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Chaotic Enby (talk | contribs) m Reverted edits by Efim Polenov (talk) (AV) |
Efim Polenov (talk | contribs) Tolstoy never gave up his aristocratic privileges. Those who say otherwise are not being accurate. Tag: Reverted |
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Tolstoy was born at [[Yasnaya Polyana]], a family estate {{convert|12|km|mi}} southwest of [[Tula, Russia|Tula]], and {{convert|200|km|mi}} south of Moscow. He was the fourth of five children of [[Count]] Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794–1837), a veteran of the [[French invasion of Russia|Patriotic War of 1812]], and Princess Mariya Tolstaya (née [[Volkonsky|Volkonskaya]]; 1790–1830). His mother died when he was two and his father when he was nine.<ref name="AuthorDataSheet" /> Tolstoy and his siblings were brought up by relatives.<ref name="Britannica" /> In 1844, he began studying law and oriental languages at [[Kazan University]], where teachers described him as "both unable and unwilling to learn".<ref name="AuthorDataSheet">{{cite web |url=http://www.macmillanreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ads.leotolstoy.pdf |title=Author Data Sheet, Macmillan Readers |publisher=Macmillan Publishers Limited |access-date=22 October 2010 |archive-date=7 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807174656/http://www.macmillanreaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ads.leotolstoy.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tolstoy left the university in the middle of his studies,<ref name="AuthorDataSheet" /> returned to Yasnaya Polyana and then spent much time in Moscow, Tula and Saint Petersburg, leading a lax and leisurely lifestyle.<ref name="Britannica" /> He began writing during this period,<ref name="AuthorDataSheet" /> including his first novel ''[[Childhood (Tolstoy novel)|Childhood]]'', a fictitious account of his own youth, which was published in 1852.<ref name="Britannica" /> In 1851, after running up heavy gambling debts, he went with his older brother to the [[Caucasus (geographic region)|Caucasus]] and joined the [[Imperial Russian Army|army]]. Tolstoy served as a young artillery officer during the [[Crimean War]] and was in Sevastopol during the 11-month-long [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55)|siege of Sevastopol]] in 1854–55,<ref name="BBCTen" /> including the [[Battle of the Chernaya]]. During the war he was recognised for his courage and promoted to lieutenant.<ref name="BBCTen">"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3GL3DPct7D5GPQzB7GlrrBW/ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-tolstoy Ten Things You Didn't Know About Tolstoy]". BBC.</ref> He was appalled by the number of deaths involved in warfare,<ref name="AuthorDataSheet" /> and left the army after the end of the Crimean War.<ref name="Britannica" />
His experience in the army, and two trips around Europe in 1857 and 1860–61 converted Tolstoy from a dissolute and privileged society author to a non-violent and spiritual [[Anarchism|anarchist]] (although he refused to give up his privileges as a rich member of the aristocracy). Others who followed the same path were [[Alexander Herzen]], [[Mikhail Bakunin]] and [[Peter Kropotkin]]. During his 1857 visit, Tolstoy witnessed a public execution in Paris, a traumatic experience that marked the rest of his life. In a letter to his friend [[Vasily Botkin]], Tolstoy wrote: "The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens ... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere."<ref>A.N. Wilson, ''Tolstoy'' (1988), p. 146</ref> Tolstoy's concept of [[non-violence]] or [[ahimsa]] was bolstered when he read a [[Tirukkural translations into German|German version]] of the [[Tirukkural]].<ref name="PearlsOfInsp_Rajaram">{{cite book| last = Rajaram| first = M.| title = Thirukkural: Pearls of Inspiration| publisher = Rupa Publications| date = 2009| location = New Delhi | isbn = 978-81-291-1467-9| pages = xviii–xxi}}</ref><ref name="Walsh2018">{{cite book| last = Walsh| first = William| title = Secular Virtue: for surviving, thriving, and fulfillment | publisher = Will Walsh| date = 2018| location = | isbn = 978-06-920-5418-5| pages = }}</ref> He later instilled the concept in [[Mahatma Gandhi]] through his "''[[A Letter to a Hindu]]''" when young Gandhi corresponded with him seeking his advice.<ref name="Walsh2018"/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2733/| title = A Letter to A Hindu: The Subjection of India-Its Cause and Cure| last = Tolstoy| first = Leo| date = 14 December 1908| publisher = The Literature Network| access-date = 12 February 2012| quote = The Hindu Kural}}</ref><ref name=gandhi>{{Citation| last = Parel| first = Anthony J.| author-link = Anthony Parel| contribution = Gandhi and Tolstoy|editor=M.P. Mathai |editor2=M.S. John |editor3=Siby K. Joseph| title = Meditations on Gandhi: a Ravindra Varma festschrift| pages = 96–112| publisher = Concept| place = New Delhi | year = 2002| contribution-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kcpDOVk5Gp8C&pg=PA96 |access-date=8 September 2012}}</ref>
His European trip in 1860–61 shaped both his political and literary development when he met [[Victor Hugo]]. Tolstoy read Hugo's newly finished ''[[Les Misérables]]''. The similar evocation of battle scenes in Hugo's novel and Tolstoy's ''[[War and Peace]]'' indicates this influence. Tolstoy's political philosophy was also influenced by a March 1861 visit to French anarchist [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], then living in exile under an assumed name in Brussels. Tolstoy reviewed Proudhon's forthcoming publication, ''La Guerre et la Paix'' ("''War and Peace''" in French), and later used the title for his masterpiece. The two men also discussed education, as Tolstoy wrote in his educational notebooks: "If I recount this conversation with Proudhon, it is to show that, in my personal experience, he was the only man who understood the significance of education and of the printing press in our time."
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