A short message about the biography of Leo Tolstoy. Brief biography of Leo Tolstoy: the most important events. Europe and pedagogical activity

Lev Tolstoy- the most famous Russian writer, famous throughout the world for his works.

short biography

Born in 1828 in the Tula province in a noble family. He spent his childhood in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, where he received his primary education at home. He had three brothers and a sister. His guardians raised him, so in early childhood, at the birth of his sister, his mother died, and later, in 1840, his father, because of which the whole family moved to relatives in Kazan. There he studied at Kazan University at two faculties, but decided to quit his studies and return to his native places.

Tolstoy spent two years in the army in the Caucasus. Bravely participated in several battles and even received an order for the defense of Sevastopol. He could have had a good military career, but he wrote several songs that made fun of the military command, as a result of which he had to leave the army.

At the end of the 50s, Lev Nikolaevich set off to travel around Europe and returned to Russia after the abolition of serfdom. Even during his travels, he was disappointed with the European way of life, as he saw a very large contrast between rich and poor. That is why, when he returned to Russia, he was glad that the peasants had now risen.

He married, 13 children were born in marriage, 5 of whom died in childhood. His wife, Sophia, helped her husband by rewriting all the creations of her husband in neat handwriting.

He opened several schools, in which he furnished everything according to his desire. He himself compiled the school curriculum - or rather, the lack of it. Discipline did not play a key role for him, he wanted the children themselves to be drawn to knowledge, so the main task of the teacher was to interest the students so that they wanted to learn.

He was excommunicated because Tolstoy put forward his theories about what the church should be like. Just a month before his death, he decided to secretly leave his native estate. As a result of the trip, he became very ill and died on November 7, 1910. The writer was buried in Yasnaya Polyana near the ravine, where he loved to play with his brothers as a child.

Literary contribution

Lev Nikolaevich began to write while still studying at the University - basically these were homework assignments comparing various literary works. It is believed that it was because of literature that he dropped out - he wanted to devote all his free time to reading.

In the army, he worked on his "Sevastopol stories", and also, as already mentioned, composed songs for his colleagues. Upon returning from the army, he took part in a literary circle in St. Petersburg, from where he went to Europe. He was well aware of the peculiarities of people and tried to reflect this in his works.

Tolstoy wrote many different works, but he gained worldwide fame thanks to two novels - "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", in which he accurately reflected the life of people of those times.

The contribution of this great writer to world culture is enormous - it was thanks to him that many people learned about Russia. His works are published to this day, performances are staged and films are made on them.

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Brief biography of Leo Tolstoy. Born in 1828 into an aristocratic family. Father, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy - a retired lieutenant colonel of the Pavlograd Hussars, a participant in World War II. Mother - Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya.

The parents of the future writer died early, his mother - when he was 2 years old, his father - at 9 years old. Orphaned five children were raised by guardian relatives.

In 1844-46. Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy tried to study at the university, but the study was given to him with great difficulty, and he left the educational institution. After that, the count lived for four years on his estate, trying to build relations with the peasants in a new way; contributed to the opening of new schools in the villages.

At the same time, he occasionally came to Moscow, where he indulged in gambling, which more than once undermined his financial situation. After another major loss, in 1851 he left for the army in the Caucasus, where his elder brother served at that time.

It was in the Caucasus that Lev Nikolayevich discovered in himself the need for creativity. He created the autobiographical story "Childhood" and sent the manuscript (signing simply: "LNT") to the court of Nikolai Nekrasov, a famous poet and publisher of the authoritative literary monthly "Sovremennik". He published the story, calling Tolstoy "a new and reliable talent" in Russian literature.

For five years Tolstoy has served as an artillery officer. First, he participates in the Chechen campaign, then in battles with the Turks on the Danube, then in the Crimea, where he heroically showed himself during the defense of Sevastopol, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anna.

He devotes all his free time to creativity. Boyhood and Youth, the next parts of the autobiographical trilogy, were also published in Sovremennik and became very popular. Few writers have managed to explore the spiritual life of a person so subtly and at the same time convey all this in such a simple and easy style.

Bright and interesting scenes from the army and military life of Tolstoy are reflected in his Cossacks, Hadji Murad, Woodcutting, Raid, and especially in the magnificent Sevastopol Tales.

After his resignation, Tolstoy went on a long journey through Europe. Returning home, he devoted himself entirely to public education. He helped in the opening of 20 rural schools in the Tula province, at the school in Yasnaya Polyana he taught himself, compiled alphabets and educational books for children. In 1862, he married 18-year-old Sophia Bers, and in 1863 he returned to literary activity and began work on his greatest work, the epic novel War and Peace.

Tolstoy approached his work extremely responsibly, having studied thousands of sources about the Patriotic War of 1812: memoirs, letters from contemporaries and participants in the events. The first part was published in 1865, and the writer finished the novel only in 1869.

The novel struck and continues to amaze readers with a combination of an epic picture of historical events with the living destinies of people, deep penetration into the emotional experiences and throwing of people. The novel "Anna Karenina" (1873-77) became the second world-renowned work of the writer.

In the last decades of the XIX century. Tolstoy philosophized a lot on the topic of faith and the meaning of life. These searches were reflected in his religious treatises, in which he tried to understand the essence of Christianity and convey its principles in an understandable language.

Tolstoy put the moral purification and self-improvement of the individual at the forefront, as well as the principle of non-resistance to evil by violence. The writer criticized the official Orthodox Church for its dogmatism and close connection with the state, for which the Synod excommunicated him from the church.

But, despite this, until the end of his life, followers of his religious and moral teachings came to Tolstoy from all over the country. The writer did not stop his work to support rural schools.

In the last years of his life, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy decided to give up all private property, which caused dissatisfaction with his wife and children. Offended by them, at the age of 82 he decided to leave home, boarded a train, but soon caught a bad cold and died. It happened in 1910.

Lev Nikolayevich went down in history not only as a brilliant world-famous writer, but also as a great teacher, theologian and preacher of Christianity.

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (August 28, 1828, the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province - November 7, 1910, Astapovo station (now Lev Tolstoy station) of the Ryazan-Ural railway) - count, Russian writer.

Born into an aristocratic county family. Received home education and upbringing. In 1844 he entered the Kazan University at the Faculty of Oriental Languages, then studied at the Faculty of Law. In 1847, without completing the course, he left the university and arrived in Yasnaya Polyana, which he received as property under the division of his father's inheritance. In 1851, realizing the aimlessness of his existence and, deeply despising himself, he went to the Caucasus to join the army. There he began to work on his first novel "Childhood. Adolescence. Youth". A year later, when the novel was published, Tolstoy became a literary celebrity. In 1862, at the age of 34, Tolstoy married Sophia Bers, an eighteen-year-old girl from a noble family. During the first 10-12 years after his marriage, he creates "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina". In 1879 he began to write "Confession". 1886 "The Power of Darkness", in 1886 the play "The Fruits of Enlightenment", in 1899 the novel "Sunday" was published, the drama "The Living Corpse" 1900, the story "Hadji Murad" 1904. In the autumn of 1910, fulfilling his decision to live the last years according to his views, he secretly left Yasnaya Polyana, renouncing the "circle of the rich and scientists." He fell ill on the way and died. He was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

A donkey in a lion's skin

The donkey put on a lion's skin, and everyone thought it was a lion. The people and cattle ran. The wind blew, the skin opened up, and the donkey became visible. The people fled: they beat the donkey.

WHAT IS THE DEW ON THE GRASS

When you go to the forest on a sunny morning in summer, you can see diamonds in the fields, in the grass. All these diamonds shine and shimmer in the sun in different colors - yellow, red, and blue. When you come closer and see what it is, you will see that these are drops of dew gathered in triangular leaves of grass and glisten in the sun.
The leaf of this grass inside is shaggy and fluffy, like velvet. And the drops roll on the leaf and do not wet it.
When you inadvertently pick off a leaf with a dewdrop, the drop will roll down like a ball of light, and you will not see how it slips past the stem. It used to be that you would tear off such a cup, slowly bring it to your mouth and drink a dewdrop, and this dewdrop seemed tastier than any drink.

HEN AND SWALLOW

The chicken found snake eggs and began to hatch them. The swallow saw and said:
“That's it, stupid! You will lead them out, and when they grow up, they will offend you first.

VEST

One peasant took up trade and became so rich that he became the first rich man. He had hundreds of clerks, and he did not know them all by name.
Once the merchant lost twenty thousand money. The senior clerks began to search and found the one who stole the money.
The senior clerk came to the merchant and said: “I found a thief. We must send him to Siberia.”
The merchant says: “Who stole it?” Senior Clerk says:
"Ivan Petrov himself confessed."
The merchant thought and said: "Ivan Petrov must be forgiven."

The clerk was surprised and said: “How can I forgive? So those clerks will do the same: they will steal everything that is good. The merchant says: “Ivan Petrov must be forgiven: when I started trading, we were comrades with him. When I got married, I had nothing to wear down the aisle. He gave me his vest to wear. Ivan Petrov must be forgiven.”

So they forgave Ivan Petrov.

FOX AND GRAPES

The fox saw - ripe bunches of grapes were hanging, and began to fit in, as if to eat them.
She fought for a long time, but could not get it. To muffle her annoyance, she says: “Still green.”

UD ACHA

People came to the island, where there were many expensive stones. People tried to find more; they ate little, slept little, and everyone worked. Only one of them did nothing, but sat in place, ate, drank and slept. When they began to get ready to go home, they woke up this man and said: “What are you going home with?” He picked up a handful of earth under his feet and put it in his bag.

When everyone arrived home, this man took his land out of the bag and found in it a stone more precious than all the others together.

WORKERS AND COCK

The hostess woke up the workers at night and, as the roosters crowed, put them to work. It seemed hard for the workers, and they decided to kill the rooster so as not to wake the mistress. They killed them, it got worse: the hostess was afraid to oversleep and even earlier began to raise the workers.

FISHERMAN AND FISH

The fisherman caught a fish. Rybka says:
“Fisherman, let me into the water; You see, I am shallow: you will not be of much use to me. And let me go, let me grow up, then you will catch it - you will benefit more.
Rybak says:
“He will be a fool who waits for a great benefit, and misses a small one from his hands.”

TOUCH AND VISION

(Reasoning)

Braid the index finger with the middle and braided fingers, touch the small ball so that it rolls between both fingers, and close your eyes yourself. It will look like two balls to you. Open your eyes - you will see that one ball. The fingers deceived, and the eyes were corrected.

Look (better from the side) at a good clean mirror: it will seem to you that this is a window or a door and that there is something behind it. Feel it with your finger and you will see that it is a mirror. Eyes deceived, and fingers corrected.

FOX AND GOAT

The goat wanted to get drunk: he climbed down the slope to the well, got drunk and became heavy. He began to get back and could not. And he began to cry. The fox saw and said:

“That's it, stupid! If you had as many hairs in your beard, as much intelligence in your head, then before getting off, you would think about how to get back.

HOW THE MAN REMOVED THE STONE

On the square in one city lay a huge stone. The stone took up a lot of space and interfered with driving around the city. Engineers were called and asked how to remove this stone and how much it would cost.
One engineer said that the stone had to be broken into pieces with gunpowder and then taken piece by piece, and that it would cost 8,000 rubles; another said that a large skating rink should be brought under the stone and the stone should be brought on the rink, and that it would cost 6,000 rubles.
And one man said: “And I will remove the stone and take 100 rubles for it.”
He was asked how he would do it. And he said: “I will dig a big hole near the very stone; I will scatter the earth from the pit over the square, I will throw a stone into the pit and level it with earth.
The man did just that, and they gave him 100 rubles and another 100 rubles for a clever invention.

THE DOG AND ITS SHADOW

The dog walked along the plank across the river, and carried meat in its teeth. She saw herself in the water and thought that there was another dog carrying meat, - she threw her meat and rushed to take it from that dog: that meat was not there at all, but her own was carried away by the wave.

And the dog was left behind.

SUDOMA

In the Pskov province, in the Porokhov district, there is the river Sudoma, and on the banks of this river there are two mountains, opposite each other.

On one mountain there used to be the town of Vyshgorod, on the other mountain in the old days the Slavs sued. The old people say that on this mountain in the old days a chain hung from the sky and that whoever was right, he reached the chain with his hand, and whoever was wrong, he could not get it. One person borrowed money from another and unlocked it. They brought them both to Mount Sudoma and ordered them to get to the chain. The one who gave the money raised his hand and immediately took it out. It's the turn of the guilty to get it. He did not unlock, but only gave his crutch to hold the one with whom he was suing, so that it would be more dexterous to reach the chain with his hands; stretched out his hands and took it. Then the people were surprised: how, both are right? And the guilty crutch was empty, and the very money in which he unlocked was hidden in the crutch. When he handed over the crutch with the money to the one to whom he was supposed to hold it, he gave the money with the crutch, and therefore took out the chain.

So he fooled everyone. But since then the chain has ascended to heaven and never descended again. That's what the old people say.

GARDENER AND SONS

The gardener wanted to teach his sons to gardening. When he began to die, he called them and said:

“Behold, children, when I die, you look in the vineyard for what is hidden there.”

The children thought that there was a treasure there, and when their father died, they began to dig and dug up the whole earth. The treasure was not found, and the land in the vineyard was dug up so well that much more fruit began to be born. And they became rich.

EAGLE

The eagle built his nest on the high road, far from the sea, and brought out the children.

Once people worked near the tree, and the eagle flew up to the nest with a big fish in its claws. People saw the fish, surrounded the tree, shouted and threw stones at the eagle.

The eagle dropped the fish, and the people picked it up and left.

The eagle sat on the edge of the nest, and the eaglets raised their heads and began to squeak: they asked for food.

The eagle was tired and could not fly again to the sea; he descended into the nest, covered the eaglets with his wings, caressed them, straightened their feathers, and seemed to ask them to wait a little. But the more he caressed them, the louder they squealed.

Then the eagle flew away from them and sat on the top bough of the tree.

The eagles whistled and squealed even more plaintively.

Then the eagle suddenly screamed loudly, spread its wings and flew heavily towards the sea. He returned only late in the evening: he flew quietly and low above the ground, in his claws he again had a big fish.

When he flew up to the tree, he looked around to see if there were people near again, quickly folded his wings and sat on the edge of the nest.

The eaglets raised their heads and opened their mouths, and the eagle tore the fish and fed the children.

MOUSE UNDER THE BARN

There lived one mouse under the barn. There was a hole in the floor of the barn, and bread fell into the hole. The mouse had a good life, but she wanted to show off her life. She gnawed a hole more and called other mice to visit her.

“Come,” he says, “to me for a walk. I will feed you. There will be food for everyone.” When she brought the mice, she saw that there was no hole at all. The man noticed a large hole in the floor and patched it up.

HARES AND FROGS

Once the hares came together and began to cry for their lives: “We die from people, and from dogs, and from eagles, and from other animals. It is better to die once than to live in fear and suffer. Let's drown!"
And the hares jumped to the lake to drown themselves. The frogs heard the hares and splashed into the water. One hare and says:
“Stop guys! Let's wait for the heat; the life of a frog, apparently, is even worse than ours: they are afraid of us too.”

THREE KALACHA AND ONE BARANKA

One man wanted to eat. He bought a kalach and ate; he was still hungry. He bought another roll and ate; he was still hungry. He bought a third roll and ate it, and he was still hungry. Then he bought a bagel, and when he ate one, he was full. Then the man hit himself on the head and said:

“What a fool I am! Why did I eat so many rolls in vain? I should eat one bagel first.”

PETER I AND THE MAN

Tsar Peter ran into a peasant in the forest. The man is chopping wood.
The king says: "God's help, man!"
The man says: "And then I need God's help."
The king asks: “Do you have a big family?”

I have a family of two sons and two daughters.

Well, your family is not big. Where are you putting money?

- And I put the money into three parts: firstly, I pay the debt, secondly, I give it in debt, thirdly, I put the sword into the water.

The king thought and did not know what it means that the old man pays his debt, and lends money, and throws himself into the water.
And the old man says: “I pay a debt - I feed my father-mother; I give in debt - I feed my sons; and into the water of the sword - a grove of daughters.
The king says: “Your smart head, old man. Now take me out of the forest into the field, I won't find the way."
The man says: “You will find the road yourself: go straight, then turn right, and then left, then right again.”
The king says: “I don’t understand this letter, you bring me together.”

“I have no time to drive, sir; a day is dear to us in the peasantry.

- Well, it's expensive, so I'll pay.

- If you pay, let's go.
They sat down on a one-wheeler, drove off. The dear king of the peasant began to ask: “Have you been far, peasant?”

- I've been somewhere.

- Did you see the king?

“I didn’t see the Tsar, but I ought to see him.”

“So, let’s go out into the field and see the king.”

- How do I know him?

- Everyone will be without hats, one king in a hat.

Here they are in the field. I saw the king's people - they all took off their hats. The man stares, but does not see the king.
So he asks: “Where is the king?”

Pyotr Alekseevich says to him: “You see, only the two of us in hats - one of us and the king.”

FATHER AND SONS

The father ordered his sons to live in harmony; they didn't listen. So he ordered to bring a broom and says:
“Break!”
No matter how much they fought, they could not break. Then the father untied the broom and ordered to break one rod at a time.
They easily broke the bars one by one.
Father and says:
“So are you; if you live in harmony, no one will overcome you; but if you quarrel, and all apart, everyone will easily destroy you.

WHY DOES THE WIND HAPPEN?

(Reasoning)

Fish live in water, but humans live in the air. The fish cannot hear or see the water until the fish themselves move, or until the water moves. And we also do not hear the air until we move or the air does not move.

But as soon as we run, we hear the air - it blows in our face; and sometimes you can hear when we run, how the air whistles in our ears. When we open the door to the warm upper room, the wind always blows from below from the courtyard into the upper room, and from above it blows from the upper room into the courtyard.

When someone walks around the room or waves a dress, we say: “he makes the wind”, and when the stove is heated, the wind always blows into it. When the wind blows in the yard, it blows for whole days and nights, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in the other. This happens because somewhere on earth the air becomes very hot, and in another place it cools down - then the wind begins, and a cold spirit comes from below, and warm from above, just like from the courtyard to the hut. And until then it blows until it warms up where it was cold, and cools down where it was hot.

VOLGA AND VAZUZA

There were two sisters: Volga and Vazuza. They began to argue which of them is smarter and who will live better.

Volga said: “Why should we argue, we are both old. Let's leave the house tomorrow morning and go our own way; then we will see which of the two will pass better and come to the Khvalyn kingdom sooner.”

Vazuza agreed, but deceived the Volga. As soon as the Volga fell asleep, Vazuza ran at night on a straight road to the Khvalyn kingdom.

When Volga got up and saw that her sister had left, she neither quietly nor quickly went on her way and overtook Vazuza.

Vazuza was afraid that the Volga would not punish her, she called herself a younger sister and asked the Volga to bring her to the Khvalyn kingdom. Volga forgave her sister and took her with her.

The Volga River begins in the Ostashkovsky district from the swamps in the Volga village. There is a small well there, the Volga flows from it. And the Vazuza River starts in the mountains. Vazuza flows straight, but the Volga turns.

The Vazuza breaks the ice earlier in the spring and passes through, while the Volga later. But when the two rivers converge, the Volga is already 30 fathoms wide, and the Vazuza is still a narrow and small river. The Volga passes through all of Russia for three thousand one hundred and sixty miles and flows into the Khvalynsk (Caspian) Sea. And the width in it in the hollow water is up to twelve miles.

FALCON AND COCK

The falcon got used to the owner and walked on the hand when he was called; the rooster ran away from the owner and screamed when they approached him. The falcon says to the rooster:

“There is no gratitude in you roosters; servile breed is visible. You, only when you are hungry, go to the owners. Whether we are a wild bird: we have a lot of strength, and we can fly faster than anyone; but we do not run away from people, but we ourselves still go to their hands when they call us. We remember that they feed us.”
Rooster and says:
"You don't run from people because you've never seen a roasted falcon, but we see roasted roosters every now and then."

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

Biography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tolstoy expressed the new worldview in his work "Confession" (1879㭎), where he spoke about the revolution in his views, the meaning of which he saw in the break with the ideology of the noble class and the transition to the side of the "simple working people". This turning point led Tolstoy to deny the state, the official church and property. The consciousness of the meaninglessness of life in the face of inevitable death led him to believe in God. He bases his teaching on the moral precepts of the New Testament: the demand for love for people and the preaching of non-resistance to evil by force constitute the meaning of the so-called "Tolstoyism", which is becoming popular not only in Russia, but also abroad.

During this period, he came to a complete denial of his previous literary activity, engaged in physical labor, plowed, sewed boots, switched to vegetarian food. In 1891 he publicly renounced copyright on all his writings written after 1880.

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

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

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

At the beginning of 1900 he wrote a number of articles exposing the entire system of state administration. The government of Nicholas II issued a decree according to which the Holy Synod (the highest church institution in Russia) excommunicated Tolstoy from the church, which caused a wave of indignation in society.

In 1901 Tolstoy lived in the Crimea, was treated after a serious illness, often met with Chekhov and M. Gorky.

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

Buried at Yasnaya Polyana.

Leo Tolstoy is one of the most famous writers and philosophers in the world. His views and beliefs formed the basis of a whole religious and philosophical movement, which is called Tolstoyism. The literary heritage of the writer amounted to 90 volumes of fiction and journalistic works, diary notes and letters, and he himself was repeatedly nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Fulfill all that you have determined to be fulfilled"

Genealogical tree of Leo Tolstoy. Image: regnum.ru

Silhouette of Maria Tolstoy (nee Volkonskaya), mother of Leo Tolstoy. 1810s Image: wikipedia.org

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province. He was the fourth child in a large noble family. Tolstoy was orphaned early. His mother died when he was not yet two years old, and at the age of nine he lost his father. The aunt, Alexandra Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the five Tolstoy children. The two older children moved in with their aunt in Moscow, while the younger ones stayed in Yasnaya Polyana. It is with the family estate that the most important and dearest memories of Leo Tolstoy's early childhood are connected.

In 1841 Alexandra Osten-Saken died and the Tolstoys moved in with their aunt Pelageya Yushkova in Kazan. Three years after the move, Leo Tolstoy decided to enter the prestigious Imperial Kazan University. However, he did not like to study, he considered exams a formality, and university professors - incompetent. Tolstoy did not even try to get a scientific degree, in Kazan he was more attracted to secular entertainment.

In April 1847, Leo Tolstoy's student life ended. He inherited his part of the estate, including his beloved Yasnaya Polyana, and immediately went home without receiving a higher education. In the family estate, Tolstoy tried to improve his life and start writing. He drew up his educational plan: to study languages, history, medicine, mathematics, geography, law, agriculture, natural sciences. However, he soon came to the conclusion that it is easier to make plans than to carry them out.

Tolstoy's asceticism was often replaced by revelry and card games. Wanting to start the right, in his opinion, life, he made a daily routine. But he did not observe it either, and in his diary he again noted dissatisfaction with himself. All these failures prompted Leo Tolstoy to change his lifestyle. The opportunity presented itself in April 1851: the elder brother Nikolai arrived in Yasnaya Polyana. At that time he served in the Caucasus, where the war was going on. Leo Tolstoy decided to join his brother and went with him to a village on the banks of the Terek River.

On the outskirts of the empire, Leo Tolstoy served for almost two and a half years. He whiled away the time hunting, playing cards, and occasionally participating in raids on enemy territory. Tolstoy liked such a solitary and monotonous life. It was in the Caucasus that the story "Childhood" was born. While working on it, the writer found a source of inspiration that remained important to him until the end of his life: he used his own memories and experiences.

In July 1852, Tolstoy sent the manuscript of the story to the Sovremennik magazine and attached a letter: “…I am looking forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or make me burn everything I started. ”. Editor Nikolai Nekrasov liked the work of the new author, and soon "Childhood" was published in the magazine. Encouraged by the first success, the writer soon began to continue the "Childhood". In 1854, he published a second story, Boyhood, in the Sovremennik magazine.

"The main thing is literary works"

Leo Tolstoy in his youth. 1851. Image: school-science.ru

Lev Tolstoy. 1848. Image: regnum.ru

Lev Tolstoy. Image: old.orlovka.org.ru

At the end of 1854, Leo Tolstoy arrived in Sevastopol, the epicenter of hostilities. Being in the thick of things, he created the story "Sevastopol in the month of December." Although Tolstoy was unusually frank in describing battle scenes, the first Sevastopol story was deeply patriotic and glorified the bravery of Russian soldiers. Soon Tolstoy began to work on the second story - "Sevastopol in May". By that time, nothing was left of his pride in the Russian army. The horror and shock that Tolstoy experienced on the front line and during the siege of the city greatly influenced his work. Now he wrote about the meaninglessness of death and the inhumanity of war.

In 1855, from the ruins of Sevastopol, Tolstoy traveled to sophisticated Petersburg. The success of the first Sevastopol story gave him a sense of purpose: “My career is literature, writing and writing! From tomorrow I work all my life or I give up everything, rules, religion, decency - everything ”. In the capital, Leo Tolstoy completed "Sevastopol in May" and wrote "Sevastopol in August 1855" - these essays completed the trilogy. And in November 1856, the writer finally left military service.

Thanks to truthful stories about the Crimean War, Tolstoy entered the St. Petersburg literary circle of the Sovremennik magazine. During this period, he wrote the story "Snowstorm", the story "Two Hussars", finished the trilogy with the story "Youth". However, after some time, relations with writers from the circle deteriorated: “These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself”. To unwind, in early 1857, Leo Tolstoy went abroad. He visited Paris, Rome, Berlin, Dresden: he got acquainted with famous works of art, met with artists, observed how people live in European cities. Travel did not inspire Tolstoy: he created the story "Lucerne", in which he described his disappointment.

Leo Tolstoy at work. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy tells a fairy tale to his grandchildren Ilyusha and Sonya. 1909. Krekshino. Photo: Vladimir Chertkov / wikipedia.org

In the summer of 1857 Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana. In his native estate, he continued to work on the story "The Cossacks", and also wrote the story "Three Deaths" and the novel "Family Happiness". In his diary, Tolstoy defined his purpose for himself at that time as follows: “The main thing is literary works, then family obligations, then household chores ... And to live for yourself is enough for a good deed every day”.

In 1899 Tolstoy wrote the novel The Resurrection. In this work, the writer criticized the judicial system, the army, the government. The contempt with which Tolstoy described the institution of the church in Resurrection provoked a backlash. In February 1901, the Holy Synod published a resolution on the excommunication of Count Leo Tolstoy from the Church in the journal Tserkovnye Vedomosti. This decision only increased Tolstoy's popularity and drew public attention to the writer's ideals and beliefs.

Tolstoy's literary and social activities became known abroad as well. The writer was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902 and 1909 and for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902-1906. Tolstoy himself did not want to receive the award and even told the Finnish writer Arvid Järnefelt to try to prevent the prize from being awarded, because, “if that happened… it would be very unpleasant to refuse” “He [Chertkov] took the unfortunate old man into his hands in every possible way, he separated us, he killed the artistic spark in Lev Nikolayevich and kindled condemnation, hatred, denial, which are felt in Lev Nikolayevich’s last articles years his foolish evil genius urged him on".

Tolstoy himself was burdened by the life of a landowner and a family man. He sought to bring his life in line with his convictions, and in early November 1910 he secretly left the Yasnaya Polyana estate. The road turned out to be unbearable for an elderly person: on the way he fell seriously ill and was forced to stay at the house of the caretaker of the Astapovo railway station. Here the writer spent the last days of his life. Leo Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910. The writer was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.