A recognized pillar of Russian literature, Leo Tolstoy is known throughout the civilized world. Figures of such scale in world history were so small that they can be counted on fingers. And the very personality of the writer is very interesting – he was not only a talented writer, but also a very extraordinary person.
Leo Tolstoy was a distant relative of Pushkin. He had many children, as many as 13, but 5 of them died in early childhood for various reasons. In the personal library of Leo Tolstoy there were more than 23 thousand books written in 39 different languages. He himself was fluent in many foreign languages and was a real polyglot. The writer was very critical of the work of the great English playwright William Shakespeare, dismissive of his work. Once Tolstoy was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature, but he made it clear to the organizers that if he was to be awarded it, he would have to refuse. As a result, the decision of the Nobel Committee was revised. The writer highly appreciated the work of A. P. Chekhov.
During his lifetime, Leo Tolstoy conducted an active correspondence with his readers from around the world. Around the age of 50, a writer became a vegetarian and stopped eating meat. The handwriting of Leo Tolstoy was so unintelligible that his wife and daughter Agrippina rewrote his manuscripts before sending them to the publishing house, since the editors could not make out what was written. One day, Tolstoy almost got into a duel with Turgenev, but, fortunately, managed to resolve the conflict. During his lifetime Lev Tolstoy wrote about 165 thousand sheets of manuscripts and more than 10 thousand letters. The writer has repeatedly admitted that he does not tolerate a dog barking. Being a lover of fruits and berries, Tolstoy, however, never ate cherries – he did not like her taste.
All the most significant works of Leo Tolstoy were written by him after the marriage, which took place when he was 34 years old. The complete works of Tolstoy – 90 weighty volumes. Being a wealthy nobleman, the writer did not shy away from physical labor. In particular, he plowed his field. Like another great writer, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy was an avid player of cards and other gambling for money. The famous novel “War and Peace” Tolstoy rewrote 8 times. Leo Tolstoy “self-emitted” from the Church, according to the statement of the Synod. He himself was an atheist, and in adulthood he openly criticized religion as such. The writer, who preached a simple life in poverty, was going to give up copyright to his works, but his wife actively opposed this.
According to the testimony of Alexander Goldenweiser, Tolstoy compared marriage to a funeral. At the beginning of the 21st century, about 350 direct descendants of Tolstoy lived in the world. The writer’s theory of non-resistance to evil by violence had a serious impact on the famous Indian politician Mahatma Gandhi. Tolstoy’s “Sevastopol Stories” are based on his own memories – in his youth he was a member of the defense of this city. In adulthood, Leo Tolstoy, to emphasize his closeness to the common people, often walked barefoot.
