from her lips.

Tolstoy carried the perfect idea of his mother as an ideal woman throughout his life. Honor and praise to the man who knows how to deeply love his mother.

Unfortunately, 5 of the 13 children died early: Peter lived a little over a year, Nikolai - less than a year, Varvara - a few days, Alexey died at 4 years old, Ivan - at 6 years old.

Ivan, youngest son Leo Tolstoy

The youngest, Ivan, was unusually similar to his father. They said that his gray Blue eyes saw and understood more than he could express in words. Tolstoy believed that it was this son who would continue his work. However, fate decreed otherwise - the child died of scarlet fever.

Tolstoy with his wife and children. 1887

Sergey Lvovich

Tolstoy described his eldest son Sergei this way: “The eldest, blond, is not stupid. There is something weak and patient in the expression and very meek... Everyone says that he looks like my older brother. I'm afraid to believe. That would be too good. Main feature brother was not selfishness and not self-sacrifice, but a strict middle... Seryozha is smart - a mathematical mind and a sensitivity to art, he studies well, is adroit at jumping, gymnastics; but gauche (clumsy, French) and absent-minded.”

Sergei Lvovich was the only one of all the writer’s children who survived the October Revolution in his homeland. He was seriously involved in music, was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and one of the founders of the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow, and took part in commentating Full meeting father's writings. Also known as the author musical works: “Twenty-seven Scottish Songs”, “Belgian Songs”, “Hindu Songs and Dances”; wrote romances based on poems by Pushkin, Fet, Tyutchev. He died in 1947 at the age of 84.

Tatiana Lvovna

Tatyana, like her sisters Maria and Alexandra, was a follower of Tolstoy's teachings. From her mother, the writer's eldest daughter inherited practicality, the ability to do a variety of things, like her mother, she loved toilets, entertainment and was not without vanity. She inherited the ability to write from her father and became a writer.

In 1925, together with her daughter, Tatyana Lvovna went abroad, lived in Paris, where her guests were Bunin, Maurois, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Alexander Benois and many other representatives of culture and art. From Paris she moved to Italy, where she spent the rest of her life.

Ilya Lvovich

Characteristics of Leo Tolstoy: “Ilya, the third... Broad-boned, white, ruddy, shining. He studies poorly. Always thinking about what he is not told to think about. He invents games himself. He is neat, thrifty, and “what’s mine” is very important to him. Hot and violent (impulsive), now fight; but also gentle and very sensitive. Sensual - he loves to eat and lie quietly... Everything that is not permitted has a charm for him... Ilya will die if he does not have a strict and beloved leader.”

Ilya did not graduate from high school, he worked alternately as an official, then as a bank employee, then as an agent of the Russian social insurance company, then as an agent for the liquidation of private estates. During the First World War he worked for the Red Cross.

In 1916, Ilya Lvovich left for the USA, where until the end of his life he earned money by lecturing on Tolstoy’s work and worldview.

Lev Lvovich

Lev Lvovich was one of the most talented in the family. Tolstoy himself described his son as follows: “Handsome: dexterous, intelligent, graceful. Every dress fits as if it were made for it. Everything that others do, he does, and everything is very clever and good. I still don’t understand it well.”

In his youth, he was carried away by his father’s ideas, but over time he switched to anti-Tolstoy, patriotic and monarchist positions. In 1918, without waiting for arrest, he emigrated. He lived in France and Italy, and finally settled in Sweden in 1940. In exile he continued to engage in creativity. Lev Lvovich's works have been translated into French, German, Swedish, Hungarian and Italian.

Maria Lvovna

When she was two years old, Lev Nikolaevich described her as follows: “A weak, sickly child. Like milk, white body, curly white hairs; large, strange, blue eyes: strange in their deep, serious expression. Very smart and ugly. This will be one of the mysteries. He will suffer, he will search, he will find nothing; but will forever seek the most inaccessible.”

Sharing her father’s views, she refused to go out on social occasions; She devoted a lot of effort to educational work. Having passed away early, at the age of 35, Maria Lvovna was remembered by her contemporaries as “ good man who has not seen happiness."

Maria Lvovna was well-read, fluent in several foreign languages, played music. When she received her teacher's diploma, she organized her own school, which served both peasant children and adults. Her obsession sometimes frightened her loved ones; the young, fragile woman traveled through remote settlements in any weather, independently driving a horse and overcoming snow drifts.

In November 1906, Maria Lvovna fell ill: her temperature suddenly rose sharply and pain appeared in her shoulder. Doctors diagnosed pneumonia. According to Sofia Andreevna, “no measures weakened the strength of the disease.” Throughout the week, while the woman was in a semi-conscious state, her parents and husband were nearby; Tolstoy held his daughter’s hand until the last minutes.

Andrey Lvovich

He loved his mother very much, she adored him and forgave her son everything. The father appreciated Andrei’s kindness, asserted that this was “the most precious and important quality, which is dearer than anyone else in the world,” and advised him to apply his ideas for the benefit of the people. However, Andrei Lvovich did not share his father’s views, believing that if he is a nobleman, he should enjoy all the privileges and advantages that his position gives him.

Tolstoy strongly disapproved of his son’s lifestyle, but said about him: “I don’t want to love him, but I love him because he is genuine and does not want to appear to others.” Andrei took part in the Russo-Japanese War with the rank of non-commissioned officer and mounted orderly. He was wounded in the war and received the St. George Cross for bravery. In 1907, he entered the service as an official of special assignments under the Tula governor Mikhail Viktorovich Artsimovich, who maintained excellent relations with Lev Nikolaevich. Andrei fell in love with his wife, and soon she went to Andrei, leaving the house, a desperate husband and six children.

In February 1916, in St. Petersburg, Andrei had a strange dream, which he told his brother. He saw himself dead in a dream, in a coffin that was being taken out of the house. He attended his own funeral. In the huge crowd following the coffin, he saw Minister Krivoshein, his chief at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in St. Petersburg, and his beloved gypsies, whose singing he loved very much.

A few days later he died from blood poisoning.

Mikhail Lvovich

Mikhail was musically gifted. From childhood, he loved music very much, masterfully learned to play the balalaika, harmonica, and piano, composed romances, and learned to play the violin. Despite his dream of becoming a composer, Mikhail followed in his father's footsteps and chose a military career.

During the First World War, he served in the 2nd Dagestan Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division. In 1914-1917 participated in battles on the Southwestern Front. He was nominated for the Order of St. Anne, 4th degree.

In 1920, he emigrated, eventually stopping in Morocco, where he died. It was in this country that Mikhail wrote his only literary work: memoirs describing how Tolstoy’s family lived in Yasnaya Polyana, this novel was called “Mitya Tiverin”. In the novel, he also recalled that family and country that could no longer be returned.

Alexandra Lvovna

She was a difficult child. The governesses and older sisters worked with her more than Sofya Andreevna and Lev Nikolaevich. However, at the age of 16, she became close to her father, and since then she devoted her whole life to him: she did secretarial work, mastered shorthand and typewriting. According to Tolstoy's will, Alexandra Lvovna received copyrights to literary heritage father.

After October Revolution 1917 Alexandra Tolstaya did not want to come to terms with new government, which brutally persecuted dissidents. In 1920, the Cheka was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. Thanks to the petition of the peasants of Yasnaya Polyana, she was released early in 1921, she returned to her native estate, and after the corresponding decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, she became the curator of the museum. She organized a cultural and educational center in Yasnaya Polyana, opened a school, a hospital, and a pharmacy.

In 1929 she left Soviet Union, leaving for Japan, then to the USA, where she gave lectures about her father at many universities. In 1941, she accepted US citizenship and in subsequent years helped many Russian emigrants settle in the United States, where she herself died on September 26, 1979 at the age of 95.

In the Soviet Union, Alexandra Tolstoy was removed from all photographs and newsreels; her name was not mentioned in notes and memoirs, excursion stories and museum exhibitions.

Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. Works brilliant writer- Russia's greatest asset.

In August 1828, a classic was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province Russian literature. The future author of War and Peace became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On his father's side, he belonged to the old family of Count Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of the Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.

Lev Nikolayevich’s mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbed fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Lev was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.

Caring for the children fell on the shoulders of the writer’s aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Sacken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - their father’s sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced her nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life at the Yushkov estate in his story “Childhood.”

Silhouette and portrait of Leo Tolstoy's parents

Primary education the classic received at home from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the Faculty of Oriental Languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he transferred to another faculty - law. But he did not succeed here either: after two years he left the university without receiving a degree.

Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man kept a diary regularly, loved social entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and...

Disillusioned with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the village, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for candidate exams at the university, studying music, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet in a horse guards regiment. Relatives called Lev “the most trifling fellow,” and it took years to pay off the debts he incurred.

Literature

In 1851, the writer’s brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Lev to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. The nature of the Caucasus and the patriarchal life of the Cossack village were later reflected in the stories “Cossacks” and “Hadji Murat”, the stories “Raid” and “Cutting the Forest”.

In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story “Childhood,” which he published in the magazine “Sovremennik” under the initials L.N. Soon he wrote the sequels “Adolescence” and “Youth,” combining the stories into a trilogy. The literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolaevich his first recognition.

The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: an appointment to Bucharest, a transfer to besieged Sevastopol, and command of a battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came the cycle “ Sevastopol stories" The works of the young writer amazed critics with their bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them a “dialectic of the soul,” and the emperor read the essay “Sevastopol in December” and expressed admiration for Tolstoy’s talent.

In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him “the great hope of Russian literature.” But over the course of a year, I got tired of the writing environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners. Later in Confession Tolstoy admitted:

“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”

In the fall of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe for six months. Visited Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. On the family estate, he began arranging schools for peasant children. In the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, with his participation, twenty educational institutions. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium he studied pedagogical systems European countries to apply what we saw in Russia.

A special niche in Leo Tolstoy’s work is occupied by fairy tales and works for children and teenagers. The writer has created hundreds of works for young readers, including good and cautionary tales“Kitten”, “Two Brothers”, “Hedgehog and Hare”, “Lion and Dog”.

Leo Tolstoy wrote the school textbook “ABC” to teach children writing, reading and arithmetic. The literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included in it instructive stories, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice for teachers. The third book includes the story “ Caucasian prisoner».

Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina"

In the 1870s, Leo Tolstoy, while continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted the two storylines: the family drama of the Karenins and the domestic idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love affair: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of existence of the “educated class”, contrasting it with the truth of peasant life. "Anna Karenina" was highly appreciated.

The turning point in the writer’s consciousness was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight takes central place in stories and stories. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “The Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. The classic of Russian literature paints pictures of social inequality and castigates the idleness of the nobles.

In search of an answer to the question about the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but didn’t find satisfaction there either. The writer came to the conclusion that the Christian Church is corrupt, and under the guise of religion, priests are promoting false teaching. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication “Mediator,” where he outlined his spiritual beliefs and criticized the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, and the writer was monitored by the secret police.

In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received favorable reviews from critics. But the success of the work was inferior to “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace”.

For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his teachings on non-violent resistance to evil, was recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.

"War and Peace"

Leo Tolstoy did not like his novel “War and Peace,” calling the epic “ verbose rubbish" The classic writer wrote the work in the 1860s, while living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, entitled “1805,” were published by Russkiy Vestnik in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated controversy among critics.

Leo Tolstoy writes "War and Peace"

The novelist took the features of the heroes of the work, written during the years of family happiness and spiritual elation, from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolaevich’s mother are recognizable, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love of art. The writer awarded Nikolai Rostov with his father’s traits - mockery, love of reading and hunting.

When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. His young wife helped him, copying his drafts out clean.

The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of its epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to “write the history of the people.”

According to the calculations of literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, only works abroad Russian classic filmed 40 times. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia have made 16 films based on the novel “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection” has been filmed 22 times.

“War and Peace” was first filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.

Personal life

Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the couple’s life can hardly be called cloudless.

Sofia Bers is the second of three daughters of the Moscow palace office doctor Andrei Bers. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they vacationed on a Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time Leo Tolstoy saw his future wife as a child. Sophia was educated at home, read a lot, understood art, and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as an example of the memoir genre.

At the beginning of his married life, Leo Tolstoy, wanting there to be no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. The shocked wife found out about her husband's turbulent youth, his passion gambling, wild life and the peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolaevich.

The first-born Sergei was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy began writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite her pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five of the 13 children died in infancy or early childhood childhood.

Problems in the family began after Leo Tolstoy finished working on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that Sofya Andreevna so diligently arranged in the family nest. The count's moral turmoil led to Lev Nikolayevich demanding that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he made himself, and wanted to give his acquired property to the peasants.

Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of distributing goods. But the quarrel that occurred split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Upon returning, the writer entrusted the responsibility of rewriting drafts to his daughters.

The death of their last child, seven-year-old Vanya, briefly brought the couple closer together. But soon mutual grievances and misunderstandings alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher for whom romantic feelings developed. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for “half-betrayal.”

The couple's fatal quarrel occurred at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but could not do otherwise.

Death

82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in the house stationmaster. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy’s health.

The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
It's easier to live without love. But without it there is no point.
I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
The world moves forward because of those who suffer.
The greatest truths are the simplest.
Everyone is making plans, and no one knows whether he will survive until the evening.