12 questions · Literature
Leo Tolstoy, born in 1828 on the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana south of Moscow, was a count, an officer in the Crimean War, a gambler and bon vivant: before becoming the conscience of Russia. After wild youthful years and his marriage to Sofya Behrs (who would bear him 13 children and tirelessly copy his manuscripts) the estate produced the two novels that stand on almost every list of the greatest books of all time: 'War and Peace' (1869), the world panorama of the Napoleonic Wars with over 500 characters around Pierre, Natasha and Prince Andrei and 'Anna Karenina' (1878), the tragedy of a married woman who turns society against herself for the love of Count Vronsky; the famous first sentence: 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' At the peak of fame Tolstoy plunged into a crisis of meaning and reinvented himself: as a radical Christian beyond the church, a preacher of non-violence, simplicity and rural life. The count walked behind the plough, cobbled boots, gave up meat, alcohol and (later) the rights to his works, to his family's despair. The church excommunicated him in 1901; but his treatise 'The Kingdom of God Is Within You' reached a young lawyer in South Africa: Gandhi called Tolstoy a teacher of his non-violence: the two exchanged letters. The end was a drama: in October 1910 the 82-year-old left his estate secretly by night to live as a pilgrim and died days later in the stationmaster's house at Astapovo, besieged by the world's press. Did you know that Tolstoy was passed over for the first Nobel Prizes in Literature despite being an obvious candidate, for many, still the greatest blunder in the prize's history?
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War and Peace
Over 500 characters around Pierre, Natasha and Prince Andrei: completed in 1869.
💡 Did you know? „War and Peace“ features over 500 characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written.
Anna Karenina
Her love for Count Vronsky turns society against her, for many the most perfect novel ever written.
💡 Did you know? For „Anna Karenina“ even Dostoevsky paid his rival the highest respect.
All happy families are alike
One of the most quoted opening lines in world literature.
💡 Did you know? The opening line about happy and unhappy families is among the most famous in all literature.
Yasnaya Polyana
South of Moscow near Tula: a museum today; he lies buried there in a plain grassy mound.
💡 Did you know? On Yasnaya Polyana the count even founded his own school for peasant children.
a preacher of non-violence
The count walked behind the plough, cobbled boots, and gave up meat, alcohol and the rights to his works.
💡 Did you know? The wealthy nobleman turned into an ascetic preacher who wished to give away his entire fortune.
Gandhi
Tolstoy's 'The Kingdom of God Is Within You' reached the young lawyer in South Africa: the two exchanged letters.
💡 Did you know? Tolstoy and the young Gandhi corresponded; Tolstoy's ideas of nonviolence deeply influenced him.
excommunication
The ban was never lifted: Tolstoy was little troubled by it.
💡 Did you know? For his radical criticism of the church Tolstoy was excommunicated in 1901: a ban never lifted.
She copied his manuscripts
Thirteen children and a life's work as copyist: the marriage ended in bitter strife over works and estate.
💡 Did you know? Sofya reportedly copied „War and Peace“ out by hand seven times: amid a deepening marital crisis.
Crimean War
His 'Sevastopol Sketches' first made his name and founded his realism about war.
💡 Did you know? Tolstoy drew on his war experiences in Crimea for the unflinching „Sevastopol Sketches.“
at Astapovo station
The 82-year-old wanted to live as a pilgrim: the world's press besieged the house where he lay dying.
💡 Did you know? At 82 Tolstoy secretly fled his estate and died a few days later at a small railway station.
the Nobel Prize in Literature
For many, still the greatest blunder in the prize's history.
💡 Did you know? Despite several nominations Tolstoy never received the Nobel Prize: an omission still criticised today.
Foto: Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy (1828 to 1910) was a Russian writer and thinker. With „War and Peace“ and „Anna Karenina“ he created two of the greatest novels in world literature.
💡 Did you know? In old age the wealthy count became an ascetic preacher of nonviolence, inspiring Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
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