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'{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2010}} {{About|the Russian novelist||Tolstoy (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] --> | name = Leo Tolstoy | image = L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky.jpg | caption = Only known color photograph of the novelist, shot at his [[Yasnaya Polyana]] estate in 1908 by [[Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky]]. | birthdate = {{birth date|1828|9|9|mf=y}} | birthplace = [[Yasnaya Polyana]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]] | deathdate = {{death date and age|1910|11|20|1828|8|28|mf=y}} | deathplace = [[Lev Tolstoy (settlement)|Astapovo]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]] | occupation = Novelist | genre = [[realism (arts)|Realist]] | political movement = | notableworks =''[[War and Peace]]''<br>''[[Anna Karenina]]'' | influences = Bible, [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]], [[Petr Chelčický]], [[Arthur Schopenhauer]], [[Aleksandr Pushkin]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], [[Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol]], [[Peter Kropotkin]]<!-- Please don't add new links here unless the influence is described in the article. The list is sorted chronologically. --> | influenced =[[Muhammad Iqbal]], [[Mohandas Gandhi]], [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], [[Virginia Woolf]], [[Anton Chekhov]], [[Marcel Proust]], [[Thomas Mann]], [[William Faulkner]], [[Orhan Pamuk]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[James Joyce]], [[Vladimir Nabokov]], [[Ammon Hennacy]], [[Dorothy Day]], [[Emile Armand]] | signature = Signature_of_Leo_Tolstoy.jpg }} '''Leo Tolstoy''', or Count '''Lyev Nikolayevich Tolstoy'''<ref>{{audio-ru|Лeв Никола́евич Толсто́й|Ru-Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy.ogg}}, {{IPA-ru|lʲev nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj}};</ref> (Russian: '''Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й''') (September 9, 1828&nbsp;– November 20, 1910<ref>[[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style date]] August 28, 1828&nbsp;– November 7, 1910.</ref>), was a Russian writer many consider to have been one of the world's greatest novelists.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/jan/06/leo-tolstoy-greatest-writer | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Is Tolstoy the greatest writer of all time? | date=January 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2010/0504/Sophia-Tolstoy-A-Biography</ref> His literary masterpieces ''[[War and Peace]]'' and ''[[Anna Karenina]]'' represent, in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life and attitudes, the peak of [[literary realism|realist fiction]].<ref>''Realism, naturalism, and symbolism: modes of thought and expression in Europe, 1848–1914''. R.N.Stromberg&nbsp;– 1968</ref> Tolstoy's further talents as essayist, dramatist, and educational reformer made him the most influential member of the aristocratic [[Tolstoy (family)|Tolstoy family]]. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the [[Sermon on the Mount]], caused him in later life to become a fervent [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchist]] and [[anarcho-pacifist]]. His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as ''[[The Kingdom of God Is Within You]]'', were to have a profound impact on such pivotal twentieth-century figures as [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]]<ref name=ResistNotEvil>[http://www-ee.stanford.edu/~hellman/opinion/Resist_Not.html Martin E. Hellman, ''Resist Not Evil'' in ''World Without Violence'' (Arun Gandhi ed.), M.K. Gandhi Institute, 1994], retrieved on December 14, 2006</ref> and [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]<ref>{{cite book | last = King, Jr. | first = Martin Luther | coauthors = Clayborne Carson, et al | title = The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume V: Threshold of a New Decade, January 1959&nbsp;– December 1960 | publisher = University of California Press | date = 2005 | page = 269 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TU_HozbJSC8C&pg=PA269 | isbn = 0520242394 }}</ref> ==Early life== [[File:Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy 1848.jpg|thumb|Tolstoy at age 20, 1848]] Tolstoy was born in [[Yasnaya Polyana]], the family estate in the [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] region of Russia. The [[Tolstoy (family)|Tolstoys]] were a well-known family of old Russian nobility. He was the fourth of five children of Count [[Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy]], a veteran of the [[French invasion of Russia|1812 French invasion of Russia]], and Countess Mariya Tolstaya (Volkonskaya). Tolstoy's parents died when he was young, so he and his siblings were brought up by relatives. In 1844, he began studying law and oriental languages at [[Kazan University]]. His teachers described him as "both unable and unwilling to learn."<ref>{{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 |accessdate=October 22, 2010}}</ref> Tolstoy left university in the middle of his studies, returned to Yasnaya Polyana and then spent much of his time in Moscow and [[Saint Petersburg]]. In 1851, after running up heavy gambling debts, he went with his older brother to the [[Caucasus (geographic region)|Caucasus]] and joined the [[Russian Army|army]]. It was about this time that he started writing. His conversion from a dissolute and privileged society author to the non-violent and spiritual anarchist of his latter days was brought about by his experience in the army as well as two trips around Europe in 1857 and 1860–61. 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 would mark the rest of his life. Writing in a letter to his friend V. P. Botkin: "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." His European trip in 1860–61 shaped both his political and literary transformation when he met [[Victor Hugo]], whose literary talents Tolstoy praised after reading Hugo's newly finished ''[[Les Miserables]]''. A comparison of Hugo's novel and Tolstoy's ''[[War and Peace]]'' shows the influence of the evocation of its battle scenes. 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. Apart from reviewing Proudhon's forthcoming publication, ''La Guerre et la Paix'' (''War and Peace'' in French), whose title Tolstoy would borrow for his masterpiece, the two men 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." Fired by enthusiasm, Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana and founded thirteen schools for his serfs' children, based on the principles Tolstoy described in his 1862 essay "The School at Yasnaya Polyana".<ref>{{cite book | last = Tolstoy | first = Lev N. | coauthors = Leo Wiener, translator and editor | title = The School at Yasnaya Polyana – The Complete Works of Count Tolstoy: Pedagogical Articles. Linen-Measurer, Volume IV | publisher = Dana Estes & Company | date = 1904 | page = 227 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=4cQnAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA227 }}</ref> Tolstoy's educational experiments were short-lived due to harassment by the [[Russian Empire|Tsarist]] secret police. However, as a direct forerunner to [[A. S. Neill]]'s [[Summerhill School]], the school at Yasnaya Polyana<ref>{{cite book | last = Wilson | first = A.N. | title = Tolstoy | publisher = Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. | date = 2001 | page = xxi | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=imYmH8myBUsC&pg=PR19 | isbn = 0393321223 }}</ref> can justifiably be claimed to be the first example of a coherent theory of democratic education. ==Personal life== [[File:Yasnaya tolstoy.jpg|thumb|Tolstoy's house at Yasnaya Polyana, today a museum.]] On September 23, 1862, Tolstoy married [[Sophia Tolstaya|Sophia Andreevna Bers]], who was 16 years his junior and the daughter of a court physician. She was called Sonya, the Russian diminutive of Sofya, by her family and friends.<ref name=nyt>Susan Jacoby, "The Wife of the Genius" (April 19, 1981) ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> They had thirteen children, five of whom died during childhood.<ref>Feuer,Kathryn B. ''Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace'', Cornell University Press, 1996, ISBN 0801419026</ref> The marriage was marked from the outset by sexual passion and emotional insensitivity when Tolstoy, on the eve of their marriage, gave her his diaries detailing his extensive sexual past and the fact that one of the serfs on his estate had borne him a son.<ref name=nyt/> Even so, their early married life was ostensibly happy and allowed Tolstoy much freedom to compose ''War and Peace'' and ''Anna Karenina'' with Sonya acting as his secretary, proof-reader and financial manager.<ref name=nyt/> However, their latter life together has been described by [[A. N. Wilson]] as one of the unhappiest in literary history. Tolstoy's relationship with his wife deteriorated as his beliefs became increasingly radical. This saw him seeking to reject his inherited and earned wealth, including the renunciation of the copyrights on his earlier works. ==Novels and fictional works== [[File:Tolstoy family.jpg|thumb|Tolstoy's wife [[Sophia Tolstaya|Sophia]] and their daughter [[Alexandra Tolstaya|Alexandra]]]] Tolstoy is one of the giants of Russian literature. His most famous works include the novels ''War and Peace'' and ''Anna Karenina'' and novellas such as ''[[Hadji Murat (novel)|Hadji Murad]]'' and ''[[The Death of Ivan Ilyich]]''. His contemporaries paid him lofty tributes. [[Fyodor Dostoevsky|Dostoevsky]] thought him the greatest of all living novelists. [[Gustave Flaubert|Flaubert]], on reading a translation of ''War and Peace'', exclaimed, "What an artist and what a psychologist!" [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]], who often visited Tolstoy at his country estate, wrote, "When literature possesses a Tolstoy, it is easy and pleasant to be a writer; even when you know you have achieved nothing yourself and are still achieving nothing, this is not as terrible as it might otherwise be, because Tolstoy achieves for everyone. What he does serves to justify all the hopes and aspirations invested in literature." Later critics and novelists continue to bear testament to Tolstoy's art. [[Virginia Woolf]] declared him the greatest of all novelists. [[James Joyce]] noted that, "He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical!". [[Thomas Mann]] wrote of Tolstoy's seemingly guileless artistry: "Seldom did art work so much like nature". Such sentiments were shared by the likes of [[Marcel Proust|Proust]], [[William Faulkner|Faulkner]] and [[Vladimir Nabokov|Nabokov]]. The latter heaped superlatives upon ''[[The Death of Ivan Ilyich]]'' and ''Anna Karenina''; he questioned, however, the reputation of ''War and Peace'', and sharply criticized ''[[Resurrection (novel)|Resurrection]]'' and ''[[The Kreutzer Sonata]]''. Tolstoy's earliest works, the autobiographical novels [[Childhood (novel)|''Childhood'']], [[Boyhood (novel)|''Boyhood'']], and [[Youth (Tolstoy novel)|''Youth'']] (1852–1856), tell of a rich landowner's son and his slow realization of the chasm between himself and his peasants. Though he later rejected them as sentimental, a great deal of Tolstoy's own life is revealed. They retain their relevance as accounts of the universal story of growing up. Tolstoy served as a [[second lieutenant]] in an artillery regiment during the [[Crimean War]], recounted in his ''[[Sevastapol Sketches]]''. His experiences in battle helped stir his subsequent [[pacifism]] and gave him material for realistic depiction of the horrors of war in his later work.<ref>''Government is Violence: essays on anarchism and pacifism''. Leo Tolstoy – 1990 – Phoenix Press </ref> His fiction consistently attempts to convey realistically the Russian society in which he lived.<ref>''Tolstoy: the making of a novelist. E'' Crankshaw – 1974 – Weidenfeld & Nicolson </ref>''[[The Cossacks (novel)|The Cossacks]]'' (1863) describes the [[Cossack]] life and people through a story of a Russian aristocrat in love with a Cossack girl. ''Anna Karenina'' (1877) tells parallel stories of an adulterous woman trapped by the conventions and falsities of society and of a philosophical landowner (much like Tolstoy), who works alongside the peasants in the fields and seeks to reform their lives. Tolstoy not only drew from his own life experiences but also created characters in his own image, such as Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei in ''War and Peace'', Levin in ''Anna Karenina'' and to some extent, Prince Nekhlyudov in ''Resurrection''. ''War and Peace'' is generally thought to be one of the greatest novels ever written, remarkable for its dramatic breadth and unity. Its vast canvas includes 580 characters, many historical with others fictional. The story moves from family life to the headquarters of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]], from the court of [[Alexander I of Russia]] to the battlefields of [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]] and [[Battle of Borodino|Borodino]]. Tolstoy's original idea for the novel was to investigate the causes of the [[Decembrist revolt]], to which it refers only in the last chapters, from which can be deduced that Andrei Bolkonski's son will become one of the Decembrists. The novel explores Tolstoy's theory of history, and in particular the insignificance of individuals such as Napoleon and Alexander. Somewhat surprisingly, Tolstoy did not consider ''War and Peace'' to be a novel (nor did he consider many of the great Russian fictions written at that time to be novels). This view becomes less surprising if one considers that Tolstoy was a novelist of the [[realism (arts)|realist]] school who considered the novel to be a framework for the examination of social and political issues in nineteenth-century life.<ref>Tolstoy and the Development of Realism. G Lukacs. ''Marxists on Literature: An Anthology'', London: Penguin, 1977</ref>''War and Peace'' (which is to Tolstoy really an [[Epic poetry|epic]] in prose) therefore did not qualify. Tolstoy thought that ''Anna Karenina'' was his first true novel.<ref>''Tolstoy and the Novel''. J Bayley – 1967 – Chatto & Windus </ref> After ''Anna Karenina'', Tolstoy concentrated on Christian themes, and his later novels such as ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich'' (1886) and ''[[What Is to Be Done? (Tolstoy)|What Is to Be Done?]]'' develop a radical [[Anarchism|anarcho]]-[[pacifism|pacifist]] Christian philosophy which led to his [[excommunication]] from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in 1901.<ref>''Church and State''. L Tolstoy&nbsp;— On Life and Essays on Religion, 1934 </ref> For all the praise showered on ''Anna Karenina'' and ''War and Peace'', Tolstoy rejected the two works later in his life as something not as true of reality.<ref>''Women in Tolstoy: the ideal and the erotic'' R.C. Benson – 1973 – University of Illinois Press </ref> Such an argument is supported in ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich'', whose main character continually battles with his family and servants, demanding honesty above the water and food needed to sustain him. ===Tolstoy on Shakespeare=== {{Main|Tolstoy on Shakespeare}} During his life, Tolstoy came to the conclusion that [[William Shakespeare]] was a bad dramatist and not a true artist at all. Tolstoy explained his views in a critical essay on Shakespeare written in 1903: "I remember the astonishment I felt when I first read Shakespeare. I expected to receive a powerful aesthetic pleasure, but having read, one after the other, works regarded as his best: "[[King Lear]]", "[[Romeo and Juliet]]", "[[Hamlet]]" and "[[Macbeth]]," not only did I feel no delight, but I felt an irresistible repulsion and tedium...". He goes on: <blockquote> "Several times I read the dramas and the comedies and historical plays, and I invariably underwent the same feelings: repulsion, weariness, and bewilderment. At the present time, before writing this preface, being desirous once more to test myself, I have, as an old man of seventy-five, again read the whole of Shakespeare, including the historical plays, the "Henrys," "Troilus and Cressida," the "Tempest," "Cymbeline," and I have felt, with even greater force, the same feelings,—this time, however, not of bewilderment, but of firm, indubitable conviction that the unquestionable glory of a great genius which Shakespeare enjoys, and which compels writers of our time to imitate him and readers and spectators to discover in him non-existent merits,—thereby distorting their aesthetic and ethical understanding,—is a great evil, as is every untruth."<ref>Tolstoy on Shakespeare. 1906.</ref></blockquote>Understanding that his conclusions contradict popular opinion, Tolstoy supported his opinion by detailed analysis of ''[[King Lear]]''. [[George Orwell]] wrote a well-known response to this: [[Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool]]. ==Religious and political beliefs== [[File:Tolstoy Writing.jpg|thumb|right|Tolstoy at his desk, 1870.]] [[File:Tolstoy and his grandchildrens.jpg|thumb|Tolstoy and his grandchildren, 1909]] After reading [[Schopenhauer]]'s ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]'', Tolstoy gradually became converted to the ascetic morality upheld in that work as the proper spiritual path for the upper classes: "Do you know what this summer has meant for me? Constant raptures over Schopenhauer and a whole series of spiritual delights which I've never experienced before. ... no student has ever studied so much on his course, and learned so much, as I have this summer"<ref>Tolstoy's Letter to A.A. Fet, August 30, 1869</ref> In Chapter VI of ''[[A Confession]]'', Tolstoy quoted the final paragraph of Schopenhauer's work. It explained how the nothingness that results from complete denial of self is only a relative nothingness, and is not to be feared. The novelist was struck by the description of Christian, [[Buddhist]], and [[Hindu]] ascetic renunciation as being the path to holiness. After reading passages such as the following, which abound in Schopenhauer's ethical chapters, the Russian nobleman chose poverty and formal denial of the will: <blockquote> But this very necessity of involuntary suffering (by poor people) for eternal salvation is also expressed by that utterance of the Savior ([[Matthew 19:24]]): "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Therefore those who were greatly in earnest about their eternal salvation, chose voluntary poverty when fate had denied this to them and they had been born in wealth. Thus [[Buddha]] [[Sakyamuni]] was born a prince, but voluntarily took to the mendicant's staff; and [[Francis of Assisi]], the founder of the mendicant orders who, as a youngster at a ball, where the daughters of all the notabilities were sitting together, was asked: "Now Francis, will you not soon make your choice from these beauties?" and who replied: "I have made a far more beautiful choice!" "Whom?" "''La poverta'' (poverty)": whereupon he abandoned every thing shortly afterwards and wandered through the land as a mendicant.<ref>Schopenhauer, ''[[Parerga and Paralipomena]]'', Vol. II, §170</ref> </blockquote> Tolstoy's Christian beliefs centered on the [[Sermon on the Mount]], particularly the injunction to turn the other cheek, which he saw as a justification for pacifism, nonviolence and nonresistance. Various versions of "Tolstoy's Bible" have been published, indicating the passages Tolstoy most relied on, specifically, the reported words of Jesus himself.<ref>Orwin, Donna T. ''The Cambridge Companion to Tolstoy''. Cambridge University Press, 2002</ref> Tolstoy believed being a Christian required him to be a pacifist; the consequences of being a pacifist, and the apparently inevitable waging of war by government, made him a philosophical anarchist. Tolstoy believed that a true Christian could find lasting happiness by striving for inner self-perfection through following the [[Great Commandment]] of loving one's neighbor and God rather than looking outward to the Church or state for guidance.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} His belief in nonresistance (nonviolence) when faced by conflict is another distinct attribute of his philosophy based on [[Christ]]'s teachings.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} By directly influencing [[Mahatma Gandhi]] with this idea through his work ''[[The Kingdom of God is Within You]]'' (full text of English translation [[Wikisource:The Kingdom of God is Within You|available on Wikisource]]), Tolstoy has had a huge influence on the nonviolent resistance movement to this day. He believed that the aristocracy were a burden on the poor, and that the only solution to how we live together is through [[Christian anarchism|anarchism]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} He also opposed private property<ref>I Cannot Be Silent. Leo Tolstoy. ''Recollections and Essays'', 1937.</ref> and the institution of marriage and valued the ideals of chastity and sexual abstinence (discussed in ''[[Father Sergius]]'' and his preface to ''The Kreutzer Sonata''), ideals also held by the young Gandhi. Tolstoy's later work derives a passion and verve from the depth of his austere moral views.<ref>{{cite web|author=by editor on September 8, 2009 |url=http://coastlinejournal.com/2009/09/08/why-leo-tolstoy-wouldn%E2%80%99t-super-size-it/ |title=Sommers, Aaron (2009) '&#39;Why Leo Tolstoy Wouldn't Supersize It'&#39; |publisher=Coastlinejournal.com |date=September 8, 2009 |accessdate=May 16, 2010}}</ref> The sequence of the temptation of Sergius in ''Father Sergius'', for example, is among his later triumphs. Gorky relates how Tolstoy once read this passage before himself and Chekhov and that Tolstoy was moved to tears by the end of the reading. Other later passages of rare power include the crises of self faced by the protagonists of ''The Death of Ivan Ilyich'' and ''[[Master and Man]]'', where the main character in the former or the reader in the latter is made aware of the foolishness of the protagonists' lives. Tolstoy had a profound influence on the development of [[Christian anarchism| Christian anarchist]] thought. The [[Tolstoyan]]s were a small Christian anarchist group formed by Tolstoy's companion, [[Vladimir Chertkov]] (1854–1936), to spread Tolstoy's religious teachings. Prince [[Peter Kropotkin]] wrote of Tolstoy in the article on anarchism in the [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]]:<blockquote>Without naming himself an anarchist, Leo Tolstoy, like his predecessors in the popular religious movements of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, [[Petr Chelčický|Chojecki]], [[Hans Denck|Denk]] and many others, took the anarchist position as regards the [[State (polity)|state]] and [[property right]]s, deducing his conclusions from the general spirit of the teachings of Jesus and from the necessary dictates of reason. With all the might of his talent he made (especially in ''The Kingdom of God is Within You'') a powerful criticism of the church, the state and law altogether, and especially of the present [[property law]]s. He describes the state as the domination of the wicked ones, supported by brutal force. Robbers, he says, are far less dangerous than a well-organized government. He makes a searching criticism of the prejudices which are current now concerning the benefits conferred upon men by the church, the state and the existing distribution of property, and from the teachings of Jesus he deduces the rule of non-resistance and the absolute condemnation of all wars. His religious arguments are, however, so well combined with arguments borrowed from a dispassionate observation of the present evils, that the anarchist portions of his works appeal to the religious and the non-religious reader alike.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition |last=Kropotkin |first=Peter |authorlink=Peter Kropotkin |coauthors= |year=1911 |publisher= |location= |isbn= |page=918 |pages= |url=http://www.archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabri01chisrich#page/918/mode/2up |accessdate= |quote=Anarchism}}</ref></blockquote> During the [[Boxer Rebellion]] in China, Tolstoy praised the Boxers. He was harshly critical of the atrocities done by the Russians and other western troops. He accused them of engaging in slaughter when he heard about the lootings, rapes, and murders, in what he saw as Christian brutality. Tolstoy also named the two monarchs most responsible for the atrocities; Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=k1_iAAAAMAAJ&q=he+praised+the+Chinese+for+their+heroic+patience.+When+he+learned+about+the+%22orgy+of+murder,+raping,+and+looting%22+committed+by+the+Western+powers+in+quelling+the+Boxer+rebellion,+he+raged+against+the+brutality+of+the+Christians&dq=he+praised+the+Chinese+for+their+heroic+patience.+When+he+learned+about+the+%22orgy+of+murder,+raping,+and+looting%22+committed+by+the+Western+powers+in+quelling+the+Boxer+rebellion,+he+raged+against+the+brutality+of+the+Christians&hl=en&ei=HFHQTMngK8KqlAeQ_oCiBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA|title=The Russian review, Volume 19|author=William Henry Chamberlin, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Ohio State University|year=1960|publisher=Blackwell|location=|page=115|isbn=|pages=|accessdate=October 31, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MFtDxmZVB7gC&pg=PA3&dq=tolstoy+boxer+rebellion&hl=en&ei=t1DQTLz9HYX7lwfBofHiBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=tolstoy%20boxer%20rebellion&f=false|title=An age of progress?: clashing twentieth-century global forces|author=Walter G. Moss|year=2008|publisher=Anthem Press|location=|page=3|isbn=1843313014|pages=|accessdate=October 31, 2010}}</ref> Tolstoy also read the works of Chinese thinker and philosopher, [[Confucius]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nU2lErM3VgwC&pg=PA37&dq=tolstoy+boxer+rebellion&hl=en&ei=t1DQTLz9HYX7lwfBofHiBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=The Cambridge companion to Tolstoy|author=Donna Tussing Orwin|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=|page=37|isbn=0521520002|pages=|accessdate=October 31, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?ei=t1DQTLz9HYX7lwfBofHiBQ&ct=result&id=UipgAAAAMAAJ&dq=tolstoy+boxer+rebellion&q=tolstoy+boxer+rebellion+confucianism|title=Tolstoy and China|author=Derk Bodde|year=1950|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=|page=25|isbn=|pages=|accessdate=October 31, 2010}}</ref> [[File:Tolstoy and wife 1910.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Tolstoy and his wife Sophia Tolstaya, taken September 23, 1910, about six weeks before his death.]] In hundreds of essays over the last twenty years of his life, Tolstoy reiterated the anarchist critique of the state and recommended books by [[Kropotkin]] and [[Proudhon]] to his readers, whilst rejecting anarchism's espousal of [[propaganda of the deed|violent revolutionary means]]. In the 1900 essay, "On Anarchy", he wrote; "The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order, and in the assertion that, without Authority, there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that Anarchy can be instituted by a revolution. But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power ... There can be only one permanent revolution—a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man." Despite his misgivings about [[anarchist violence]], Tolstoy took risks to circulate the prohibited publications of [[anarchism in Russia|anarchist thinkers in Russia]], and corrected the proofs of Kropotkin's "Words of a Rebel", illegally published in St Petersburg in 1906.<ref>''Peter Kropotkin: from prince to rebel''. G Woodcock, I Avakumović.1990.</ref> [[File:Tolstoy.ogg|thumb|right|200px|Film footage of Tolstoy's 80th birthday at Yasnaya Polyana. Footage shows; his wife Sofya (picking flowers in the garden), daughter Aleksandra (sitting in the carriage in the white blouse), his aide and confidante, V. Chertkov (bald man with the beard and mustache) and students. Filmed by [[Alexander Drankov|Aleksandr Osipovich Drankov]], 1908.]] In 1908, Tolstoy wrote ''[[A Letter to a Hindu|A Letter to a Hindoo]]''<ref name=gandhi>{{cite book |title=Meditations on Gandhi: a Ravindra Varma festschrift |last=Varma |first=Ravindra |authorlink= |coauthors=Mundackal Paulose Mathai |editors=Mundackal Paulose Mathai, M. S. John, Siby K. Joseph|volume=19 |year= 2002|publisher=Concept Publishing Company |location= |isbn=8170229618, 9788170229612 |page= |pages=96–109 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=kcpDOVk5Gp8C&dq=Tolstoy+letter+to+Ghandi&source=gbs_navlinks_s |accessdate=December 1, 2010}}</ref> outlining his belief in non-violence as a means for India to gain independence from British colonial rule. In 1909, a copy of the letter fell into the hands of Mohandas Gandhi who was working as a laywer in South Africa at the time and in the beginnings of becoming an activist. Tolstoy's letter was significant for Gandhi who wrote to the famous writer seeking proof that he was the real author, leading to further correspondence between them.<ref name=gandhi/> Reading Tolstoy's ''The Kingdom of God is Within You'' also convinced Gandhi to avoid violence and espouse [[nonviolent resistance]], a debt Gandhi acknowledged in his autobiography, calling Tolstoy "the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present age has produced". The correspondence between Tolstoy and Gandhi would only last a year, from October 1909 until Tolstoy's death in November 1910, but led Gandhi to give the name, the Tolstoy Colony, to his second [[ashram]] in South Africa.<ref>''Tolstoy and Gandhi, men of peace: a biography''. MB Green – 1983 – Basic Books </ref> Besides non-violent resistance, the two men shared a common belief in the merits of [[vegetarianism]], the subject of several of Tolstoy's essays.<ref>Leo Tolstoy, [http://www.ivu.org/history/tolstoy/the_%20first_step.html ''The First Step''], Preface to the Russian translation of [[Howard Williams (humanitarian)|Howard William’s]] [http://www.ivu.org/history/williams/index.html ''The Ethics of Diet''], 1892.</ref> Tolstoy also became a major supporter of the [[Esperanto]] movement. Tolstoy was impressed by the pacifist beliefs of the [[Doukhobor]]s and brought their persecution to the attention of the international community, after they burned their weapons in peaceful protest in 1895. He aided the Doukhobors in migrating to Canada.<ref>Mays, H.G. "Resurrection:Tolstoy and Canada's Doukhobors." The Beaver 79.October/November 1999:38–44</ref> In 1904, during the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Tolstoy condemned the war and wrote to the Japanese Buddhist priest [[Soyen Shaku]] in a failed attempt to make a joint pacifist statement. Tolstoy was a wealthy member of the Russian nobility. He came to believe that he was undeserving of his inherited wealth, and was renowned among the peasantry for his generosity. He would frequently return to his country estate with vagrants whom he felt needed a helping hand, and would often dispense large sums of money to street beggars while on trips to the city, much to his wife's chagrin.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} ==Death== [[File:Graf Tolstoj op Jasnaja Poljana.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Tolstoy's simple grave with flowers at Yasnaya Polyana.]] Tolstoy died in 1910, at the age of 82. He died of [[pneumonia]]<ref>''Leo Tolstoy''. EJ Simmons – 1946 – Little, Brown and Company </ref> at [[Lev Tolstoy (settlement)|Astapovo]] train station, after falling ill when he left home in the middle of winter. His death came only days after gathering the nerve to abandon his family and wealth<ref>''The last days of Tolstoy''. VG Chertkov. 1922. Heinemann </ref> and take up the path of a wandering ascetic,{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} a path that he had agonized over pursuing for decades. He had not been at the peak of health before leaving home; his wife and daughters were all actively engaged in caring for him daily. He had been speaking and writing of his own death in the days preceding his departure from home, but fell ill at the station not far from home. The station master took Tolstoy to his apartment, where his personal doctors were called to the scene. He was given injections of morphine and camphor.hes a fagget The police tried to limit access to his funeral procession, but thousands of peasants lined the streets at his funeral. Still, some peasants were heard to say that, other than knowing that "some nobleman had died," they knew little else about Tolstoy.<ref>Tolstaya, S.A. ''The Diaries of Sophia Tolstoy'', Book Sales, 1987; Chertkov, V. "The Last Days of Leo Tolstoy," http://www.linguadex.com/tolstoy/index.html, translated by Benjamin Scher</ref>There is some speculation that Tolstoy was murdered with poison by his wife Sonya.<ref> Batuman, Elif, 'The Murder of Leo Tolstoy: A forensic Investigation', in Harpers Magazine, February 2009.</ref> ==In film== A 2009 film about Tolstoy's final year, ''[[The Last Station]]'', based on the novel by [[Jay Parini]], was made by director [[Michael Hoffman (American director)|Michael Hoffman]] with [[Christopher Plummer]] as Tolstoy and [[Helen Mirren]] as Sofya Tolstoya. Both performers were nominated for [[Academy Award|Oscars]] for their roles. There have been other films about the writer, including ''[[Departure of a Grand Old Man]]'', made in 1912 just two years after his death, ''How Fine, How Fresh the Roses Were'' (1913), and ''Leo Tolstoy'', directed by and starring [[Sergei Gerasimov (film director)|Sergei Gerasimov]] in 1984. There is also a famous lost film of Tolstoy made a decade before he died. In 1901, the American travel lecturer [[Burton Holmes]] visited Yasnaya Polyana with [[Albert J. Beveridge]], the U.S. senator and historian. As the three men conversed, Holmes filmed Tolstoy with his 60-mm movie camera. Afterwards, Beveridge's advisers succeeded in having the film destroyed, fearing that documentary evidence of a meeting with the Russian author might hurt Beveridge's chances of running for the U.S. presidency.<ref>Wallace, Irving, 'Everybody's Rover Boy', in ''The Sunday Gentleman''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965. p. 117.</ref> ==Gallery== <gallery widths="150px" heights="150px" > File:Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy 1854.jpg|1854 File:Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy 1856.jpg|Tolstoy in military uniform, by Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, 1856 File:Leo Tolstoy portrait.jpeg|Sketch based on photograph of Tolstoy taken in 1876 File:CountTolstoyWifeSonAndDog.187090.ws.jpg|Tolstoy with his wife and son, photo taken between 1870–90 File:Leo Tolstoy seated.jpg|1879 File:Family of L. Tolstoy.jpg|Tolstoy with his wife and family, 1887 File:Ilya Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Portrait of Leo Tolstoy (1887).jpg|Portrait of Tolstoy in 1887, by [[Ilya Yefimovich Repin|Ilya Repin]] File:SU Leo Tolstoi stamp.jpg|Tolstoy commemorated on a Soviet stamp issued in 1978 File:Sovremennik 2.jpg|Tolstoy with fellow contributors to [[Sovremennik|Sovremennik Magazine]] Tolstoy's first work ''Childhood'' was published in ''Sovremennik''. File:Leo Tolstoi v kabinetie.05.1908.ws.jpg|1908 File:Stanza da letto di tolstoj.jpg|Tolstoy's bedroom at Yasnaya Polyana File:Count Tolstoy, with hat.jpg|Ilya Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's son File:Tolstoydeathmask.jpg|Tolstoy's death mask </gallery> ==Works== {{Main|Bibliography of Leo Tolstoy}} ===Novels and novellas=== *''[[Childhood (novel)|Childhood]]'' (''Детство'' [''Detstvo'']; 1852) *''[[Boyhood (novel)|Boyhood]]'' (''Отрочество'' [''Otrochestvo'']; 1854) *''[[Youth (Tolstoy novel)|Youth]]'' (''Юность'' [''Yunost<nowiki>'</nowiki>'']; 1856) *''[[Family Happiness]]'' (''Семейное счастье'' [''Semeynoe schast`e'']; novella, 1859) *''[[The Cossacks (novel)|The Cossacks]]'' (''Казаки'' [''Kazaki'']; 1863) *''[[War and Peace]]'' (''Война и мир'' [''Voyna i mir'']; 1865–1869) *''[[Anna Karenina]]'' (''Анна Каренина'' [''Anna Karenina'']; 1875–77) *''[[The Death of Ivan Ilyich]]'' (''Смерть Ивана Ильича'' [''Smert' Ivana Il'icha'']; novella, 1887) *''[[The Kreutzer Sonata]]'' (''Крейцерова соната'' [''Kreitserova Sonata'']; 1889) *''[[Resurrection (novel)|Resurrection]]'' (''Воскресение'' [''Voskresenie'']; 1899) *''[[Hadji Murat (novel)|Hadji Murat]]'' (''Хаджи-Мурат'' [''Khadzhi-Murat'']; written in 1896–1904, published 1912) ===Short stories=== *''[[The Raid (story)|The Raid]]'' (1853) *''[[Sevastopol Stories]]'' (''Севастопольские рассказы'' [''Sevastopolskie Rasskazy'']; 1855–56) *''[[Ivan the Fool (story)|Ivan the Fool]]'': A Lost Opportunity'' (1863) *''[[Polikushka]]'' (1863) *''[[The Prisoner in the Caucasus (story)|The Prisoner in the Caucasus]]'' (''Кавказский Пленник'' [''Kavkazskii Plennik'']; 1872) *''[[Kholstomer|Strider: The Story of a Horse]]'' (1864, 1886) *''[[How Much Land Does a Man Need?]]'' (''Много ли человеку земли нужно'' [''Mnogo li cheloveku zemli nuzhno'']; 1886) *''[[Master and Man]]'' (1895) *''[[Father Sergius]]'' (''Отец Сергий'' [''Otets Sergii''] (1898) ===Plays=== *''[[The Power of Darkness]]'' (''Власть тьмы'' [''Vlast' t'my''] (tragedy, 1886) *''[[The Fruits of Enlightenment]]'' (comedy, 1889) *''[[The Living Corpse]]'' (''Живой труп'' [''Zhivoi trup''] (1900) ===Non-fiction=== *''[[A Confession]]'' (''Исповедь'' [''Ispoved''']; 1882) *''[[What I Believe (Tolstoy)|What I Believe]]'' (also called ''My Religion'') (''В чём моя вера'' [''V chem moya vera'']; 1884) ([[Wikisource:What I Believe (Tolstoy)|What I Believe]] and [[Wikisource:My Religion|My Religion]] available at Wikisource) *''[[What Is to Be Done? (Tolstoy)|What Is to Be Done?]]'' (1886) *''[[The Kingdom of God is Within You]]'' (''Царство Божие внутри вас'' [''Tsarstvo Bozhiye vnutri vas'']; 1894) ([[Wikisource:The Kingdom of God is Within You|available at wikisource]]) *''[[The Gospel in Brief]] (1896) *''[[What Is Art?]]'' (1897) *''[[Christianity and Patriotism]]''; published in 1905 ([http://www.archive.org/stream/christianitypatr00tolsiala#page/n5/mode/2up complete text]) *''[[The Law of Love and the Law of Violence]]''; published in 1940 ([http://www.scribd.com/doc/9929923/The-Law-of-Love-and-the-Law-of-Violence-by-Leo-Tolstoy complete text]) ==See also== * [[Anarchism and religion]] * [[Christian vegetarianism]] * [[Confirmation bias]], a psychological phenomenon of which Tolstoy was an early informal observer ==References== {{Reflist|2}} {{1911}} ==External links== {{Sister project links|wikt=no|b=no|q=Leo Tolstoy|s=Author:Leo Tolstoy|commons=Leo Tolstoy|n=no|v=no|species=no}} ===Resources=== *[http://tolstoycentennial.com/ Leo Tolstoy Centennial Anniversary 1828–1910]. Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://www.utoronto.ca/tolstoy/gallery/index.html Tolstoy Image Gallery]. Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548d7 BBC audio file]. Radio 4 discussion programme ''In our time''. Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://www.awesomestories.com/assets/leo-tolstoy-rare-historic-video Rare film footage of Tolstoy, during his last year of life, from the Russian State Archives]. Accessed 2010-10-24 ===Leo Tolstoy's biography === *[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/CheTols.html Illustrated Biography online] at [[University of Virginia]] . Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/anna/timeline_text.html Tolstoy's timeline] PBS and [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/anna/tg_history.html synopsis of his life]. Accessed 2010-10-19 ===Works by Tolstoy=== *[http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/t#a136 At Project Gutenberg]. Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=(tolstoy%20OR%20tolstoi%20OR%20tolstoj) At archive.org] *{{worldcat id|id=lccn-n79-68416}} *[http://tolstoy.classicauthors.net/ Links to works online]. Accessed 2010-10-19 *[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=Leo+Tolstoy&action=Search Audiobooks of Tolstoy] at [[LibriVox]]. Accessed 2010-10-19 {{Normdaten|LCCN=n/79/068416}} {{Leo Tolstoy}} {{Lists of Russians}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Tolstoy, Leo | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = September 9, 1828 | PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Yasnaya Polyana]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]] | DATE OF DEATH = November 20, 1910 | PLACE OF DEATH = [[Lev Tolstoy (settlement)|Astapovo]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Tolstoy, Leo}} [[Category:Leo Tolstoy|*]] [[Category:1828 births]] [[Category:1910 deaths]] [[Category:Christian anarchists]] [[Category:Christian communists]] [[Category:Christian vegetarians]] [[Category:Christian writers]] [[Category:Georgists]] [[Category:People excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church]] [[Category:Russian Christians]] [[Category:Russian Christian pacifists]] [[Category:Russian Esperantists]] [[Category:Russian anarchists]] [[Category:Russian anti-war activists]] [[Category:Russian writers]] [[Category:Russian essayists]] [[Category:Russian fabulists]] [[Category:Anarcho-pacifists]] [[Category:Russian novelists]] [[Category:Russian short story writers]] [[Category:Russian vegetarians]] [[Category:Tolstoy family|Leo Tolstoy]] [[Category:Converts to Christianity from atheism or agnosticism]] {{Link FA|it}} {{Link FA|ro}} [[am:ሊዮ ቶልስቶይ]] [[ar:ليو تولستوي]] [[an:Leo Tolstoy]] [[av:Лев Николаевич Толстой]] [[az:Lev Tolstoy]] [[bn:ল্যেভ তল্‌স্তোয়]] [[zh-min-nan:Leo Tolstoy]] [[be:Леў Талстой]] [[be-x-old:Леў Талстой]] [[bo:ཐོར་སི་ཐའེ།]] [[bs:Lav Tolstoj]] [[br:Lyev Tolstoy]] [[bg:Лев Толстой]] [[ca:Lev Nikolàievitx Tolstoi]] [[cv:Толстой Лев Николаевич]] [[cs:Lev Nikolajevič Tolstoj]] [[cy:Lev Tolstoy]] [[da:Lev Tolstoj]] [[de:Lew Nikolajewitsch Tolstoi]] [[et:Lev Tolstoi]] [[el:Λέων Τολστόι]] [[es:León Tolstói]] [[eo:Lev Tolstoj]] [[ext:Leo Tolstoy]] [[eu:Lev Tolstoi]] [[fa:لئو تولستوی]] [[hif:Leo Tolstoy]] [[fr:Léon Tolstoï]] [[fy:Lev Tolstoj]] [[ga:Leo Tolstoy]] [[gd:Leo Tolstoy]] [[gl:Lev Tolstoi]] [[gan:托爾斯泰]] [[ko:레프 톨스토이]] [[hy:Լև Տոլստոյ]] [[hi:लेव तालस्तोय]] [[hr:Lav Nikolajevič Tolstoj]] [[io:Lev Tolstoy]] [[id:Leo Tolstoy]] [[os:Толстой, Лев Николайы фырт]] [[is:Lev Tolstoj]] [[it:Lev Tolstoj]] [[he:לב טולסטוי]] [[kn:ಲಿಯೊ ಟಾಲ್‍ಸ್ಟಾಯ್]] [[pam:Leo Tolstoy]] [[ka:ლევ ტოლსტოი]] [[sw:Leo Tolstoy]] [[ku:Lev Tolstoy]] [[la:Leo Tolstoj]] [[lv:Ļevs Tolstojs]] [[lb:Leo Tolstoi]] [[lt:Levas Tolstojus]] [[hu:Lev Nyikolajevics Tolsztoj]] [[mk:Лав Николаевич Толстој]] [[ml:ലിയോ ടോൾസ്റ്റോയ്]] [[mr:लिओ टॉल्स्टॉय]] [[arz:ليو تولستوى]] [[ms:Leo Tolstoy]] [[mwl:Liev Tolstói]] [[mn:Лев Толстой]] [[my:လီယိုတော်စတွိုင်း]] [[nl:Lev Tolstoj]] [[ja:レフ・トルストイ]] [[no:Leo Tolstoj]] [[nn:Leo Tolstoj]] [[oc:Leon Tolstoi]] [[uz:Lev Tolstoy]] [[pnb:ٹالسٹائی]] [[ps:لېو نيكولايوويچ تولستوى]] [[pms:Lev Nicolaevic Tolstoj]] [[nds:Leo Tolstoi]] [[pl:Lew Tołstoj]] [[pt:Liev Tolstói]] [[ro:Lev Tolstoi]] [[qu:Lev Tolstoy]] [[ru:Толстой, Лев Николаевич]] [[rue:Лев Толстой]] [[sah:Лев Толстой]] [[sq:Leon Tolstoi]] [[scn:Liuni Tolstoi]] [[si:Leo Tolstoy - ලියෝ ටෝල්ස්ටෝයි]] [[simple:Leo Tolstoy]] [[sk:Lev Nikolajevič Tolstoj]] [[sl:Lev Nikolajevič Tolstoj]] [[ckb:لێئۆ تۆلستۆی]] [[sr:Лав Толстој]] [[sh:Lav Tolstoj]] [[fi:Leo Tolstoi]] [[sv:Lev Tolstoj]] [[tl:Leo Tolstoy]] [[ta:லியோ டால்ஸ்டாய்]] [[tt:Лев Толстой]] [[te:లియో టాల్‌స్టాయ్]] [[th:เลโอ ตอลสตอย]] [[tg:Лев Николаевич Толстой]] [[tr:Lev Nikolayeviç Tolstoy]] [[uk:Толстой Лев Миколайович]] [[ur:ٹالسٹائی]] [[vi:Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy]] [[vo:Lev Tolstoy]] [[war:Leo Tolstoy]] [[yo:Leo Tolstoy]] [[zh-yue:托爾斯泰]] [[bat-smg:Levs Tuolstuos]] [[zh:列夫·托爾斯泰]]'