The name of the writer, enlightener, Count Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy is known to every Russian person. During his lifetime, 78 works of art were printed, another 96 were preserved in archives. And in the first half of the 20th century, a complete collection of works was published, numbering 90 volumes and including, in addition to novels, short stories, short stories, essays, etc., numerous letters and diary entries of this great man, distinguished by great talent and outstanding personal qualities. In this article, we recall the most interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy.
House for sale in Yasnaya Polyana
In his youth, the count was known as a gambler and, unfortunately, did not like to play cards very successfully. It so happened that part of the house in Yasnaya Polyana, where the writer spent his childhood, was given for debt. Subsequently, in an empty place, Tolstoy planted trees. Ilya Lvovich, his son, recalled how he once asked his father to show in the house the room where he was born. And Lev Nikolaevich pointed to the top of one of the larch trees, adding: "There." And the leather sofa on which this happened, he described in the novel "War and Peace." These are interesting facts from the life of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy related to the family estate.
As for the house itself, its two two-story outbuildings survived and grew over time. After marriage and the birth of children, the Tolstoy family grew larger, and new premises were built in parallel with this.
Family education and children of Tolstoy
Lev Nikolaevich has always been distinguished by attachment to the family. The writer believed that it was she who plays the main role in the life of any person. With his wife, Sofia Andreevna, they lived in love and harmony for fifteen years. Then quarrels began to arise on the basis of the Count's negative attitude to property and his revision of life values.
Thirteen children were born into the Tolstoy family, five of whom died in infancy. The count never spared time for them, and before the crisis of the 80s he liked to arrange pranks. For example, if kissel was served during lunch, the father noticed that it was good for them to glue the boxes. The children immediately brought to the table paper, and the process of creativity began.
Another example. Someone in the family was sad or even burst into tears. The count who noticed this instantly organized the Numidian Cavalry. He jumped up, raised his hand and raced around the table, and children rushed after him.
Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich has always been distinguished by a love of literature. He regularly arranged evening readings in his house. Once Jules Verne took up a book without pictures. Then he began to illustrate it himself. And although the artist was not very good from him, the family was delighted with what he saw.
Children and comic verses of Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich remembered. He read them in the wrong German language for the same purpose: to cheer up his family. By the way, few people know that there are several poetic works in the writer's creative heritage. For example, "Fool", "Volga-hero". They were mainly written for children and entered the famous ABC.
Thoughts of Suicide
The works of Leo Tolstoy became for the writer a way of studying human characters in their development. Psychologism in the image often required a great deal of mental stress from the author. So, while working on "Anna Karenina" with the writer, trouble almost happened. He was in such a terrible state of mind that he was afraid to repeat the fate of his hero Levin and commit suicide. Later, in “Confession,” Leo Tolstoy noted that the thought about it was so persistent that he even carried out a cord from the room where he changed clothes alone and refused to hunt with a gun.
Church Disappointment
The biography of Leo Tolstoy is well studied and contains many stories about how he was excommunicated. Meanwhile, the writer always considered himself a believer, and since the year 77, for several years he strictly observed all posts and attended every church service. However, after visiting the Optina Desert in the year 81, everything changed. Lev Nikolayevich went there with his lackey and school teacher. They walked, as expected, with a knapsack, in bast shoes. Finding themselves, finally, in the monastery, they discovered terrible dirt and tough discipline.
Arriving pilgrims settled on a common basis, which outraged the lackey, always referring to the owner as a master. He turned to one of the monks and said that the old man is Leo Tolstoy. The writer's work was well known, and he was immediately transferred to the best hotel room. After returning from Optina Desert, the Count expressed his dissatisfaction with such reverence, and since then has changed his attitude towards church conventions and its employees. It ended with the fact that in one of the posts he took a cutlet for lunch.
By the way, in the last years of his life, the writer became a vegetarian, completely abandoning meat. But at the same time I ate fried eggs every day in different forms.
Physical work
In the beginning of the 80s - the biography of Leo Tolstoy reports this - the writer finally came to the conclusion that idle life and luxury do not color a person. For a long time he was tormented by the question of what to do: sell all his property and leave his beloved wife and children unaccustomed to hard work without money? Or rewrite the whole state to Sofya Andreevna? Later Tolstoy will divide everything between family members. At this difficult time for him - the family had already moved to Moscow - Lev Nikolayevich liked to go to the Vorobyovy Gory, where he helped the men to cut firewood. Then he learned the shoe craft and even designed shoes and summer shoes made of canvas and leather, which he wore all summer. And every year he helped peasant families in which there was no one to plow, sow and harvest bread. Not everyone endorsed such a life of Lev Nikolaevich. Tolstoy was not understood even in their own family. But he remained adamant. And one summer, the whole Yasnaya Polyana crashed into artels and went to the mowing ground. Among the workers was even Sofia Andreevna, raking grass with a rake.
Help for the starving
Noting interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy, we can recall the events of 1898. Once again, famine broke out in Mtsensk and Chernen districts. The writer, dressed in an old retinue and footings, with a knapsack behind him, along with his son who volunteered to help him, personally traveled to all the villages and found out where the situation was really miserable. For a week, they compiled lists and created about twelve dining rooms in each county, where they fed primarily children, the elderly and the sick. Products were brought from Yasnaya Polyana, prepared two hot dishes a day. The initiative of Tolstoy caused a negative on the part of the authorities, which established constant control over him, and local landowners. The latter felt that such actions of the count could lead to the fact that they themselves would soon have to plow a field and milk cows themselves.
Somehow, one of the canteens entered the camp and started a conversation with the count. He complained that although he endorsed the writer's deed, he was a bonded man, because he did not know what to do - it was about allowing permission for such activities of the governor. The writer’s answer was simple: "Do not serve where they are forced to act against conscience." And such was the whole life of Leo Tolstoy.
Serious illness
In 1901, the writer fell ill with a severe fever and, on the advice of doctors, went to the Crimea. There, instead of cure, he also caught inflammation and typhoid fever. There was virtually no hope that he would survive. Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose work contains many works describing death, was mentally prepared for it. He was not at all afraid to part with life. The writer even said goodbye to loved ones. And although he could only speak in a whisper, he gave each of his children valuable advice for the future, as it turned out, another nine years before his death. This was very helpful, since after nine years, none of the family members - and they almost all gathered at Astapovo Station - were not allowed to see the patient.
The funeral of a writer
Back in the 90s, Lev Nikolaevich in his diary spoke out about how I would like to see my funeral. Ten years later, in Memoirs, he tells the story of the famous “green stick” buried by a ravine near the oaks. And already in 1908, the stenographer dictated the wish: to bury him in a wooden coffin in the place where the brothers were looking for a source of eternal good in childhood.
Tolstoy Leo Nikolaevich, according to his will, was buried in the park of Yasnaya Polyana. The funeral was attended by several thousand people, among whom were not only friends, admirers of creativity, writers, but also local peasants, to whom he treated his whole life with care and understanding.
Testament Story
Interesting facts from the life of Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy also relate to his will regarding the creative heritage. The writer made six wills: in 1895 (diary entries), 1904 (letter to Chertkov), 1908 (dictated to Gusev), twice in 1909 and in 1010. According to one of them, all of his recordings and works came into general use. According to others, the right to them was transferred to Chertkov. Ultimately, Leo Tolstoy bequeathed creativity and all of his recordings to his daughter Alexandra, who, with sixteen years of age, became an assistant to her father.
Number 28
According to relatives, the writer was always ironic about prejudice. But he considered the number twenty-eight to be special and loved. Was it a mere coincidence or a fate rock? It is unknown, but many of the most important events in life and the first works of Leo Tolstoy are connected with it. Here is a list of them:
- August 28, 1828 is the date of birth of the writer himself.
- On May 28, 1856, censorship gave permission to publish the first book with the novels "Childhood and Adolescence."
- On June 28, the first-born, Sergei.
- February 28, the wedding of the son of Ilya.
- On October 28, the writer forever left Yasnaya Polyana.