Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy brief information. Biography of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy briefly. Brief biography of LN Tolstoy. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy short biography Story about ln Tolstoy biography

The Russian writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province, the fourth child in a wealthy aristocratic family. Tolstoy lost his parents early; his distant relative T.A.Yergolskaya was engaged in his further upbringing. In 1844 Tolstoy entered the Kazan University at the Department of Oriental Languages ​​of the Faculty of Philosophy, but since classes did not arouse any interest in him, in 1847. applied for resignation from the university. At the age of 23, Tolstoy, together with his older brother Nikolai, left for the Caucasus, where he took part in hostilities. These years of the writer's life were reflected in the autobiographical story "Cossacks" (1852-63), in the stories "Raid" (1853), "Cutting the Forest" (1855), as well as in the later story "Hadji Murad" (1896-1904, published in 1912). In the Caucasus, Tolstoy began to write the trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood", "Youth".

During the Crimean War, he went to Sevastopol, where he continued to fight. After the end of the war he left for St. Petersburg and immediately entered the "Contemporary" circle (N. A. Nekrasov, I. S. Turgenev, A. N. Ostrovsky, I. A. Goncharov, etc.), where he was greeted as " the great hope of Russian literature "(Nekrasov), published" Sevastopol Stories ", which vividly reflected his outstanding writing talent. In 1857, Tolstoy went on a trip to Europe, which he was later disappointed with ..

In the fall of 1856, Tolstoy, having retired, decided to interrupt his literary activity and become a landowner-landowner, went to Yasnaya Polyana, where he was engaged in educational work, opened a school, and created his own system of pedagogy. This occupation so fascinated Tolstoy that in 1860 he even went abroad in order to get acquainted with the schools of Europe.

In September 1862, Tolstoy married the doctor's eighteen-year-old daughter, Sofya Andreevna Bers, and immediately after the wedding took his wife from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana, where he completely devoted himself to family life and household chores, but by the fall of 1863 he was captured by a new literary idea, as a result of which he was born the fundamental work "War and Peace" appeared. In 1873-1877 created the novel "Anna Karenina". During these years, the writer's worldview, known as "Tolstoyism", was fully formed, the essence of which can be seen in the works: "Confession", "What is my faith?", "Kreutzer Sonata".

Admirers of the work of the writer came from all over Russia and the world to Yasnaya Polyana, whom they regarded as a spiritual mentor. In 1899 the novel "Resurrection" was published.

The last works of the writer were the stories “Father Sergius”, “After the Ball”, “Posthumous Notes of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich” and the drama “Living Corpse”.

In late autumn 1910, at night, secretly from his family, 82-year-old Tolstoy, accompanied only by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana, fell ill on the way and was forced to get off the train at the small Astapovo railway station of the Ryazan-Uralskaya railway. Here, in the house of the station master, he spent the last seven days of his life. On November 7 (20), Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy died.

In 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, on August 26, the future great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was born. The family was well-born - his ancestor was a noble nobleman, who received the count's title for his service to Tsar Peter. The mother was from the ancient noble family of the Volkonskys. Belonging to the privileged stratum of society influenced the behavior and thoughts of the writer throughout his life. A short biography of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy does not fully disclose the entire history of the ancient clan of the family.

Serene life in Yasnaya Polyana

The writer's childhood was quite prosperous, despite the fact that he lost his mother early. Thanks to family stories, he kept her bright image in his memory. A short biography of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy testifies that his father was the embodiment of beauty and strength for the writer. He instilled in the boy a love for hound hunting, which was later described in detail in the novel War and Peace.

There was a close relationship with his older brother Nikolenka - he taught little Levushka different games and told him interesting stories. Tolstoy's first story, Childhood, contains many autobiographical memories of the writer's childhood.

Youth

The serene joyful stay in Yasnaya Polyana was interrupted due to the death of his father. In 1837, the family was under the tutelage of an aunt. In this city, according to the short biography of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, the writer's youth passed. Here he entered the university in 1844 - first at the philosophy, and then at the law faculty. True, studies attracted him little, the student preferred various amusements and revelry more.

In this biography, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy characterizes him as a person who disdained people of the lower, non-aristocratic class. He denied history as a science - in his eyes it had no practical use. The writer retained the sharpness of his judgments throughout his life.

In the role of a landowner

In 1847, without graduating from the university, Tolstoy decides to return to Yasnaya Polyana and try to arrange the life of his serfs. The reality was in sharp contrast to the ideas of the writer. The peasants did not understand the master's intentions, and a short biography of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy describes his experience of farming as unsuccessful (the writer shared it in his story "The Morning of a Landowner"), as a result of which he leaves his estate.

The path of becoming a writer

The next few years, spent in St. Petersburg and Moscow, were not in vain for the future great prose writer. From 1847 to 1852, diaries are kept in which Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy carefully checks all his thoughts and reflections. A short biography tells that while serving in the Caucasus, work is being carried out on the story "Childhood", which will later be published in the journal "Sovremennik". This marked the beginning of the further creative path of the great Russian writer.

Ahead of the writer awaits the creation of his great works "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", but for now he is honing his style, publishing in Sovremennik and basking in favorable reviews from critics.

Later years of creativity

In 1855, Tolstoy came to St. Petersburg for a short time, but literally a couple of months later he left him and settled in Yasnaya Polyana, opening a school there for peasant children. In 1862 he married Sophia Bers and was very happy in the early years.

In the years 1863-1869, the novel War and Peace was written and revised, which had little resemblance to the classic version. It lacks the traditional key elements of the time. Rather, they are present, but not key.

1877 - Tolstoy completed the novel "Anna Karenina", which repeatedly uses the technique of internal monologue.

Since the second half of the 60s, Tolstoy is experiencing which he managed to overcome only at the turn of the 1870s and 80s by a complete rethinking of his previous life. Then Tolstoy appears - his wife categorically did not accept his new views. The ideas of the late Tolstoy are similar to socialist doctrine, with the only difference that he was an opponent of the revolution.

In 1896-1904, Tolstoy finished the story, which was published after his death, which occurred in November 1910 at the Astapovo station of the Ryazan-Ural road.

The land of Russia has presented humanity with a whole scattering of talented writers. In many parts of the world, people know and love the works of I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, N. V. Gogol and many other Russian authors. This publication aims to describe in general terms the life and career of the remarkable writer L.N. Tolstoy as one of the most outstanding Russians, who with his works has covered himself and his Fatherland with world fame.

Childhood

In 1828, or, more precisely, on August 28, in the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana (at that time Tula province), the fourth child in the family was born, who was named Leo. Despite the quick loss of his mother - she died when he was not even two years old - he will carry her image throughout his life and uses it in the trilogy "War and Peace" as Princess Volkonskaya. Tolstoy lost his father before reaching the age of nine, and it would seem that he would perceive these years as a personal tragedy. However, brought up by relatives who gave him love and a new family, the writer considered the years of his childhood the happiest. This is reflected in his novel Childhood.

Interestingly, Leo began to transfer his thoughts and feelings to paper as a child. One of the first attempts at writing the future literary classic was a short story "The Kremlin", written under the impression of a visit to the Moscow Kremlin.

Adolescence and youth

Having received an excellent primary education (he was taught by excellent teachers from France and Germany) and having moved with his family to Kazan, young Tolstoy entered Kazan University in 1844. Studying was not exciting. After less than two years, he, allegedly for health reasons, quits school and returns to the family estate with the thought of completing his studies in absentia.

Having experienced all the delights of unsuccessful management, which will then be reflected in the story "The Morning of the Landowner", Lev moved first to Moscow and later to St. Petersburg with the hope of getting a diploma at the university. The search for oneself during this period led to amazing metamorphoses. Preparation for exams, the desire to become a military man, religious asceticism, suddenly replaced by revelry and revelry - this is not a complete list of his occupations at this time. But it is at this stage in life that a serious desire arises.

Adulthood

Heeding the advice of his elder brother, Tolstoy became a cadet and went to serve in the Caucasus in 1851. Here he takes part in hostilities, gets closer to the inhabitants of the Cossack village and realizes the huge difference between the life of the nobility and everyday reality. During this period, he wrote the story "Childhood", which is published under a pseudonym and brings the first success. Having supplemented his autobiography with the trilogy with the stories "Adolescence" and "Youth", Tolstoy gains recognition among writers and readers.

Taking part in the defense of Sevastopol (1854), Tolstoy was awarded not only an order and medals, but also new experiences that became the basis of the "Sevastopol stories." This collection finally convinced critics of his talent.

After the war

Having finished his military adventures in 1855, Tolstoy returned to St. Petersburg, where he immediately became a member of the Sovremennik circle. He falls into the company of people like Turgenev, Ostrovsky, Nekrasov and others. But the social life did not please him and, having been abroad and finally breaking with the army, he returned to Yasnaya Polyana. Here in 1859 Tolstoy, mindful of the contrast between the common people and the nobles, opened a school for peasant children. With his assistance, 20 more such schools were created in the vicinity.

"War and Peace"

After the wedding with the doctor's 18-year-old daughter Sophia Bers in 1862, the couple returned to Yasnaya Polyana, where they indulged in the joys of family life and housekeeping. But a year later, Tolstoy was carried away by a new idea. A trip to the Borodino field, work in the archives, a painstaking study of the correspondence of people of the era of Alexander I and the emotional uplift of family happiness led to the publication of the first part of the novel "War and Peace" in 1865. The full version of the trilogy was published in 1869 and still causes admiration and controversy regarding the novel.

Anna Karenina

The landmark novel known to the whole world was the result of a deep analysis of the life of Tolstoy's contemporaries and was released in 1877. In this decade, the writer lived in Yasnaya Polyana, teaching peasant children and defending his own views on pedagogy through the press. Family life, decomposed through a social lens, illustrates the entire spectrum of human emotions. Despite not the best, to put it mildly, relations between writers, even F.M. Dostoevsky.

Soul break

Contemplating social inequality around him, now he considers the dogmas of Christianity as an incentive to humanity and justice. Tolstoy, understanding the role of God in people's lives, continues to denounce the corruption of his servants. This period of complete denial of the established order explains the criticism of the church and state institutions. It got to the point that he questioned art, denied science, marriage and much more. As a result, he was officially excommunicated in 1901, and also caused discontent with the authorities. This period of the writer's life gave the world many sharp, sometimes contradictory, works. The result of comprehending the views of the author was his last novel "Sunday".

Care

Due to disagreements in the family and not understood by the secular society, Tolstoy, having decided to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but getting off the train due to poor health, died at a small, godforsaken station. It happened in the fall of 1910, and next to him was only his doctor, who turned out to be powerless against the writer's illness.

LN Tolstoy was one of the first to risk describing human life without embellishment. His characters possessed all, sometimes unsightly, feelings, desires and character traits. Therefore, they remain relevant today, and his works are rightfully included in the heritage of world literature.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy brief information.

Lev 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 called Tolstoyism. The literary legacy of the writer consisted of 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.

"Do all that you have determined to be done"

Family tree of Leo Tolstoy. Image: regnum.ru

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

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, 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 as well. The aunt, Alexandra Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the Tolstoy's five children. The two older children moved to their aunt in Moscow, while the younger ones remained in Yasnaya Polyana. The most important and dear memories of Leo Tolstoy's early childhood are connected with the family estate.

In 1841, Alexandra Osten-Saken died, and the Tolstoyes moved to Kazan with their aunt Pelageya Yushkova. Three years after the move, Lev Tolstoy decided to enter the prestigious Imperial Kazan University. However, he did not like studying, 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 by 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 was easier to make plans than to implement them.

Tolstoy's asceticism was often replaced by carousing and playing cards. Wanting to start the right life, in his opinion, he made up the daily routine. But he did not observe it either, and in his diary he again noted his dissatisfaction with himself. All these failures prompted Leo Tolstoy to change his lifestyle. The case 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 raiding enemy territory. Tolstoy liked such a solitary and monotonous life. It was in the Caucasus that the story "Childhood" was born. 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 look forward to your verdict. He will either encourage me to continue my favorite activities, or make me burn everything I started. "... The editor Nikolai Nekrasov liked the work of the new author, and soon Childhood was published in the magazine. Encouraged by his first success, the writer soon began the sequel to 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 his second story - "Sevastopol in May". By that time, there was nothing 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 senselessness of death and the inhumanity of war.

In 1855, from the ruins of Sevastopol, Tolstoy went to exquisite 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, the rules, religion, decency - everything. "... In the capital, Lev Tolstoy finished 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 the truthful stories about the Crimean War, Tolstoy entered the 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 a while, relations with the writers from the circle soured: "These people are sick of me, and I am sick of myself"... To unwind, at the beginning of 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. The trip did not inspire Tolstoy: he created the story "Lucerne", in which he described his disappointment.

Leo Tolstoy at work. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana. Image: kartinkinaden.ru

Leo Tolstoy tells a tale to his grandchildren Ilyusha and Sonya. 1909. Kryokshino. 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 "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: "The main thing is literary works, then - family responsibilities, then - household ... And so to live for yourself - for a good deed a day and enough".

In 1899, Tolstoy wrote the novel 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 response. In February 1901, in the journal Tserkovnye Vedomosti, the Holy Synod published a decree on the excommunication of Count Leo Tolstoy from the church. This decision only increased the popularity of Tolstoy and drew public attention to the ideals and beliefs of the writer.

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 the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1902-1906. Tolstoy himself did not want to receive the award and even told the Finnish writer Arvid Jarnefelt to try to prevent the award of the award, because, “If it happened ... it would be very unpleasant to refuse” “He [Chertkov] took every possible way into the hands of the unfortunate old man, he tore us apart, he killed the artistic spark in Lev Nikolaevich and kindled condemnation, hatred, denial, which are felt in the last articles of Lev Nikolaevich years that his stupid evil genius incited him to ".

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

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy- an outstanding Russian prose writer, playwright and public figure. Born on August 28 (September 9), 1828 in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, Tula region. On the maternal side, the writer belonged to the eminent family of the Volkonsky princes, and on the paternal side - to the old family of the Tolstoy counts. Great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather and father of Leo Tolstoy were military men. Representatives of the ancient Tolstoy family even under Ivan the Terrible served as voivods in many cities of Russia.

The writer's grandfather on the mother's side, "a descendant of Rurik", Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, was enlisted in military service from the age of seven. He was a participant in the Russian-Turkish war and retired with the rank of general-in-chief. The writer's paternal grandfather - Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy - served in the Navy, and then in the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. The writer's father, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, voluntarily entered military service at the age of seventeen. He participated in the Patriotic War of 1812, was captured by the French and was liberated by Russian troops who entered Paris after the defeat of Napoleon's army. On the maternal side, Tolstoy was related to the Pushkins. Their common ancestor was the boyar I.M. Golovin, an associate of Peter I, who studied shipbuilding with him. One of his daughters is the poet's great-grandmother, the other is the great-grandmother of Tolstoy's mother. Thus, Pushkin was Tolstoy's fourth uncle.

Childhood of the writer took place in Yasnaya Polyana - an old family estate. Tolstoy's interest in history and literature arose in childhood: living in the village, he saw how the life of the working people proceeded, from him he heard many folk tales, epics, songs, legends. The life of the people, their work, interests and views, oral creativity - everything alive and wise - was revealed to Tolstoy by Yasnaya Polyana.

Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya, the writer's mother, was a kind and sympathetic person, an intelligent and educated woman: she knew French, German, English and Italian, played the piano, and painted. Tolstoy was not even two years old when his mother died. The writer did not remember her, but he heard so much about her from those around him that he clearly and vividly represented her appearance and character.

Children loved and appreciated Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, their father, for their humane attitude towards serfs. In addition to doing housework and children, he read a lot. During his life, Nikolai Ilyich collected a rich library, consisting of books, rare for those times, by French classics, historical and natural history works. It was he who first noticed the tendency of his youngest son to a lively perception of the artistic word.

When Tolstoy was nine years old, his father took him to Moscow for the first time. The first impressions of Lev Nikolaevich's life in Moscow served as the basis for many paintings, scenes and episodes of the hero's life in Moscow Tolstoy's trilogy "Childhood", "Boyhood" and "Youth"... Young Tolstoy saw not only the open side of big city life, but also some hidden, shadowy sides. With his first stay in Moscow, the writer connected the end of the earliest period of his life, childhood, and the transition to adolescence. The first period of Tolstoy's life in Moscow did not last long. In the summer of 1837, having gone on business to Tula, his father suddenly died. Soon after the death of his father, Tolstoy and his sister and brothers had to endure a new misfortune: their grandmother died, whom all relatives considered the head of the family. The sudden death of her son was a terrible blow to her and in less than a year took her to the grave. A few years later, the first guardian of the orphaned children of the Tolstoys, the sister of their father, Alexandra Ilinichna Osten-Saken, died. Ten-year-old Lev, his three brothers and a sister were taken to Kazan, where their new guardian lived - aunt Pelageya Ilyinichna Yushkova.

Tolstoy wrote about his second guardian as a woman "kind and very pious", but at the same time very "frivolous and vain." According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Pelageya Ilyinichna did not enjoy authority with Tolstoy and his brothers, therefore, moving to Kazan is considered to be a new stage in the writer's life: upbringing ended, a period of independent life began.

Tolstoy lived in Kazan for over six years. It was the time for the formation of his character and the choice of his life path. Living with his brothers and sister at Pelageya Ilyinichna's, young Tolstoy spent two years preparing to enter Kazan University. Having decided to enter the eastern department of the university, he paid special attention to preparing for exams in foreign languages. In exams in mathematics and Russian literature, Tolstoy received fours, and fives in foreign languages. In the exams in history and geography, Lev Nikolaevich failed - he received unsatisfactory marks.

Failure in the entrance exams served as a serious lesson for Tolstoy. He devoted the whole summer to a thorough study of history and geography, passed additional exams on them, and in September 1844 was enrolled in the first year of the Oriental Department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Kazan University in the category of Arabic-Turkish literature. However, the study of languages ​​did not captivate Tolstoy, and after the summer holidays in Yasnaya Polyana, he transferred from the oriental faculty to the law faculty.

But in the future, university studies did not arouse Lev Nikolaevich's interest in the studied sciences. Most of the time he studied philosophy on his own, compiled the "Rules of Life" and neatly made notes in his diary. By the end of the third year of studies, Tolstoy was finally convinced that the then university order only interfered with independent creative work, and he decided to leave the university. However, he needed a university degree in order to qualify for admission to the service. And to get his diploma, Tolstoy passed the university exams as an external student, having spent two years of his life in the countryside preparing for them. Having received university documents from the office at the end of April 1847, the former student Tolstoy left Kazan.

After leaving the university, Tolstoy again went to Yasnaya Polyana, and then to Moscow. Here at the end of 1850 he took up literary work. At this time, he decided to write two stories, but he did not finish one of them. In the spring of 1851, Lev Nikolaevich, together with his older brother, Nikolai Nikolaevich, who served in the army as an artillery officer, arrived in the Caucasus. Here Tolstoy lived for almost three years, being mainly in the village of Starogladkovskaya, located on the left bank of the Terek. From here he went to Kizlyar, Tiflis, Vladikavkaz, visited many villages and auls.

In the Caucasus, began military service of Tolstoy... He took part in the military operations of the Russian troops. Tolstoy's impressions and observations are reflected in his stories "Raid", "Cutting the Forest", "Demoted", in the story "Cossacks". Later, referring to the memories of this period of his life, Tolstoy created the story "Hadji Murad". In March 1854, Tolstoy arrived in Bucharest, where the headquarters of the chief of the artillery troops was located. From here, as a staff officer, he traveled to Moldova, Wallachia and Bessarabia.

In the spring and summer of 1854, the writer took part in the siege of the Turkish fortress of Silistria. However, the main place of hostilities at that time was the Crimean peninsula. Here, the Russian troops under the leadership of V.A. Kornilov and P.S. Nakhimov for eleven months heroically defended Sevastopol, besieged by Turkish and Anglo-French troops. Participation in the Crimean War is an important stage in the life of Tolstoy. Here he closely got to know ordinary Russian soldiers, sailors, residents of Sevastopol, tried to understand what is the source of the heroism of the defenders of the city, to understand the special character traits inherent in the defender of the Fatherland. Tolstoy himself showed courage and courage in the defense of Sevastopol.

In November 1855, Tolstoy left Sevastopol for St. Petersburg. By this time, he had already earned recognition in the leading literary circles. During this period, the attention of public life in Russia was focused around the issue of serfdom. Tolstoy's stories of this time ("Morning of the Landowner", "Polikushka", etc.) are also devoted to this problem.

In 1857, the writer made overseas travel... He visited France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. Traveling to different cities, the writer got acquainted with the culture and social system of Western European countries with great interest. Much of what he saw was subsequently reflected in his work. In 1860 Tolstoy made another trip abroad. A year earlier, in Yasnaya Polyana, he opened a school for children. Traveling to cities in Germany, France, Switzerland, England and Belgium, the writer attended schools and studied the peculiarities of public education. Most of the schools Tolstoy attended had cannon discipline and corporal punishment. Returning to Russia and visiting a number of schools, Tolstoy discovered that many of the teaching methods used in Western European countries, in particular in Germany, had penetrated into Russian schools as well. At this time, Lev Nikolaevich wrote a number of articles in which he criticized the system of public education both in Russia and in Western European countries.

Arriving home after a trip abroad, Tolstoy devoted himself to working at school and publishing the pedagogical journal Yasnaya Polyana. The school, founded by the writer, was located not far from his house - in an outbuilding that has survived to our time. In the early 70s, Tolstoy compiled and published a number of textbooks for primary schools: "ABC", "Arithmetic", four "Books for reading". More than one generation of children has learned from these books. Stories from them are read with enthusiasm by children in our time.

In 1862, when Tolstoy was away, landowners arrived in Yasnaya Polyana and searched the writer's house. In 1861, the tsarist manifesto announced the abolition of serfdom. During the reform, disputes broke out between landlords and peasants, the settlement of which was entrusted to the so-called conciliators. Tolstoy was appointed conciliator in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province. When examining controversial matters between nobles and peasants, the writer often took a position in favor of the peasantry, which caused discontent among the nobles. This was the reason for the search. Because of this, Tolstoy had to stop the activities of the world mediator, close the school in Yasnaya Polyana and refuse to publish a pedagogical journal.

In 1862 Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna Bers, the daughter of a Moscow doctor. Arriving with her husband in Yasnaya Polyana, Sofya Andreevna did her best to create an environment on the estate in which nothing would distract the writer from strenuous work. In the 1960s, Tolstoy led a secluded life, fully devoting himself to work on War and Peace.

At the end of the epic "War and Peace", Tolstoy decided to write a new work - a novel about the era of Peter I. which reflected the post-reform life of Russia. This is how the novel Anna Karenina appeared, on which Tolstoy devoted four years.

In the early 1980s, Tolstoy moved with his family to Moscow to study the education of his growing children. Here, a writer familiar with village poverty witnessed urban poverty. In the early 90s of the XIX century, almost half of the central provinces of the country were seized by famine, and Tolstoy joined in the fight against the national disaster. Thanks to his call, fundraising, purchase and delivery of food to the villages was launched. At this time, under the leadership of Tolstoy in the villages of the Tula and Ryazan provinces, about two hundred free canteens were opened for the starving population. A number of articles on hunger written by Tolstoy belong to the same period, in which the writer truthfully portrayed the plight of the people and condemned the policies of the ruling classes.

In the mid-80s, Tolstoy wrote the drama "The Power of Darkness", which depicts the death of the old foundations of patriarchal-peasant Russia, and the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", dedicated to the fate of a man who only before his death realized the emptiness and meaninglessness of his life. In 1890, Tolstoy wrote the comedy "The Fruits of Enlightenment", which shows the true position of the peasantry after the abolition of serfdom. In the early 90s was created novel "Sunday", on which the writer worked intermittently for ten years. In all works related to this period of creativity, Tolstoy openly shows whom he sympathizes with and whom he condemns; depicts the hypocrisy and insignificance of the "masters of life."

The novel "Sunday" was censored more than other works by Tolstoy. Most of the chapters in the novel have been released or shortened. The ruling circles launched an active policy against the writer. Fearing popular indignation, the authorities did not dare to use open repressions against Tolstoy. With the consent of the tsar and at the insistence of the chief prosecutor of the Most Holy Synod Pobedonostsev, the synod adopted a resolution to excommunicate Tolstoy from the church. The writer was under police surveillance. The world community was outraged by the persecution of Lev Nikolaevich. The peasantry, the advanced intelligentsia and the common people were on the side of the writer, they strove to express their respect and support to him. The love and sympathy of the people served as reliable support to the writer in the years when the reaction tried to silence him.

However, in spite of all the efforts of reactionary circles, Tolstoy every year more and more sharply and boldly denounced the noble-bourgeois society, openly opposed the autocracy. The works of this period ( "After the Ball", "For What?", "Hadji Murad", "Living Corpse") are imbued with a deep hatred of royal power, a limited and ambitious ruler. In publicistic articles related to this time, the writer sharply condemned the instigators of the wars, called for a peaceful resolution of all disputes and conflicts.

In 1901-1902, Tolstoy suffered a serious illness. At the insistence of the doctors, the writer had to go to the Crimea, where he spent more than six months.

In Crimea, he met with a writer, artists, artists: Chekhov, Korolenko, Gorky, Shalyapin, etc. When Tolstoy returned home, hundreds of ordinary people warmly greeted him at the stations. In the fall of 1909, the writer made his last trip to Moscow.

Tolstoy's diaries and letters of the last decades of his life reflected the difficult experiences that were caused by the discord between the writer and his family. Tolstoy wanted to transfer the land belonging to him to the peasants and wanted his works to be published freely and free of charge by everyone who wants to. The family of the writer opposed this, not wanting to give up either the rights to land or the rights to works. The old landlord way of life, preserved in Yasnaya Polyana, weighed heavily on Tolstoy.

In the summer of 1881, Tolstoy made the first attempt to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but a feeling of pity for his wife and children forced him to return. Several more attempts by the writer to leave his native estate ended with the same result. On October 28, 1910, secretly from his family, he left Yasnaya Polyana forever, deciding to go south and spend the rest of his life in a peasant hut, among the common Russian people. However, on the way, Tolstoy fell seriously ill and was forced to get off the train at the small station Astapovo. The great writer spent the last seven days of his life at the station master's house. The news of the death of one of the outstanding thinkers, a remarkable writer, a great humanist deeply struck the hearts of all progressive people of that time. Tolstoy's creative heritage is of great importance for world literature. Over the years, interest in the work of the writer does not wane, but, on the contrary, grows. As A. France justly noted: “In his life he proclaims sincerity, directness, determination, firmness, calm and constant heroism, he teaches that one must be truthful and one must be strong ... It is precisely because he was full of strength that he always was true! "