Why did Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy devote his life? Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich. Expert assessment of individual statements of Tolstoy

Classic Russian literature Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 into the noble family of Nikolai Tolstoy and his wife Maria Nikolaevna. The father and mother of the future writer were nobles and belonged to revered families, so the family lived comfortably in their own Yasnaya Polyana estate, located in the Tula region.

Leo Tolstoy spent his childhood in the family estate. In these places he first saw the course of life of the working people, heard an abundance of old legends, parables, fairy tales, and here his first attraction to literature arose. Yasnaya Polyana is a place to which the writer returned at all stages of his life, drawing wisdom, beauty, and inspiration.

Despite his noble origin, Tolstoy had to learn the bitterness of orphanhood from childhood, because the mother of the future writer died when the boy was only two years old. His father passed away not much later, when Leo was seven years old. The grandmother first took custody of the children, and after her death, Aunt Palageya Yushkova, who took the four children of the Tolstoy family with her to Kazan.

Growing up

The six years of living in Kazan became the informal years of the writer’s growing up, because during this time his character and worldview were formed. In 1844, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, first to the eastern department, then, not finding himself in the study of Arabic and Turkish, to the Faculty of Law.

The writer did not show significant interest in studying law, but he understood the need to obtain a diploma. After passing the external exams, in 1847 Lev Nikolaevich received the long-awaited document and returned to Yasnaya Polyana, and then to Moscow, where he began to engage in literary creativity.

Military service

Not having time to finish two planned stories, in the spring of 1851 Tolstoy went to the Caucasus with his brother Nikolai and began military service. The young writer takes part in military operations of the Russian army and is among the defenders Crimean peninsula, frees native land from Turkish and Anglo-French troops. Years of service gave Leo Tolstoy invaluable experience, knowledge of the life of ordinary soldiers and citizens, their characters, heroism, and aspirations.

The years of service are vividly reflected in Tolstoy’s stories “Cossacks”, “Hadji Murat”, as well as in the stories “Demoted”, “Cutting Wood”, “Raid”.

Literary and social activities

Returning to St. Petersburg in 1855, Leo Tolstoy was already famous in literary circles. Remembering the respectful attitude towards serfs in his father’s house, the writer strongly supports the abolition of serfdom, clarifying this question in the stories “Polikushka”, “Morning of the Landowner”, etc.

In an effort to see the world, in 1857 Lev Nikolaevich went on a trip abroad, visiting countries Western Europe. Getting acquainted with cultural traditions peoples, the master of words records information in his memory in order to later display the most important points in his creativity.

Actively engaged social activities, Tolstoy opens a school in Yasnaya Polyana. The writer strongly criticizes corporal punishment, which was widely practiced at that time in educational institutions in Europe and Russia. In order to improve the educational system, Lev Nikolaevich publishes a pedagogical magazine called “Yasnaya Polyana”, and in the early 70s he compiled several textbooks for junior schoolchildren, including “Arithmetic”, “ABC”, “Books to Read”. These developments were effectively used in teaching several more generations of children.

Personal life and creativity

In 1862, the writer cast his lot with the daughter of doctor Andrei Bers, Sophia. The young family settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where Sofya Andreevna diligently tried to provide an atmosphere for literary work husband. At this time, Leo Tolstoy was actively working on the creation of the epic “War and Peace”, and also, reflecting life in Russia after the reform, wrote the novel “Anna Karenina”.

In the 80s, Tolstoy moved with his family to Moscow, seeking to educate his growing children. Watching the hungry life ordinary people, Lev Nikolaevich contributes to the opening of about 200 free tables for those in need. Also at this time, the writer published a number of topical articles about the famine, strongly condemning the policies of the rulers.

The period of literature of the 80-90s includes: the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, the drama “The Power of Darkness”, the comedy “Fruits of Enlightenment”, the novel “Sunday”. For his strong attitude against religion and autocracy, Leo Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church.

last years of life

In 1901 - 1902 the writer became seriously ill. For the purpose of a speedy recovery, the doctor strongly recommends a trip to Crimea, where Leo Tolstoy spends six months. The prose writer's last trip to Moscow took place in 1909.

Since 1881, the writer has been trying to leave Yasnaya Polyana and retire, but remains, not wanting to hurt his wife and children. On October 28, 1910, Leo Tolstoy nevertheless decided to take a conscious step and live the rest of his years in a simple hut, refusing all honors.

An unexpected illness on the road becomes an obstacle to the writer’s plans and he spends his last seven days of life in the house of the station master. The day of death of an outstanding literary and public figure became November 20, 1910.

Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. Works brilliant writer- Russia's greatest asset.

In August 1828, a classic of Russian literature was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. The future author of War and Peace became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On his father's side, he belonged to the old family of Count Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of the Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.

Lev Nikolayevich’s mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbirth fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Lev was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.

Caring for the children fell on the shoulders of the writer’s aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Sacken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - their father’s sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced her nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life at the Yushkov estate in his story “Childhood.”

The classic received his primary education at home from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the Faculty of Oriental Languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he transferred to another faculty - law. But he did not succeed here either: after two years he left the university without receiving a degree.

Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man regularly kept a diary, loved social entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and...

Disappointed with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the village, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for candidate exams at the university, studying music, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet in a horse guards regiment. Relatives called Lev “the most trifling fellow,” and it took years to pay off the debts he incurred.

Literature

In 1851, the writer’s brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Lev to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. The nature of the Caucasus and the patriarchal life of the Cossack village were later reflected in the stories “Cossacks” and “Hadji Murat”, the stories “Raid” and “Cutting the Forest”.

In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story “Childhood,” which he published in the magazine “Sovremennik” under the initials L.N. Soon he wrote the sequels “Adolescence” and “Youth,” combining the stories into a trilogy. Literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolaevich his first recognition.

The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: an appointment to Bucharest, a transfer to besieged Sevastopol, and command of a battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came the cycle “ Sevastopol stories" The works of the young writer amazed critics with their bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them a “dialectic of the soul,” and the emperor read the essay “Sevastopol in December” and expressed admiration for Tolstoy’s talent.

In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him “the great hope of Russian literature.” But over the course of a year, I got tired of the writing environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners. Later in Confession Tolstoy admitted:

“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”

In the fall of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe for six months. Visited Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. On the family estate, he began arranging schools for peasant children. In the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, with his participation, twenty educational institutions. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium he studied pedagogical systems European countries to apply what we saw in Russia.

A special niche in the work of Leo Tolstoy is occupied by fairy tales and works for children and teenagers. The writer has created hundreds of works for young readers, including good and cautionary tales“Kitten”, “Two Brothers”, “Hedgehog and Hare”, “Lion and Dog”.

Leo Tolstoy wrote the school textbook “ABC” to teach children writing, reading and arithmetic. The literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included in it instructive stories, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice for teachers. The third book includes the story “ Prisoner of the Caucasus».

In the 1870s, Leo Tolstoy, while continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted the two storylines: family drama Karenins and the home idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love affair: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of existence of the “educated class”, contrasting it with the truth of peasant life. "Anna Karenina" was highly appreciated.

The turning point in the writer’s consciousness was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight occupies a central place in the stories and stories. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “The Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. A classic of Russian literature paints pictures social inequality, castigates the idleness of the nobles.

In search of an answer to the question about the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but didn’t find satisfaction there either. The writer came to the conclusion that Christian church corrupt, and under the guise of religion, priests promote false teaching. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication “Mediator,” where he outlined his spiritual beliefs and criticized the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, and the writer was monitored by the secret police.

In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received favorable reviews from critics. But the success of the work was inferior to “Anna Karenina” and “War and Peace”.

For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his teachings on non-violent resistance to evil, was recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.

"War and Peace"

Leo Tolstoy disliked his novel “War and Peace,” calling the epic “ verbose rubbish" The classic writer wrote the work in the 1860s, while living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, entitled “1805,” were published by Russkiy Vestnik in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated controversy among critics.

The novelist took the features of the heroes of the work, written during the years of family happiness and spiritual elation, from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolaevich’s mother are recognizable, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love of art. The writer awarded Nikolai Rostov with his father’s traits - mockery, love of reading and hunting.

When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. His young wife helped him, copying his drafts out clean.

The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of its epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to “write the history of the people.”

According to the calculations of literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, only works abroad Russian classic filmed 40 times. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia have made 16 films based on the novel “Anna Karenina”, “Resurrection” has been filmed 22 times.

“War and Peace” was first filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.

Personal life

Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the couple’s life can hardly be called cloudless.

Sofia Bers is the second of three daughters of the Moscow palace office doctor Andrei Bers. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they vacationed on a Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time Leo Tolstoy saw future wife child. Sophia was educated at home, read a lot, understood art, and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as an example of the memoir genre.

At first married life Leo Tolstoy, wanting there to be no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. The shocked wife found out about her husband's turbulent youth, his passion gambling, wild life and the peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolaevich.

The first-born Sergei was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy began writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite her pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five of the 13 children died in infancy or early childhood childhood.

Problems in the family began after Leo Tolstoy finished his work on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that he had so carefully arranged in family nest Sofya Andreevna. The count's moral turmoil led to Lev Nikolayevich demanding that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he made himself, and wanted to give his acquired property to the peasants.

Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of ​​​​distributing goods. But the quarrel that occurred split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Upon returning, the writer entrusted the responsibility of rewriting drafts to his daughters.

Death last child– seven-year-old Vanya – brought the spouses closer together for a short time. But soon mutual grievances and misunderstandings alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher to whom romantic feelings. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for “half-betrayal.”

The couple's fatal quarrel occurred at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia Farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but could not do otherwise.

Death

82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train at the Astapovo railway station. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in the house stationmaster. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy’s health.

The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.

Quotes by Leo Tolstoy

• Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
• Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
• All happy families are similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
• Let everyone sweep in front of his own door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
• It's easier to live without love. But without it there is no point.
• I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
• The world moves forward because of those who suffer.
• The greatest truths are the simplest.
• Everyone is making plans, and no one knows whether he will survive until the evening.

Bibliography

• 1869 – “War and Peace”
• 1877 – “Anna Karenina”
• 1899 – “Resurrection”
• 1852-1857 – “Childhood”. "Adolescence". "Youth"
• 1856 – “Two Hussars”
• 1856 – “Morning of the Landowner”
• 1863 – “Cossacks”
• 1886 – “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”
• 1903 – “Notes of a Madman”
• 1889 – “Kreutzer Sonata”
• 1898 – “Father Sergius”
• 1904 – “Hadji Murat”

2. He devoted his whole life to _____________. 3. Complete collection the works of L.N. Tolstoy consists of ____ volumes. 4. The writer was born and lived mainly in __________.

5. There he opened ______________.

6. L.N. Tolstoy wrote _____________ for children.

7. Lev Nikolaevich was left without _______________________ early. 8. At the age of 16 he entered one of the best universities
that time ______________. Do all 8 numbers please:3 It was not in vain that I wrote:3 Answers:

3) 90 volumes 4) Leo Tolstoy was born on August 28, 1828 in the Krapivensky district of the Tula province, on his mother’s hereditary estate - Yasnaya Polyana. 5) In 1849, he first opened a school for peasant children. 6) “In addition to theoretical articles, he also wrote a number of stories, fables and adaptations, adapted for elementary school.” 7) His mother died in 1830. 8) In 1843, P.I. Yushkova, taking on the role of guardian of her minor nephews (only the eldest, Nikolai, was an adult) and niece, brought them to Kazan. Following the brothers Nikolai, Dmitry and Sergei, Lev decided to enter the Imperial Kazan University (the most famous at that time) On October 3, 1844, Leo Tolstoy was enrolled as a student of the category of Eastern (Arabic-Turkish) literature as a self-paid student - paying for his studies., and Leo Tolstoy did not pass his first year exams. This circumstance remained forever in his memory, he experienced his “shame” so hard. Thanks to the patronage of his relatives, he managed to transfer to the Faculty of Law. The young man became interested in the works of Montesquieu and Rousseau, and as a result, his thirst for knowledge turned into a paradox - Leo Tolstoy dropped out of university to devote himself entirely to the study of subjects that interested him.

He went to Yasnaya Polyana and tried to engage in economic reforms and at the same time work on himself. Having failed in economic activity. Tolstoy returned to Kazan, passed two exams at the Faculty of Law, but soon left the university again.

In 1850 he entered the office of the Tula provincial government. But routine service also could not satisfy young Tolstoy.

I. Pokhitonov. Yasnaya Polyana. 1900 In the summer of 1851, Tolstoy again made an attempt to change his life. He went to the Caucasus to join his older brother Nikolai, who served as an officer there. Leo Tolstoy joined the Caucasian army as a volunteer. Arriving in the village of Starogladovskaya, Tolstoy was amazed by the new world of ordinary Cossacks that opened up for him, which was reflected in his story “Cossacks”, written later. At this time it happened an important event

in Tolstoy's life. He completed the long-planned part of the trilogy (“Childhood”) and sent it to the Sovremennik magazine, of which Nekrasov was the editor at that time. “Childhood” was published and earned rave reviews from readers and critics (the other two parts, “Adolescence” and “Youth,” were published in 1854 and 1857). In 1853 it began Russian-Turkish war. In a patriotic impulse, Leo Tolstoy transferred to the active Danube Army with the rank of ensign, dreaming of feats of arms and military career.

Lev Nikolaevich left the army with the rank of artillery lieutenant and returned to St. Petersburg, where he was enthusiastically received by the editors of Sovremennik. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy made two trips abroad, and upon returning, he devoted himself to social work. Having studied the public education system in Europe, he began publishing a pedagogical magazine and opened public school in Yasnaya Polyana. Being a staunch supporter of the abolition of serfdom, he was dissatisfied with the reform carried out in 1861 and called the “Regulations” on the emancipation of peasants “completely wasted chatter.” Tolstoy became a peace mediator in one of the districts of the Tula province in order to be able to take part in the protection of peasant interests during the division of land. This, naturally, caused extreme displeasure of the Tula nobility, and a denunciation was written against Tolstoy, which spoke about his revolutionary activities. A search was carried out in Yasnaya Polyana in the absence of Lev Nikolaevich.

In 1862, Tolstoy married the daughter of a famous Moscow doctor, Sofya Andreevna Bers, who became Lev Nikolaevich’s guardian angel throughout his life. For the next twenty years, the Tolstoys lived in Yasnaya Polyana, only occasionally making trips to Moscow. It was during these years that such great works as “War and Peace” (1863-1869) and “Anna Karenina” (1873-1877) were written. “War and Peace,” according to Tolstoy himself, was the result of “an insane authorial effort.” This novel immediately after its publication became widely known not only in Russia, but also abroad, winning unprecedented success. After completing War and Peace, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy decided to write historical work about the era of Peter the Great and began collecting material for it. At the same time he writes the “ABC”, consisting of

short stories for children. In 1873, Tolstoy abandoned his idea of ​​a historical novel and turned to contemporary life, beginning work on Anna Karenina., was banned by censorship. Tolstoy came to the creation of his own religious and philosophical system, the foundations of which were outlined in the work “What is My Faith?” The core of this system was the idea of ​​​​non-resistance to evil through violence. Followers of Lev Nikolayevich, who called themselves “Tolstoyites,” existed not only in Russia, but also in Europe and America, and even in India and Japan.

Tolstoy's ideas were reflected in his last novel“Resurrection”, in which correction of one’s guilt and turning to the Gospel commandments is indicated as the path to moral improvement.

IN last years life of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy in his desire for self-improvement and in critical attitude to himself experienced severe mental anguish, believing that he himself did not fully follow the way of life that he preached. The writer repeatedly expressed a desire to leave Yasnaya Polyana, but could not resolve the internal contradiction between the voice of his conscience and his duty to his family. Back in 1894, he transferred all his property to his wife and children, but continued to doubt whether he did the right thing by not giving the land to the Yasnaya Polyana peasants. On the estate, surrounded by his family, Lev Nikolaevich could not lead the lifestyle close to the common people that he aspired to. His relationship with his family became complicated, and on the night of October 28, 1910, Tolstoy left Yasnaya Polyana, accompanied by his beloved daughter Alexandra Lvovna (the only one of all big family completely shared her father’s beliefs) and boarded the Ryazan train railway

. On the way, he caught a cold and contracted pneumonia. He had to get off the train at Astapovo station, and on November 7 he died surrounded by his arriving relatives.

Surmina I.O., Usova Yu.V. The most famous dynasties of Russia. Moscow, "Veche", 2001 This is what it looked like main house

estates before 1855. It was sold for export.