Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time. He was born in 1828 into an aristocratic family and spent much of his early life in the countryside, where he developed a deep love for nature and a strong sense of moral values.

Tolstoy first gained literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth, which was based on his own experiences growing up. He later went on to write the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, which are considered to be two of the greatest works of realist fiction ever written. Both of these novels were set against the backdrop of significant historical events – War and Peace during the Napoleonic Wars, and Anna Karenina during the late 19th century – and explored themes of love, family, and personal relationships in great depth.

In addition to his novels, Tolstoy also wrote numerous short stories, plays, and philosophical essays. One of his most famous works in this regard is The Death of Ivan Ilyich, a novella that explores the theme of mortality and the meaning of life. He was also a fervent Christian and pacifist, and his ideas on non-violent resistance, as outlined in The Kingdom of God Is Within You, had a major influence on figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Tolstoy's personal life was marked by a number of significant events, including a moral crisis in the 1870s that led to a spiritual awakening, and his later advocacy for the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his novel Resurrection. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times, and his works continue to be widely read and admired today.