Leo Tolstoy

Early Life

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was born on 9 September 1828 (New Style; 28 August Old Style) at Yasnaya Polyana, the family estate in Tula province, the fourth son of Count Nikolay Ilyich Tolstoy and Maria Nikolayevna Volkonskaya. His mother died in 1830, when he was two, and his father in 1837. He was raised by relatives, entered Kazan University in 1844 to study Oriental languages and then law, and left in 1847 without a degree. In 1851 he joined the army and served in the Caucasus and then, from November 1854 to August 1855, at Sevastopol during the Crimean War.

Education

Tolstoy studied Oriental languages and then law at Kazan University from 1844 to 1847 and left without a degree. He was largely self-educated after that, reading widely in history, philosophy and religion.

Career

Tolstoy published his first work, Childhood, in 1852 while serving as an army officer in the Caucasus, and won a wider reputation with the Sevastopol Sketches (1855–1856), drawn from his service in the Crimean War at Sevastopol. He married Sophia Behrs in 1862, and the couple settled at Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy wrote his two masterpieces: War and Peace (1865–1869) and Anna Karenina (1875–1877), the latter serialised in the Russian Messenger. A spiritual crisis in the late 1870s produced his Confession (written 1879–1882) and a new moral teaching — the rejection of violence, of the state and of the established church. The Holy Synod excommunicated him in 1901. His last completed novel was Resurrection (1899). In the early hours of 28 October 1910 he left Yasnaya Polyana for good, intending to live simply and anonymously; he fell ill at Astapovo railway station and died of pneumonia there on 20 November 1910 (New Style), aged 82. He was buried at Yasnaya Polyana, without religious ceremony.

Achievements

Tolstoy's achievement is the psychological novel at its fullest reach. War and Peace, with its vast cast of characters and whole chapters of philosophy alongside the story of the Napoleonic invasion, and Anna Karenina, a study of love, family and society, are regularly ranked among the greatest novels ever written. In his later years he turned to moral and religious writing, and his doctrine of nonviolent resistance — set out in The Kingdom of God Is Within You — reached Gandhi, who called Tolstoy his teacher, and through him the nonviolent movements of the twentieth century.

• Wrote War and Peace (1865–1869), widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written
• Wrote Anna Karenina (1875–1877), often cited as the greatest realist novel
• Wrote The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), a masterclass in the study of a human life
• Developed a philosophy of nonviolent resistance, set out in The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), that influenced Gandhi and the civil rights movement
• Wrote Resurrection (1899), and supported the Doukhobors' emigration to Canada

Legacy

Tolstoy is regarded as one of the greatest novelists of all time, and War and Peace and Anna Karenina are central to the canon of world literature. His later moral writings made him a prophet of nonviolence: Gandhi corresponded with him in the last year of his life and acknowledged Tolstoy's influence, and his ideas passed through Gandhi into the civil rights movement. His family estate at Yasnaya Polyana is preserved as a museum.

Contributions

Tolstoy's novels set the standard for psychological realism: hundreds of characters whose inner lives are followed in detail, history and philosophy woven into the narrative, and moral questions treated as the business of fiction. His later doctrine of nonviolence, drawn from his reading of the Gospels, shaped Gandhi and the nonviolent movements of the twentieth century.

Notable Works

• War and Peace (1865–1869)
• Anna Karenina (1875–1877)
• Resurrection (1899)
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886)
• Childhood, Boyhood and Youth (1852–1857)
• Sevastopol Sketches (1855–1856)
• The Cossacks (1863)
• A Confession (1879–1882)
• The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894)
• Hadji Murat (published posthumously, 1912)

Milestones

• 1828 — Born on 9 September (New Style) at Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1844 — Entered Kazan University; left without a degree in 1847 Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1852 — Published Childhood, his first work, while serving in the Caucasus Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1855 — Wrote the Sevastopol Sketches from his service at Sevastopol in the Crimean War Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1862 — Married Sophia Behrs; settled at Yasnaya Polyana Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1869 — War and Peace completed Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1877 — Anna Karenina completed (serialised 1875–1877) Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1886 — The Death of Ivan Ilyich published Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1899 — Resurrection published Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1901 — Excommunicated by the Holy Synod Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
• 1910 — Died of pneumonia at Astapovo railway station on 20 November (New Style), aged 82 Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Timeline

1. 9 September 1828

   Born at Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province (28 August 1828 Old Style)

   Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
2. 1844

   Entered Kazan University; left in 1847 without a degree

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
3. 1851

   Joined the army; served in the Caucasus

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
4. 1852

   Published Childhood, his first work

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
5. 1854

   Served at Sevastopol during the Crimean War; wrote the Sevastopol Sketches

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
6. 1862

   Married Sophia Behrs

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
7. 1869

   War and Peace completed

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
8. 1877

   Anna Karenina completed (serialised 1875–1877)

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
9. 1901

   Excommunicated by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church

   Year only — exact date unknown Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
10. 28 October 1910

    Left Yasnaya Polyana for good, intending to live simply

    Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica
11. 20 November 1910

    Died of pneumonia at Astapovo railway station, aged 82 (7 November 1910 Old Style); buried at Yasnaya Polyana

    Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Related Personalities

• William Shakespeare Playwright and poet · 1564–1616
• Jane Austen Novelist · 1775–1817
• Mark Twain Writer · 1835–1910
• Charles Dickens Novelist · 1812–1870

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & References

1. Leo Tolstoy — Encyclopaedia Britannica — Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed 12 November 2026)
2. Tolstoy, Leo (1828–1910) — Encyclopedia.com — Encyclopedia.com (accessed 12 November 2026)
3. Leo Tolstoy — Wikipedia (cross-check) — Wikipedia (accessed 12 November 2026)
4. File:L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky.jpg — Wikimedia Commons (portrait file page) — Wikimedia Commons (accessed 12 November 2026)

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