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Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, known in English as Leo Tolstoy, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His novels dealing with the ambiguities and nuances of life have become household names of Russian literature. Admirers of the writer can explore collections of unparalleled value at the State Museum of Lev Tolstoy in Moscow, including first edition manuscripts, rare books, personal effects, and photographs.
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Lev Tolstoy was born into an eminent Russian noble family, granted their title by Peter the Great. Tolstoy was born on 9th September 1828 at the family estate Yasnaya Polyana, close to the Russian city of Tula and 200km south of Moscow. After an unsuccessful stint at university, he led an indulgent and decadent lifestyle in the two capitals and Tula. Tolstoy began writing during this time, and published his first novel, Childhood, in 1852. Yet his life of leisure soon came to an end.
In 1851, Tolstoy went to serve in the Crimean War and experienced the catastrophic Siege of Sevastopol in 1854-1855, during which time he recorded his experiences in the Sevastopol Sketches. Deeply disturbed by the horrors of war, Tolstoy became a pacifist and spiritual anarchist. His transformation was greatly influenced by two trips to Europe in the late 1850s and early 1860s. On the latter trip, Tolstoy met Victor Hugo and French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Conversations with Proudhon inspired Tolstoy’s passion for democratic education, and upon returning to Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy founded 13 schools for peasant children who had recently been liberated from serfdom.
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From 1863-1869, Tolstoy laboured through his great novel War and Peace, published in six parts between 1868 and 1869. He was greatly assisted by his new wife, Sophia, who painstakingly copied out every draft of his masterpiece. The success of the tome encouraged him to write his next great novel, Anna Karenina, published in eight parts between 1875 and 1878. Yet soon afterwards, Tolstoy had a spiritual crisis. He renounced his previous works and turned away from organised religion towards anarcho-pacifism and an ascetic existence. He became a moral and spiritual leader who inspired his followers around the world, known as the Tolstoyans, and propagated his philosophy through works such as Resurrection (1899) and The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886), as well as in hundreds of essays.
Did you know? Tolstoy’s views directly inspired Mahatma Gandhi. After seeing Tolstoy’s 1908 A Letter to a Hindu, in which the writer argued that only through love and non-violent resistance could the Indian people overcome colonial rule, the young Gandhi began corresponding with Tolstoy, who gave him advice and helped form his views.
Despite his achievements, Lev Tolstoy was far from a saint, in particular with regards to his marriage to Sophia. The events of their wedding night give some idea of their relationship: Tolstoy forced his 17 year old new wife to read his diaries, which meticulously documented his youthful debauchery. The later years of their marriage, following Tolstoy’s spiritual crisis, were famously unhappy and marred by volatility. Although Sophia had given birth to his 13 children and been instrumental in publishing his works, Tolstoy renounced the royalties, denounced the institution of marriage, and allowed his disciples to live rent free on the estate. Tolstoy’s relationship with his devoted follower Vladimir Chertkov was particularly detrimental; Chertkov even persuaded Tolstoy to sign a secret will and give him – and not Sophia – control of the writer’s works.
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The clash between his spiritual leanings and family life caused an irreparable rift between Tolstoy and Sophia. This culminated in the writer’s secretive departure from his estate to spend, according to his letter to Sophia ‘the last days of my life in peace and solitude’. Tolstoy was travelling south by train when he fell ill and disembarked at the station of Astapovo. He contracted pneumonia and died at the station master’s house on 7th November 1910.
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Did you know? Tolstoy’s grave is at Yasnaya Polyana, in a small woodland clearing known as ‘the place of the green wand’. As the story goes, Tolstoy’s beloved brother, Nikolay, told him that he knew a secret that would make all men happy, which he had written down on a little green stick and buried in a secret place on the estate. After Nikolay’s death, Tolstoy searched and searched for the hiding place and its secret of happiness. The memory stayed with him into his long life, and he asked to be buried at that spot.
It is the contradictions and tumult in Tolstoy’s own life that brought such depth to his writing. The same questions that deeply tormented him – identity, the meaning of life, happiness, integrity – appear throughout his works. Readers a century later can still appreciate his piercingly accurate depictions of the fragile and contradictory nature of life, the nuances of human emotions, and the moral questions which face us.
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The State Museum of Lev Tolstoy is one of the oldest literary museums in Russia, founded in 1911 by the Tolstoy Society. Lenin himself recognised the importance of Tolstoy, as seen in his 1908 essay ‘Lev Tolstoy as a mirror of the Russian Revolution’, written to honour 80 years since the writer’s birth, and his 1910 essay ‘An appraisal of Lev Tolstoy’, in which he extolled him as a ‘genius’. In turn, the Soviets recognised Tolstoy as a great cultural figure outside mainstream tsarist society, and War and Peace was praised for showing Russia unified against its foe. As a result, the museum continued to operate during the Soviet period.
Today, the State Museum is home to the largest collection of items related to Tolstoy in the world. It comprises first edition manuscripts and illustrations, rare books, the writer’s diaries and notebooks, letters, and police and state documents related to Tolstoy; amateur and professional photographs, including a large number taken by Sophia and Chertkov; paintings and sculptures by famous artists, including those depicting Tolstoy; and personal effects and furniture of the writer, his family and entourage.
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A Moscow Empire-style mansion in central Moscow houses the main branch of the museum, opened in 1920. The exhibition about Tolstoy’s life and work is displayed over eight historical halls. Aside from the permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions are frequently organised: recent ones include an exploration of the world of Anna Karenina and Kitty Shcherbatskaya through antiques, literature, artwork, and period costumes; and one dedicated to the museum’s history.
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Tolstoy purchased this estate in 1882, and his family spent every winter there for the next 19 years. Since 1921, the estate has been a memorial museum for Tolstoy, with exhibitions about the writer set in restored historic interiors with their original furniture. Visitors can even explore Tolstoy’s office, where he wrote a number of his notable later works such as Resurrection and The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
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Large thematic exhibitions from the State Museum’s collections, cultural evenings and concerts are held at the Tolstoy Center, which is located close to the Tretyakov Gallery. It is also home to the cultural and educational centre ‘School of Lev Tolstoy’. The writer lived and worked here after returning from the Crimean War.
Website: https://tolstoymuseum.ru/
Email: info@tolstoymuseum.ru
Visit the website for opening hours and phone numbers of different branches.
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