Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Russian: Лев Николаевич Толстой; 9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 – 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909; the fact that he never won is a major controversy.
Portrait of Leo Tolstoy by Ivan Kramskoi, 1873 Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, Tolstoy's notable works include the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. His fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), Family Happiness (1859), "After the Ball" (1911), and Hadji Murad (1912). He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays.
In the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession (1882). His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), had a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. He also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly Resurrection (1899).
The Tolstoys were a well-known family of old Russian nobility who traced their ancestry to a mythical nobleman named Indris described by Pyotr Tolstoy as arriving "from Nemec, from the lands of Caesar" to Chernigov in 1353 along with his two sons Litvinos (or Litvonis) and Zimonten (or Zigmont) and a druzhina of 3000 people. While the word "Nemec" has been long used to describe Germans only, at that time it was applied to any foreigner who didn't speak Russian (from the word nemoy meaning mute). Indris was then converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, under the name of Leonty, and his sons as Konstantin and Feodor. Konstantin's grandson Andrei Kharitonovich was nicknamed Tolstiy (translated as fat) by Vasily II of Moscow after he moved from Chernigov to Moscow.
Because of the pagan names and the fact that Chernigov at the time was ruled by Demetrius I Starshy, some researchers concluded that they were Lithuanians who arrived from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the same time, no mention of Indris was ever found in the 14th-to-16th-century documents, while the Chernigov Chronicles used by Pyotr Tolstoy as a reference were lost. The first documented members of the Tolstoy family also lived during the 17th century, thus Pyotr Tolstoy himself is generally considered the founder of the noble house, being granted the title of count by Peter the Great.
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
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.
