Like many writers, Tolstoy tried the pen at an early age. The first story written by little Leva was "The Kremlin" - a short essay in which the boy shared his impressions of visiting the Kremlin.
He was a very patriotic person and rarely traveled abroad. He left Russia only twice, and not for long. He was mainly interested in the education system in Western Europe and the pedagogical ideas that were fashionable there.
The strongest impetus for the writer's work was his marriage. It was after Leo Tolstoy tied the knot that he released his most famous novels, War and Peace and Anna Karenina. But at the end of the writer's years, his relationship with his family and wife began to deteriorate. The main reason for the disagreement was the philosophical convictions of Lev Nikolaevich - his theory of non-resistance to evil by violence, the denial of private property and any authorities, including the state and the most unquestioning at that time - the church. It was for the last convictions that Tolstoy brought to the public that he was excommunicated from the church.
Tolstoy had many followers - the so-called "Tolstoyans", who idolized the writer and even created something like communities for living together and comprehending the truths. However, the writer did not like the last fact: he believed that a person can find the truth only on his own, without outside help.
Like Dostoevsky, Tolstoy was an avid gambler (today we would call him a gambler). And he played cards so desperately that he once blew his neighbor his “small homeland” - the estate in Yasnaya Polyana. Since it was not about the land, but about the house, the neighbor dismantled the structure piece by piece and took it out. In subsequent years, Lev Nikolaevich had the opportunity to buy the estate, and the desire - too, but he never did it.
The writer did not like his most significant (both in terms of volume and ideas contained in it) work - "War and Peace". And so much so that once, in correspondence with Fet, he called this novel "verbose rubbish."
Good friends of Tolstoy were Chekhov and Gorky. But relations with another classic of Russian literature - Ivan Turgenev - did not work out. And so much so that once, having quarreled, the writers almost challenged each other to a duel.
One of the daughters of Lev Nikolaevich - Agrippina - not only lived in his estate, but worked there: she was engaged in proofreading her father's texts. Once, having quarreled with the priest, she decided to take revenge on him and “returned to their original place” the typos found in the novel “Resurrection”. The first three editions came out with all the blunders.
Tolstoy considered the main wealth of a person to be his ability to work and always followed his own principles, not missing the opportunity to help his neighbor. Once at the station, a noble lady who was standing with a large luggage turned to him. The writer, not recognized by her and mistaken for a porter, transferred things to the right place, gratefully took the money due to him and left. What was the woman's surprise when a year later, at one of the charity events, she saw a "porter" lecturing in French from the pulpit! Ashamed, the lady approached the writer with apologies. But Lev Nikolaevich consoled her, saying that everything was in the best possible way: then he honestly earned and received a reward for this.
Tolstoy was a true vegetarian and believed that eating animal meat was just as unacceptable and immoral as cannibalism. He dreamed that someday all of humanity would begin to adhere to the same point of view and switch to plant foods.
Few men can boast of a good relationship with future mothers-in-law. Lev Nikolaevich sincerely respected and honored the mother of his future wife Sophia. And, often visiting their house, for a long time he could not decide who to offer his hand and heart to - Sophia or one of her two sisters.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a bright representative of the authors of classical world literature. His works are studied in schools and universities. Based on the books written by Tolstoy, feature films are made, theatrical performances are staged. The biography of the writer is rich in amazing events.
30 amazing facts from the life and work of Tolstoy
- Lev Nikolaevich was born in September 1828.
- Tolstoy was a patriot and loved Russia very much. Traveled abroad only 2 times.
- The age difference between his wife (Sophie Bers) and the writer is 16 years.
- The texts of Lev Nikolaevich were corrected by his daughter Agrippina.
- The writer was a vegetarian.
- Tolstoy was fluent in 3 languages: German, English and French.
- The elderly writer did not wear shoes, preferring to walk barefoot.
- Lev Nikolaevich had terrible handwriting, so his wife copied almost all the works for him.
- Tolstoy did not receive an education at a university, but he never stopped developing himself.
- The writer was very fond of horses and often paid great attention to them in his novels. Even dreamed of breeding a new breed.
- The favorite horse of Lev Nikolaevich was called Delir.
- The novel "War and Peace" was created for 6 years and remade 8 times.
- The writer and his wife had 13 children, 5 of them died.
- Tolstoy wrote not only serious works, but also books for children. For example, "Filipok" and "Sea".
- His own creativity caused Lev Nikolaevich skepticism. The author called "War and Peace" an unloved novel.
- Tolstoy was a participant in the Caucasian War, fought defending Sevastopol, and received an order. At the same time, the famous trilogy was written.
- The writer lost his parents in childhood. He was the 4th child in the family.
- 20 years before his death, Tolstoy left his wife and moved to live in Yasnaya Polyana.
- The writer's favorite daughter, Maria, died of pneumonia.
- Lev Nikolaevich was awarded the Nobel Prize, but he refused the award.
- Based on the works of Tolstoy, more than 200 feature films and TV series have been shot.
- For peasant children living in Yasnaya Polyana, Lev Nikolaevich opened a school and taught the children himself.
- The writer was a member of a circle founded by the Sovremennik magazine, but soon became disillusioned and left the society.
- The writer lived in Yasnaya Polyana for more than half a century. In 1921, 11 years after Tolstoy's death, the estate became a museum.
- A few days before his death, Lev Nikolayevich secretly left home and fell very ill on the way, which caused his death.
- The Complete Works of Tolstoy consists of 90 volumes.
- The writer was not only the author of books, but also articles.
- M. Gorky and A. Chekhov were close friends of Lev Nikolayevich.
- During the marriage, Tolstoy sent 839 letters to his wife Sophia.
- After the death of the writer, many unfinished works remained. For example, Notes of a Madman.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a great Russian prose writer, one of the most famous Russian authors in the world. Acquaintance with his works in most people occurs in the 4th grade at the lessons of Russian literature. At the same time, the first digression into the biography of the great writer takes place, which is very correct, since it is possible to understand the thoughts written in his works only when you know the life path of this person, his life principles and actions. Studying the biography of this extraordinary personality is a very interesting and fascinating business, since he was an unusual person with an original worldview and amazing outlook on life. In it you can find a lot of interesting facts that allow you to think, look at the work of Lev Nikolayevich from the other side, and sometimes smile.
Childhood
Lev Nikolayevich was from a very noble family by origin. Among his relatives were ministers and important people in the state, high officials and secular lionesses. Lyova was the fourth child in the family. When he was not yet two years old, his mother died after another birth, and after that, a distant relative of the family came to grips with raising children. When the boy was nine years old, the whole family moved to Moscow, where Lyova's father suddenly died at a fairly young age, and the children were left complete orphans.
After that, the rest of the family moved to the father's sister, who organized Lyova's education. He was taught at home by foreign teachers, as was fashionable at that time. First, the boy was taught lessons in all primary disciplines by a German teacher, and then a French teacher. They noted that the boy is very easy to learn and learns everything on the fly. Few people know the interesting fact that Lev Nikolayevich knew Russian, most of the Romano-Germanic languages, Latin and Greek, Polish, Czech, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian. The great author's home library had more than 23,000 books in 39 languages. This is a great merit of the first teachers who instilled in the boy a love for learning languages and indicated methods of how to do it quickly and efficiently.
sensitive nature
The memories of all the people close to the boy in childhood indicate that he was a very impressionable and sensitive nature. Such an interesting fact that happened at an early age perfectly characterizes the child. One day, the older brother told Lyova a legend that there was a “green stick” that had long been lost in Yasnaya Polyana, the estate where both boys were born. The person who manages to find her will be the chosen one and will be able to save the whole world from evil, death and grief.
The brothers devoted a lot of time to searching for this magic wand, but to Lyova's great chagrin, all efforts did not give the desired results. The boy was very upset by this, because he really wanted to become a savior. Growing up, Lev Nikolaevich did not give up trying to find an answer to the question of whether it is possible for humanity to live in complete harmony without resentment, grief and hatred. Faith in a childhood dream did not fade over the years, so shortly before his death, the writer voiced an unusual request: he wanted to be buried in the place where the “green stick” was waiting for his triumphal hour. Maybe real magic did not happen, but the fact that after reading the works of Tolstoy people become smarter, more humane and kinder is undeniable.
Youth
The future writer was a very categorical and principled young man. He had high demands not only on others, but also on himself. For example, before the age of 18, he created a special list, which he called the “life manifesto”. It had many interesting rules that he created for himself. They fell into several categories. The main principles were for strengthening the bodily will, mind, emotional sphere, etc. Among these rules were calls not to express emotions outwardly, to stay awake as much as possible, to refuse to use servants, not to surround yourself with women and love pleasures, etc.
For many years, Lev Nikolayevich tried to follow his own postulate, but, being a fair man, he said that he was not always able to strictly follow his own rules. This set he supplemented throughout his life.
After entering the university in the specialty of Arabic-Turkish languages and trying to study like all ordinary young people, he was left for the second year, despite the fact that all teachers noted the high mental abilities of this student. After that, Tolstoy is transferred to another specialty, hoping to become a lawyer, but here the future writer suffers the same fate: after two years the student is expelled. This outcome was led by the fact that he had to study at the university under orders and coercion, and this did not bring any pleasure to the future writer. Much faster and easier, he learned the material with self-study.
After three years of ordeals, the future writer finally leaves attempts to get a higher education. During this difficult period, he begins to keep a personal diary in which he describes everything interesting and important that happens in life. From that moment on, writing captivates the young man so much that it remains a favorite pastime for life and develops from a hobby into a profession.
Right Woman
Although writing became Tolstoy's main occupation, success in this field came only after he got married. The wedding took place at the age of 34, the bride at the time of the wedding was only 18 years old. They had known each other since childhood, while still a young man, the writer often played with his future wife, who was just a baby.
In the person of his wife, the writer found not only a beloved woman, but also a true friend, as well as a reliable assistant in literary activity. An interesting externally and deep internally girl became the cause of the immense happiness of a man. In the first period of his family life, he creates his most significant and successful works, which glorified his name throughout the world. It is not known whether such works as "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and others would have seen the world if it were not for the presence of the genius of Sophia's wife in the life. She was not only a muse, but also, in a certain sense, a translator between a writer and editors of publishing houses.
The fact that Tolstoy had a terribly illegible handwriting is known to many, but few people know that it was with the help of his wife that the proofreaders were able to make out most of the manuscripts.
After a period of stormy happiness, cooling occurs in the family life of the spouses, gradually the relationship becomes worse and worse. But the marriage cannot be called unsuccessful either, since Sophia and Leo Tolstoy had 13 children. Five of them died in early childhood, and the rest became talented and interesting people. Two sons became writers, having inherited from their father a love for their native word, and one of the daughters became Lev Nikolayevich's assistant in writing.
Best Books
Tolstoy's most famous novel was not written the first time. The researchers found that the main part of the novel was rewritten at least eight times. This happened with a change in the concept of the plot and the replacement of the line of fate of the main characters. Some major episodes were rewritten 25 times, which once again emphasizes what a titanic work on the way to success every creation of talented authors goes through.
In the first version, the novel was called "1805", but over time, the author changed it to "All's well that ends well." Later, the name was changed to "Three Pores", and only towards the end of the work did the final version appear - "War and Peace". Many of the characters were based on real people that Tolstoy encountered in his life. Some images have inherited the obvious features of friends, relatives and colleagues. The image of Natasha Rostova was created by combining two real women at once - Tolstoy's wife Sophia and her sister Tatyana Bers.
Player's passion
Studying the biography of the great prose writer, even in the 4th grade, children learn that he gravitated towards asceticism, was very modest and did not welcome excessive extravagance. However, such views of the writer were formed already in adulthood after long throwing, and in his youth he was not so categorical on this issue.
Biographers know the fact that Tolstoy has long been considered an avid card player. Excitement could easily blind a young man and lead to problems. Once, in the heat of the game, he staked the main building in the Yasnaya Polyana family estate, in which the writer was born. Luck turned away from the gambler, and the building went to a more fortunate opponent. This was a heavy blow for Lev Nikolaevich, but honor and pride did not allow him to dispute the loss.
The property was dismantled into bricks and taken to another province. The writer could not come to terms with the loss for many years, so he dreamed of buying back what he had lost, but these dreams were not destined to come true.
Large original
For his time, Tolstoy was an extraordinary figure, ahead of his contemporaries in his views, so he often remained misunderstood. He refused all the privileges that gave him a high origin and title, tried to learn the delights of the life of an ordinary working person, loved children very much and was engaged in their upbringing.
Many postulates about education were recognized as wise even by the greatest luminaries of pedagogy. Lev Nikolaevich became the author of the "New ABC" and "Books for Reading", according to which several generations in a row mastered the letter.
He walked barefoot, believing that this is how a person becomes healthier. At that time, this point of view was considered amazing and ridiculous, but later many doctors came to the conclusion that walking barefoot perfectly stimulates the reflex points that are in large numbers on the feet, which significantly improves the functioning of the whole organism.
Another fact, which became unusual for that time, was the denial of Christianity. The writer got acquainted in detail with many religions, but did not find "his own" in any of them. In the 19th century, the very fact of studying faiths other than Christianity was equated with heresy, so Tolstoy was anathema - removal from the church. However, the rejection was mutual. It is known that the writer became the founder of his own system of world order, in which philosophy is closely intertwined with issues of faith and the existence of the individual.
Rejected Award
At the age of 78, the writer was nominated for the Nobel Prize. The jury believed that he was the main contender and had practically no competitors - this issue was actually resolved. Upon learning of this, Tolstoy wrote a letter to a friend from Finland, in which he asked to help remove his name from the list of applicants, since he does not intend to receive the award and does not want to refuse officially.
A friend submitted a petition to the committee, after which the jury was confused, as they did not see other worthy candidates. In the end, it was decided to meet this unusual person, and the award fell into the hands of the Italian Carducci, who is now known only to a narrow circle of poets.
Unusual grave
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy bequeathed to put his grave without a cross, which angered the priests even more. The will of the writer was fulfilled, and the cross was not erected. For many years, a large number of admirers of the unusual talent and philosophy of the great author came to the burial place of Lev Nikolaevich.
It is a known fact that once a father and a young son came to Tolstoy's grave to lay a bouquet of flowers in memory of the genius. At the moment when the boy bent down to put the flowers, a poisonous snake rushed to his hand and managed to bite the child. After that, rumors actively spread about the diabolical essence of the writer, which excited the minds of compatriots for several more years.
Now Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is one of the ten most prominent writers in the world. The creative heritage of the prose writer is 165,000 sheets and 10,000 letters. The complete collection of the author's works is published in 90 full-length volumes.
Everyone studied at school and, of course, remembers the huge work "War and Peace", consisting of as many as four thick volumes. For many students, it was simply a punishment to read this novel, so most people simply re-read it in summary. But in this topic we will not talk about "War and Peace", but about the author of this work.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) is considered one of the most famous writers in Russian literature. Therefore, let's see some interesting facts from the life of Leo Tolstoy.
1. The novel "War and Peace" during Tolstoy's lifetime was published under the title "War and Peace", where "Peace" is, respectively, the antonym for the word "War". But some publications managed to print "War and Peace", although the word "Mir" in the pre-revolutionary language meant what we call the outside world, i.e. the idea was to change the name.
2. In addition to the well-known serious works, Tolstoy also wrote books for children, namely the ABC and the New ABC. By the way, he made his ABC specifically for peasant children so that they could learn to read and write, but the book turned out to be so amazing that even many noble children began to study it.
3. At the age of 34, Lev Nikolaevich married Sofya Andreevna Bers, who at that time was 18 years old. He had known her since her youth, when she was a little girl and at first wanted to marry her older sister, but changed his mind. As a result, in a marriage with Sofya Andreevna, Lev Nikolayevich had as many as 13 children, although five of them died in childhood.
4. Tolstoy did not really like his most famous work "War and Peace". In his correspondence with Fet, he himself wrote that he had finally finished work on this “wordy rubbish” and that he would not return to it again. Although maybe this was due to the fact that he rewrote this novel a family of times!
5. Tolstoy was on very good terms with such famous writers as Chekhov and Gorky, but things were different with Turgenev. Their relationship was so bad that one day it almost ended in a duel.
6. Lev Nikolayevich's daughter, Agrippina, lived on her father's estate and worked part-time as proofreaders of his father's texts. Once they had a big fight and their own daughter decided to take revenge on her father. She returned all the errors and misprints to their places, and as a result, the first three editions of the novel "Sunday" came out with errors.
7. Tolstoy was a vegetarian and did not recognize the eating of meat in general. Moreover, he believed that eating meat is the same as cannibalism, i.e. is simply unacceptable. He even dreamed that one day all people would stop eating meat.
8. Already quite old, Leo Tolstoy stopped wearing shoes and walked only barefoot. It is not known why he did it. There are two versions. One version says that in this way he wanted to show his closeness to the common people. According to another version, he did it to temper himself.
9. Tolstoy had just terrible handwriting and few people could make out it.
10. Tolstoy considered himself a true Christian, although he was excommunicated. He had disagreements with the church and subsequently created his own Christian movement, which he called Tolstoyism.
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy is a great Russian writer, philosopher and thinker. Today it is difficult to find a person who is not familiar with his work. We get acquainted with the writer's iconic works at school, starting from the 4th grade, and rediscover them years later. A selection of interesting facts about Leo Tolstoy will surely attract the attention of even those who have read the complete works of the author.
Facts from the life of Tolstoy for children
- L.N. Tolstoy believed that a person's life should be spent in honest work, modesty and simplicity. But this is how he thought already in his mature years. In his youth, he was visited by other ideas: by nature he was terribly passionate. Once, in a card game with a certain landowner Gorokhov, he lost a fortune - the main building of the hereditary estate of Yasnaya Polyana. The neighbor who turned out to be the winner, without thinking for a long time, dismantled the house brick by brick and took it away as a big booty. It is interesting to note that this house was not just an old building, but the place where the writer was born and raised.
- There are many amazing facts from childhood in the life of the great writer, which influenced not only his fate, but also left an imprint on the entire work of the prose writer. Once, in childhood, Lev Nikolaevich heard a beautiful legend from his brother Nikolai. She told about the “green stick”, once lost far away, on the very edge of the ravine in the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and whoever finds it will save the world from death and various troubles. They never found a saving reed, but, as an adult, Tolstoy continued to search for an answer to the main question - is it possible for humanity to come to universal happiness and love. Shortly before his death, he asked to bury his ashes in the very place, on the edge of the ravine, where the “green stick” lies and waits in the wings.
- Tolstoy's world-famous novel "War and Peace", after reading which humanity became head and shoulders above, found itself, the author himself called it nothing more than "verbose rubbish." In one of his many letters to A. Fet, he wrote that he was glad that he would never again undertake the creation of such a voluminous and, at the same time, empty work.
- In total, the novel was rewritten eight times, and many more - its individual episodes. It has changed its name several times. From the very beginning, it was called "1805", then - "All is well that ends well" and "Three Pores"
- Literary success was of little concern to the author of many immortal novels. Once, fans came to his native estate. There was no end to their admiration and praise for the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. To which Lev Nikolaevich very restrainedly replied, they say, how absurd it is to praise the dances of the inventor Edison, it is also stupid to attach great importance to his two books.
- For many years Tolstoy kept diaries. He talked about how he had not seen or understood the benefits of keeping daily records before. Over time, he came to the exact opposite conclusion - keeping a diary helps a person to realize himself, contributes to the development of his abilities and spiritual qualities.
- The wife of Lev Nikolaevich, Sofya Andreevna, helped him in many ways. In particular, she rewrote his manuscripts and diaries, because the handwriting of the great thinker left much to be desired, and it was difficult for editors to make out it. In recent years, Tolstoy kept two diaries. One - for his wife, and he reliably hid the second from her "all-seeing eye".
- In the life of Tolstoy, there are other, unknown facts of the biography. For example, diaries. In them, he often described incidents that had happened to him and always made notes in brackets that helped him determine the feelings and moods that led him at one time or another. For example, after recording about the next fencing lesson with Poiret, in which he did not show his true skills, a note follows - laziness and cowardice.
- Lev Nikolaevich believed that a person needs to sleep as little as possible, because in this state he has no will.
- For a long time, the author of the remarkable novel "Sunday" did not recognize women writers. He explained it simply and briefly - a woman is not allowed to truly tell about the life of a man.
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