Biography and episodes of life Lev Tolstoy. When born and died Lev Tolstoy, memorable places and dates important events his life. Writer quotes, Photo and video.
Years of Leo Tolstoy's life:
born September 9, 1828, died November 20, 1910
Epitaph
“I hear the sound of his speeches...
In the midst of general confusion
The Great Elder of Our Days
Calls you to the path of non-resistance.
Simple, clear words -
And who was imbued with their rays,
As if touched by a deity
And he speaks through his mouth."
From a poem by Arkady Kots, dedicated to memory Tolstoy
Biography
The biography of Leo Tolstoy is the biography of the most famous Russian writer, whose works are still read all over the world. Even during Tolstoy's lifetime, his books were translated into many languages, and today his immortal works are included in the golden fund of world literature. But no less interesting and personal, not writer's biography Tolstoy, who spent his whole life trying to understand what the essence of man’s destiny was.
He was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate, which today houses the Tolstoy Museum. The writer, who comes from a wealthy and noble count family, lost his mother as a child, and when it was time to go to university, he also lost his father, who left the family’s financial affairs in poor condition. Before entering Kazan University, Leo Tolstoy was raised by his relatives in Yasnaya Polyana. Studying was easy for Tolstoy; after Kazan University he studied Arabic-Turkish literature, but a conflict with one of the teachers forced him to quit his studies and return to Yasnaya Polyana. Already in those years, Tolstoy began to think about what his purpose was, what he should become. In his diaries, he set himself goals for self-improvement. He continued keeping diaries all his life, trying to answer his questions in them. important questions, analyzing your actions and judgments. Then, in Yasnaya Polyana, he began to develop a feeling of guilt towards the peasants - for the first time he opened a school for serf children, where he often taught classes himself. Soon Tolstoy went to Moscow again to prepare for his candidate exams, but the young landowner was carried away by Savor And card games, which inevitably led to debt. And then, on the advice of his brother, Lev Nikolaevich left for the Caucasus, where he served for four years. In the Caucasus, he began to write his famous trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence” and “Youth”, which later brought him great fame in literary circles Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Despite the fact that Tolstoy was warmly received upon his return and was included in all the secular salons of both capitals, over time the writer began to experience disappointment in his surroundings. His trip to Europe did not bring him any pleasure either. He returned to Yasnaya Polyana and began to improve it, and soon married a girl who was much younger than him. And at the same time he finished his story “Cossacks”, after which Tolstoy’s talent was recognized as brilliant writer. Sofya Andreevna Bers gave birth to Tolstoy 13 children, and over the years he wrote Anna Karenina and War and Peace.
In Yasnaya Polyana, surrounded by his family and his peasants, Tolstoy again began to think about the purpose of man, about religion and theology, about pedagogy. His desire to get to the very essence of religion and human existence and the theological works that followed caused Orthodox Church negative reaction. Spiritual crisis the writer was reflected in everything - both on his relationships with his family and on his success in writing. Count Tolstoy's well-being ceased to bring him joy - he became a vegetarian, walked barefoot, did manual labor, and renounced the rights to his literary works, gave all his property to the family. Just before his death, Tolstoy quarreled with his wife and, wanting to live last years life in accordance with his spiritual views, secretly left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer became seriously ill and died.
The funeral of Leo Tolstoy took place in Yasnaya Polyana, several thousand people came to say goodbye to the great writer - friends, fans, peasants, students. The ceremony did not go according to Orthodox rite, since the writer was excommunicated back in the early 1900s. Tolstoy's grave is located in Yasnaya Polyana - in the forest where once, as a child, Lev Nikolaevich was looking for the “green stick” that kept the secret of universal happiness.
Life line
September 9, 1828 Date of birth of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
1844 Admission to Kazan University at the Department of Oriental Languages.
1847 Dismissal from the university.
1851 Departure for the Caucasus.
1852-1857 Writing autobiographical trilogy"Childhood", "Adolescence" and "Youth".
1855 Moving to St. Petersburg, joining the Sovremennik circle.
1856 Resignation, return to Yasnaya Polyana.
1859 Tolstoy opens a school for peasant children.
1862 Marriage to Sophia Bers.
1863-1869 Writing the novel "War and Peace".
1873-1877 Writing the novel Anna Karenina.
1889-1899 Writing the novel "Resurrection".
November 10, 1910 Tolstoy's secret departure from Yasnaya Polyana.
November 20, 1910 Date of death of Tolstoy.
November 22, 1910 Farewell ceremony for the writer.
November 23, 1910 Tolstoy's funeral.
Memorable places
1. Yasnaya Polyana, estate of L. N. Tolstoy, state memorial and nature reserve where Tolstoy is buried.
2. Museum-estate of L. N. Tolstoy in Khamovniki.
3. Tolstoy’s house in childhood, the writer’s first Moscow address, where he was brought at the age of 7 and where he lived until 1838.
4. Tolstoy’s house in Moscow in 1850-1851, where his literary activity began.
5. The former Chevalier Hotel, where Tolstoy stayed, including shortly after his marriage with Sofia Tolstoy.
6. State Museum L.N. Tolstoy in Moscow.
7. Tolstoy Center on Pyatnitskaya, former house Vargina, where Tolstoy lived in 1857-1858.
8. Monument to Tolstoy in Moscow.
9. Kochakovsky necropolis, Tolstoy family cemetery.
Episodes of life
Tolstoy married Sofya Bers when she was 18 years old and he was 34. Before they got married, he confessed to his bride about his premarital affairs - the same thing that the hero of his work “Anna Karenina” Konstantin Levin later did. In letters to his grandmother, Tolstoy admitted: “I constantly feel as if I had stolen undeserved happiness that was not assigned to me. Here she comes, I hear her, and it’s so good.” Long years Sofya Tolstaya was her husband’s friend and ally, they were very happy, but with Tolstoy’s passion for theology and spiritual quests, omissions began to arise more and more often between the spouses.
Leo Tolstoy did not like War and Peace, his greatest and most significant work. Once, in correspondence with Fet, the writer even called his famous epic “wordy rubbish.”
It is known that in the last years of his life Tolstoy gave up meat. He believed that meat-eating was not humane, and hoped that one day people would look at him with the same disgust as they now look at cannibalism.
Tolstoy believed that education in Russia was fundamentally wrong, and tried to contribute to changing it: he opened a school for peasant children, published a pedagogical magazine, wrote “The ABC,” “ New alphabet" and "Books to read." Despite the fact that he wrote these textbooks primarily for peasant children, more than one generation of children, including nobles, learned from them. The Russian poetess Anna Akhmatova taught Tolstoy letters using the ABC.
Covenant
“Everything comes to those who know how to wait.”
“Beware of everything that your conscience does not approve of.”
Documentary film "Living Tolstoy"
Condolences
“On November 7, 1910, not only the life of one of the most extraordinary people who have ever lived in the world, a certain extraordinary human feat, a struggle extraordinary in its strength, length and difficulty, has also come to an end...”
Ivan Bunin, writer
“The remarkable thing is that not one, not only of Russian, but also of foreign writers, had and now has such global significance as Tolstoy. None of the writers abroad was as popular as Tolstoy. This one fact in itself indicates the significance of this man’s talent.”
Sergei Witte, statesman
“I sincerely regret the death of the great writer, who, during the heyday of his talent, embodied in his works the images of one of the glorious times of Russian life. May the Lord God be his merciful judge.”
Nicholas II Alexandrovich, Russian Emperor
Do you know Leo Tolstoy? The short and complete biography of this writer is studied in detail in school years. However, like great works. The first association for every person who hears the name famous writer, is the novel "War and Peace". Not everyone dared to overcome laziness and read it. And in vain. The product deserves it world fame. This is a classic that everyone should read. educated person. But first things first.
The biography of Leo Tolstoy says that he was born in the 19th century, namely in 1828. The surname of the future writer is the oldest aristocratic one in Russia. Lev Nikolaevich received his education at home. When his parents died, he, his sister and three brothers moved to the city of Kazan. P. Yushkova became Tolstoy’s guardian. At the age of 16 he entered the local university. He studied first at the Faculty of Philosophy and then at the Faculty of Law. But Tolstoy never graduated from the university. He settled on the Yasnaya Polyana estate - where he was born.
The biography of Leo Tolstoy says that the next 4 years became years of quest for him. First, he reorganized the life of the estate, then went to Moscow, where a social life awaited him. He received a candidate of law degree from St. Petersburg University, and then got a job - he became a clerical employee in the noble parliamentary assembly of Tula.
The biography of Leo Tolstoy describes his trip to the Caucasus in 1851. There he even fought with the Chechens. Episodes of this particular war were later described in various stories and the story “Cossacks”. Next, Lev passed the cadet exam in order to become an officer in the future. And already in this rank in 1854, Tolstoy served in the Danube Army, which was operating at that time against the Turks.
Lev Nikolaevich began to seriously engage in literary creativity during a trip to the Caucasus. His story “Childhood” was written there and then published in the Sovremennik magazine. The story “Adolescence” subsequently appeared in the same publication.
Leo also fought in Sevastopol during the war. There he showed real fearlessness, participating in the defense of the city under siege. For this he was awarded the Order of Bravery. Bloody picture The writer recreated the war in his “Sevastopol Stories”. This work made an indelible impression on the entire Russian society.
Since 1855, Tolstoy lived in St. Petersburg. There he often communicated with Chernyshevsky, Turgenev, Ostrovsky and other legendary personalities. A year later he retired. Then the writer traveled, he opened a school for peasant children on his native estate and even taught classes there himself. With his help, two dozen more schools were opened nearby. This was followed by a second trip abroad. The works that immortalized the writer’s name throughout the world were created by him in the 70s. This is, of course, “Anna Karenina” and the novel “War and Peace” described at the beginning of the article.
The biography of Leo Tolstoy says that he got married in 1862. He and his wife subsequently raised nine children. The family moved to the capital in 1880.
Leo Tolstoy (biography Interesting Facts reports about this) spent the last years of his life, torn apart by intrigues and squabbles in the family over the inheritance that would remain after him. At the age of 82, the writer leaves the estate and goes on a journey, away from the lordly way of life. But his health was too weak for this. On the way, he caught a cold and died. He was buried, of course, in his homeland - in Yasnaya Polyana.
There is still controversy about this couple - there has never been so much gossip about anyone and so many speculations have arisen about them as about the two of them. The story of the Tolstoys' family life is a conflict between the real and the sublime, between everyday life and dreams, and the spiritual abyss that inevitably follows. But who is right in this conflict is an unanswered question. Each spouse had their own truth...
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Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on August 28, 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana. The count came from several ancient families; the branches of the Trubetskoys and Golitsyns, the Volkonskys and the Odoevskys were woven into his genealogy. Lev Nikolayevich’s father married the heiress of a huge fortune, Maria Volkonskaya, who had spent too much time as a girl, not out of love, but the relationship in the family was tender and touching.
Mother little Leva died of a fever when he was one and a half years old. The orphaned children were raised by aunties, who told the boy about what an angel his late mother was - she was smart, and educated, and sensitive with the servants, and took care of the children - and how happy the priest was with her. Although it was good fairy tale, but it was then that the imagination of the future writer took shape perfect image the one with whom he would like to connect his life. The search for an ideal turned into a heavy burden for the young man, which over time turned into a harmful, almost manic attraction to female. The first step towards revealing this new side of life for Tolstoy was a visit to brothel where his brothers took him. Soon he would write in his diary: “I committed this act, and then stood by this woman’s bed and cried!” At the age of 14, Leo experienced what he believed to be love when he seduced a young maid. Tolstoy, already a writer, will reproduce this picture in “Resurrection,” revealing in detail the scene of Katyusha’s seduction. The whole life of young Tolstoy was spent developing strict rules of behavior, spontaneously evading them and stubbornly struggling with personal shortcomings. There is only one vice he cannot overcome - voluptuousness. Perhaps fans of the great writer’s work would not have known about his many predilections for the female sex - Koloshina, Molostvova, Obolenskaya, Arsenyeva, Tyutcheva, Sverbeeva, Shcherbatova, Chicherina, Olsufieva, Rebinder, the Lvov sisters. But he persistently wrote down in his diary the details of his love victories. Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana full of sensual impulses. “This is no longer a temperament, but a habit of debauchery,” he wrote upon arrival. “The lust is terrible, reaching the point of physical illness. He wandered around the garden with a vague, voluptuous hope of catching someone in the bush. Nothing stops me from working." Desire or love
Sonechka Bers was born into the family of a doctor, an active state councilor. She got a good education, was smart, easy to communicate, and had a strong character.
In August 1862, the Bers family went to visit their grandfather at his Ivitsy estate and stopped in Yasnaya Polyana along the way. And then 34-year-old Count Tolstoy, who remembered Sonya as a child, suddenly saw a lovely 18-year-old girl who excited him. There was a picnic on the lawn, where Sophia sang and danced, showering everyone around with sparks of youth and happiness. And then there were conversations in the twilight, when Sonya was timid in front of Lev Nikolaevich, but he managed to get her to talk, and he listened to her with delight, and in parting said: “How clear you are!” Soon the Berses left Ivitsy, but now Tolstoy could not live a day without the girl who won his heart. He suffered and suffered because of the age difference and thought that this deafening happiness was inaccessible to him: “Every day I think that it is impossible to suffer anymore and be happy together, and every day I become crazier.” In addition, he was tormented by the question: what is this - desire or love? This difficult period of trying to understand oneself will be reflected in War and Peace. He could no longer resist his feelings and went to Moscow, where he proposed to Sophia. The girl happily agreed. Now Tolstoy was absolutely happy: “Never have I imagined my future with my wife so joyfully, clearly and calmly.” But there was one more thing left: before getting married, he wanted them not to have any secrets from each other. 
Sonya had no secrets from her husband - she was pure, like an angel. But Lev Nikolaevich had plenty of them. And then he made a fatal mistake that predetermined the course of further family relations. Tolstoy gave the bride to read his diaries, in which he described all his adventures, passions and hobbies. For the girl, these revelations came as a real shock. 
Sofya Andreevna with children. Only her mother was able to convince Sonya not to give up on the marriage; she tried to explain to her that all men of Lev Nikolayevich’s age have a past, they just wisely hide it from their brides. Sonya decided that she loved Lev Nikolaevich strongly enough to forgive him everything, including the courtyard peasant woman Aksinya, who at that time was expecting a child from the count. Family everyday life
Married life in Yasnaya Polyana began far from cloudless: it was difficult for Sophia to overcome the disgust that she felt towards her husband, remembering his diaries. However, she gave birth to Lev Nikolaevich 13 children, five of whom died in infancy. In addition, for many years she remained Tolstoy’s faithful assistant in all his affairs: a copyist of manuscripts, a translator, a secretary, and a publisher of his works.
The village of Yasnaya Polyana. Photo "Scherer, Nabholz and Co." 1892 Sofya Andreevna was deprived of the delights of Moscow life for many years, to which she had become accustomed since childhood, but she humbly accepted the hardships of rural existence. She raised the children herself, without nannies or governesses. IN free time Sophia copied the manuscripts of the “mirror of the Russian revolution” completely. The Countess, trying to live up to the ideal of a wife, which Tolstoy had told her more than once, received petitioners from the village, resolved disputes, and over time opened a hospital in Yasnaya Polyana, where she herself examined the suffering and helped as much as she had the knowledge and skills. 
Maria and Alexandra Tolstoy with peasant women Avdotya Bugrova and Matryona Komarova and peasant children. Yasnaya Polyana, 1896. Everything she did for the peasants was actually done for Lev Nikolaevich. The Count took all this for granted and was never interested in what was going on in the soul of his wife. Out of the frying pan into the fire...
After writing "Anna Karenina", in the nineteenth year of family life, the writer experienced a mental crisis. He tried to find peace in the church, but could not. Then the writer renounced the traditions of his circle and became a real ascetic: he began to wear peasant clothes, conduct subsistence farming, and even promised to distribute all his property to the peasants. Tolstoy was a real “house builder”, having come up with his own charter later life, demanding its unquestioning implementation. The chaos of countless household chores did not allow Sofya Andreevna to delve into her husband’s new ideas, listen to him, and share his experiences. 
Sometimes Lev Nikolaevich went beyond the bounds of reason. He demanded that younger children not be taught what was not necessary in simple life. folk life, then wanted to give up the property, thereby depriving the family of their livelihood. He wanted to renounce the copyright to his works because he believed that he could not own them and make a profit from them. 
Leo Tolstoy with his grandchildren Sonya and Ilya in Krekshino Sofya Andreevna stoically defended the interests of the family, which led to the inevitable family collapse. Moreover, her mental anguish was revived with renewed vigor. If earlier she did not even dare to be offended by Lev Nikolaevich’s betrayals, now she began to remember all the past grievances at once. 
Tolstoy with his family at the tea table in the park. After all, every time she, pregnant or who had just given birth, could not share the marital bed with him, Tolstoy became infatuated with another maid or cook. He sinned again and repented... But he demanded obedience from his family and compliance with his paranoid rules of life. Letter from the Other World
Tolstoy died during a trip he took after breaking up with his wife at a very old age. During the move, Lev Nikolaevich fell ill with pneumonia, got off at the nearest large station (Astapovo), where he died in the house of the station master on November 7, 1910.
Leo Tolstoy on the road from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana. After the death of the great writer, a flurry of accusations fell on the widow. Yes, she could not become a like-minded person and an ideal for Tolstoy, but she was a model faithful wife and an exemplary mother, sacrificing her happiness for the sake of her family. 
While sorting out her late husband's papers, Sofya Andreevna found a sealed letter from him to her, dated in the summer of 1897, when Lev Nikolaevich first decided to leave. And now, as if from another world, his voice sounded, as if asking for forgiveness from his wife: “...with love and gratitude I remember the long 35 years of our life, especially the first half of this time, when you, with the maternal selflessness characteristic of your nature, so energetically and firmly carried out what she considered herself called to. You gave me and the world what you could give, you gave a lot mother's love and selflessness, and one cannot help but appreciate you for this... I thank you and I remember and will remember with love for what you gave me.” Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, Russian writer, philosopher, thinker, was born in the Tula province, on the family estate “Yasnaya Polyana” in 1828. As a child, he lost his parents and was raised by his distant relative T. A. Ergolskaya. At the age of 16, he entered Kazan University at the Faculty of Philosophy, but the studies turned out to be boring for him, and after 3 years he dropped out. At the age of 23, he went to fight in the Caucasus, about which he subsequently wrote a lot, reflecting this experience in his works “Cossacks”, “Raid”, “Cutting Wood”, “Hadji Murat”.
Continuing to fight, after the Crimean War Tolstoy went to St. Petersburg, where he became a member of the Sovremennik literary circle, along with the famous writers Nekrasov, Turgenev and others. Already having a certain fame as a writer, many greeted his entry into the circle with enthusiasm; Nekrasov called him “the great hope of Russian literature.” There he published his Sevastopol stories”, written under the influence of the experience of the Crimean War, after which he went on a trip to European countries, soon, however, becoming disillusioned with them.
At the end of 1856, Tolstoy resigned and, returning to his native Yasnaya Polyana, became a landowner. Moving away from literary activity, Tolstoy took up educational activities. He opened a school that practiced the pedagogy system he had developed. For these purposes, he went to Europe in 1860 to study foreign experience.
In the fall of 1862, Tolstoy married a young girl from Moscow, S. A. Bers, leaving with her for Yasnaya Polyana, choosing quiet life family man. But a year later it suddenly dawned on him new idea, as a result of whose incarnation came into being famous work"War and Peace". His no less famous novel “Anna Karenina” was completed already in 1877. Speaking about this period of the writer’s life, we can say that his worldview at that time was already fully formed and became known as “Tolstoyism”. His novel “Sunday” was published in 1899, but Lev Nikolaevich’s last works were “Father Sergius”, “The Living Corpse”, “After the Ball”.
Having worldwide fame, Tolstoy was popular with many people around the world. Being practically a spiritual mentor and authority for them, he often received guests at his estate.
In accordance with his worldview, at the end of 1910, Tolstoy secretly leaves his house at night, accompanied by his personal doctor. Intending to travel to Bulgaria or the Caucasus, they had to long road, but due to a serious illness, Tolstoy was forced to stop at the small Astapovo railway station (now named after him), where he died of a serious illness at the age of 82.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a talented person whose works are read not only by adults, but also by schoolchildren. Who doesn’t know such works as, or Anna Karenina? It is probably difficult to find a person who is not familiar with the work of this writer. Let's get to know the writer Tolstoy better by briefly studying his biography.
Brief biography of Tolstoy: the most important things
L.N. Tolstoy - philosopher, playwright, most talented person, who gave us his heritage. Studying it short biography for children in grades 5 and 4, it will allow you to better understand the writer and study his life, from birth to his last days.
The childhood and youth of Leo Tolstoy
The biography of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy begins with his birth in the Tula province. This happened in 1828. He was the fourth child in noble family. If we talk briefly about the writer’s childhood and his biography, then at the age of two he lost his father, and seven years later he lost his father and was raised by his aunt in Kazan. The first story of Leo Tolstoy’s famous trilogy “Childhood” tells us about the writer’s childhood years.
Leo Tolstoy received his primary education at home, after which he entered Kazan University at the Faculty of Philology. But the young man had no desire to study, and Tolstoy wrote a letter of resignation. On his parents' estate he tries his hand at farming, but the endeavor ends in failure. After which, on the advice of his brother, he goes to fight in the Caucasus, and later becomes a participant in the Crimean War.
Literary creativity and heritage
If we talk about Tolstoy’s work, his first work is the story Childhood, written in his cadet years. In 1852, the story was published in Sovremennik. Already at this time, Tolstoy was put on a par with such writers as Ostrovsky and.
While in the Caucasus, the writer will write Cossacks, and then begin writing, which will be a continuation of the first story. There will be other works for the young writer, because creative activity did not interfere with serving Tolstoy went hand in hand with his participation in Crimean War. Sevastopol stories appear from the writer's pen.
After the war he lives in St. Petersburg, in Paris. Upon returning to Russia, Tolstoy wrote the third story in 1857, which belongs to the autobiographical trilogy.
Having married Sophia Burns, Tolstoy stayed at his parents' estate, where he continued to create. His most popular work and his first major novel is War and Peace, which was written over the course of ten years. After him he writes no less famous work Anna Karenina.
The eighties were fruitful for the writer. He wrote comedies, novels, dramas, including After the Ball, Sunday and others. At that time, the writer’s worldview had already been formed. The essence of his worldview is clearly visible in his “Confession”, in the work “What is my faith?” Many of his admirers began to regard Tolstoy as a spiritual mentor.
In his work, the writer harshly posed questions of faith and the meaning of life, and criticized state institutions.
The authorities were very afraid of the writer’s pen, so they kept an eye on him, and also had a hand in ensuring that Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church. However, people continued to love and support the writer.
