Leo Tolstoy

Leo Nikolaivich Tolstoy was born on August 28, 1828 to Princess Marie Volkonsky and ount Nicolas Tolstoy! Tolstoy was born at "asnaya Polyana, the Volkonsky #anor house on the road to $ie%% in &ussia! 't was here that he was to s(end the #a)ority o% his adult li%e! Leo was the %ourth and last son o% the %a#ily* they also had one daughter! Tolstoy+s #other died when he was 18 #onths old, an event that would %orever a%%ect his %eelings about wo#en and #otherhood! ,is %ather died when Tolstoy was nine years old, and the children grew u( with a variety o% aunts! According to Tolstoy, one o% those aunts, Tatiana "ergolsky, -had the greatest in%luence on .his/ li%e- because she taught hi# -the #oral )oy o% love!Tolstoy sons attended the 0niversity o% $a1an! An irregular student, Tolstoy studied law, but he was #ore attracted by high society than by the rote learning #ethods e#(loyed at the 0niversity! 2hen his brother Nicolas %inished school and enlisted in the &ussian #ilitary, Tolstoy took advantage o% the o((ortunity to leave as well! ,e went to 3t! Petersburg and Moscow, where he led a debauched li%e and clai#ed in his diary that -' a# living like a beast!- 'n A(ril 1841 Nicolas, disturbed by the direction o% his brother+s li%e, convinced hi# to head %or the aucasus Mountains with Nicolas+ artillery division! Their )ourney to the aucasus, over land and sea, was to %or# the backbone o% Leo+s 1851 novel The ossacks! Tolstoy beca#e a soldier and stayed in the aucasus+ %or three years, where he wrote his %irst novel, Childhood, in the winter o% 184161842! 't was (ublished in a leading 3t! Petersburg review, 3ovre#ennik, in 3e(te#ber 1842! The review would also seriali1e so#e o% Tolstoy+s later works, including Boyhood and Youth! 2hen the ri#ean 2ar broke out in 1847, Tolstoy was trans%erred to the %ront! 8uring his e9(erience with the 2ar in 3ebasto(ol, he had the %irst o% #any religious awakenings, believing that he needed to -create a new religion corres(onding to the develo(#ent o% #ankind!- A%ter 3ebasto(ol ca(itulated in August 1844, he went to 3t! Petersburg to re(ort on the battle, and then he le%t the ar#y %or good! 'n 3t! Petersburg, Tolstoy was well6received by the literary co##unity, but he also o%ten %ought with #any o% the#, including disagree#ents with the great author Turgenev :Fathers & Sons;! ,e was elected a #e#ber o% the Moscow Literary 3ociety in <ebruary 184=! 2hen Tolstoy+s beloved brother Nicolas died o% consu#(tion on 3e(te#ber 2>, 185>, he turned his %ocus towards his religious %eelings and his desire to do good works! ,e toured ?uro(e, studying its educational syste#s in the ho(e o% starting new schools in &ussia! 2hen the ser%s were liberated on <ebruary 1=, 1851, he hurried back to &ussia in order to #ediate between the# and their %or#er #asters! 0n%ortunately, because he %re@uently sided with the ser%s, he was %orced out o% his #ediator (osition! This con%lict between Tolstoy+s status as a wealthy landowner and his desire to hel( the (oor would cause hi# (roble#s %or the rest o% his li%e! An 3e(te#ber 27, 1852, at the age o% 7B, Tolstoy #arried 186year6old 3o(hia Cehrs, the youngest daughter o% a wealthy %a#ily which he had known %or #any years! 8uring their early days o% #arriage, he conceived the idea o% a novel based on the 8ece#brists, a grou( o% noble %a#ilies who atte#(ted to bring the idea o% a constitution to state attention in 8ece#ber 1824! As soon as he started doing research on their work, however, the whole (eriod o% the Na(oleonic wars un%olded! The novel was to eventually beco#e Tolstoy+s great e(ic, War and Peace! The novel was seriali1ed over a (eriod o% %ive years, 185B6185=, and at %irst, the critics were

co#(letely ba%%led by it! ?ven Turgenev was unsure o% the novel+s i#(ortance! 't did not gain critical adoration until several years a%ter it was co#(leted! Anna Karenina, Tolstoy+s ne9t work, was based on the real6li%e case o% a young wo#an who# Tolstoy knew! 3he was a young society wo#an who threw hersel% under a train over what was then called -a ro#ance!- The novel was seriali1ed during 18D7618D5, and was widely regarded as a triu#(h! At the ti#e o% Anna Karenina+s co#(osition, Tolstoy was undergoing another i#(ortant stage in his religious (rocess! ,e was @uestioning the integrity o% the Ereek Arthodo9 hurch and the #orality o% &ussian high society* those @uestions are brought to the %ore in this work! Throughout the co#(osition o% Anna $arenina and later writings including Resurrection :18==; and the #aster%ul short novel The Death of Ivan Ilyitch :1885;, Tolstoy was heavily involved in (ublic works! ,is work in the 188>s, %or e9a#(le, #ostly involved a strea# o% (a#(hlets and didactic articles concerning religion, educational instruction, econo#ics, and li%estyle! ,e wrote articles (raising vegetarianis#, te#(erance, chastity, and wealth redistribution through collective ownershi( o% land! ,e underlined the i#(ortance o% these lessons through (ersonal e9a#(le! 2hen a series o% %a#ines struck &ussia in the early 18=>s, %or e9a#(le, he and his %a#ily #oved dee( into the countryside in order to set u( sou( kitchens 6 2B5 o% the# by Fuly 18=2! Cy the turn o% the century, Tolstoy was universally loved and res(ected by all classes o% (eo(le e9ce(t %or the very wealthy and (ower%ul! 'n (art to #ediate so#e o% his in%luence, the &ussian hurch :Ereek Arthodo9; e9co##unicated hi# in March 1=>1! ,e was also denounced by the state as an anarchist in 18=1, and he increasingly had to (ublish his works abroad because o% censorshi(! These #easures %ailed to lessen Tolstoy+s (o(ularity with the working class 6 on the day a%ter the hurch+s e9co##unication announce#ent, students and workers (araded in (ublic s@uares and accosted Tolstoy with such su((ort and sy#(athy that he was %orced to run back into his house! Though his health began to %ail in 1=>1, Tolstoy continued his writing and his (ublic work until the end o% his li%e! 'n his %inal years, he beca#e #ore %i9ed on s(iritual ideas and #oral (er%ection! 8esiring co#(lete %reedo# %ro# social res(onsibilities, he le%t his wi%e on Nove#ber 1>, 1=1> in order to live in a hut in the woods and concentrate on s(iritual #atters! 't was during this %inal )ourney that he died, on Nove#ber 21, 1=1>, in a village near the 3ha#ardin onvent! A((ro(riately, (easants brought his body to "asnaya Polyana!