Interesting facts from the life of Tolstoy. Tolstoy Alexey Nikolaevich

Tolstoy Alexey Nikolaevich (12/20/1882 – 02/23/1945) - Russian writer, author of many works that have become classics of Russian literature. Among the most famous are “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”, “Walking through Torment”, “Peter I” and “Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin”. Winner of three Stalin Prizes.

“Every person has enormous sources of creativity. And all you have to do is open them and free them. But this must be done not by begging for justice, but by placing a person in conditions that suit him.”

Childhood

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on December 20, 1882 in the Samara region. Historians still argue about its origin. Some sources claim that he is the son of Count Nikolai Tolstoy. Others say that his true parent is Alexei Bostrom. The fact is that Alexei’s mother, Alexandra Tolstaya, was married to Nikolai, but shortly before the birth of her son she went to Bostrom, who is officially considered the stepfather of the future writer.

Alexey Tolstov spent his childhood on the estate of Alexey Bostrom. And then the young man moved to St. Petersburg, where he graduated from the Technological Institute. After his studies, he was sent to practice in the Urals, and specifically in the city of Nevyansk. A local landmark was a leaning tower, and it was to it that the writer dedicated his first story. It was called “The Old Tower”.

Creation

Alexey Tolstoy spent the entire First World War at the front. He was a war correspondent and wrote many essays. And after the revolution, his noble origin did not allow him to remain in the new Russia. I had to emigrate to Europe and spend almost 5 years there (1918-1923). This forced journey later formed the basis for the story “The Adventures of Nevzorov.”

But later Alexei Tolstoy nevertheless returned to his homeland and became a very popular writer in the USSR. Soviet citizens were very fond of the novel “Walking Through Torment”, since in it the author showed Bolshevism and revolution as the highest good. “Peter I” was received even better, which talked about strong reforms and their necessity for the development of the country.

But Tolstoy wrote not only to please the Soviet regime, but also for the mass reader. His “Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin” is still considered a classic of Soviet science fiction. But most of all, his name became famous after the release of the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.” This book was read by all children and adults in the USSR. It formed the basis for many film adaptations, both feature and animated.

“Patriotism is not only love for the Motherland. This is a more comprehensive concept. This is the ability to experience both moments of uplift and unhappy days with your homeland.”

In the late 30s, Alexei Tolstoy headed the Union of Writers of the USSR. And he also wrote the famous speech to Stalin in 1941, in which Soviet leaders called on the people to turn to the experience of their great ancestors. And during the Great Patriotic War, Tolstoy headed the commission to investigate the crimes of the Nazis. And he did not live to see the Victory for only a few months. Alexey Tolstov died on February 23, 1945 from cancer.

Personal life

During his life, Alexei Tolstoy was married four times. The first wife was Yulia Rozhanskaya. They were together from 1901 to 1907, although the relationship was not officially legalized.

The second wife, Sophia Dymshits, was an artist and a Jew. They simply lived together for several years. But then the woman decided to change her religion in order to legally become engaged to Tolstoy. From this marriage the writer had a daughter, Maryana.

Tolstoy's most famous wife was the poetess Natalya Krandievskaya. It was this woman who became the prototype of Katya Roshchina in the trilogy “Walking Through Torment”. From this marriage, Alexei Nikolaevich had two more children - Nikita and Dmitry.

And finally, the last wife of the writer was Lyudmila Krestinskaya-Barsheva. There were no children from this marriage.

Video about the life of Alexei Tolstoy:

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on January 10, 1883 (December 29, 1882 - old style) in the family of Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy and Alexandra Leontyevna Turgeneva. True, in all biographies of Tolstoy it is noted that the boy was raised not by his own father, but by his stepfather, Alexei Apollonovich Bostrom, whom Alexei Tolstoy’s mother married. The future writer spent his childhood on the Sosnovka farm, which belonged to his stepfather. A guest teacher was involved in the boy's education.

In 1897, Alexei Tolstoy's family moved to Samara. There the young man entered the school, and upon graduation in 1901 he left for St. Petersburg to continue his education at the Technological Institute.

Beginning of literary activity

In 1907, shortly before defending his diploma, Alexey suddenly decided to leave the institute to study literature. He considered his attempt at writing in 1905, when Tolstoy published several of his poems in a provincial newspaper, a great success, so the decision to leave the institute was relatively easy for the future writer. In the same 1907, Tolstoy published a collection of poems “Lyrics”, and in 1908 the magazine “Neva” published the prose of the aspiring writer Tolstoy - the story “The Old Tower”.

In 1908, his second book of poems, “Beyond the Blue Rivers,” was published. Already in Moscow, where the writer moved in 1912, he began collaborating with Russkie Vedomosti, where he published his prose of the small genre (mainly stories and essays) on an ongoing basis.

When the First World War began, Tolstoy decided to go to the front as a war correspondent. As a journalist during the war, the writer visited England and France.

Years of emigration

The February Revolution aroused in Tolstoy a keen interest in issues of Russian statehood. This event became a kind of impetus, after which the writer seriously began studying the Peter the Great era. He spent a long time studying historical archives, studying the history of Peter the Great and being keenly interested in the fates of people from his inner circle. But Alexei Nikolaevich perceived the October Bolshevik coup very negatively.

In 1918, historical motifs appeared in his prose. He writes the stories “The Day of Peter” and “Obsession.” Even in a short biography of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, it is worth mentioning that subsequently this fascination with the time of Peter the Great, all the knowledge gained about this great era of change, will result in the wonderful historical novel “Peter the Great”.

In the next two years, three more books by the author were published: the fantastic novel “Aelita”, the story “Black Friday” and “The Manuscript Found Under the Bed”. The author also returned to the fantasy genre in the book “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid.”

But the real bestseller was the book “The Golden Key,” which told about the fascinating adventures of the wooden boy Pinocchio (it is recommended for extracurricular reading to 5th grade students, but the fairy tale is probably suitable for elementary school). The fairy tale was written based on the book “Pinocchio” by the Italian author Carlo Collodi. While in exile, Tolstoy began working on the trilogy “Walking Through Torment,” which would become the most important work in the writer’s life.

Return to the USSR

After emigrating, old friends turned away from Tolstoy, but in Berlin, in 1922, he made a new friend - Maxim Gorky, whom he met when the latter came to Germany. A year later, in 1923, Alexey Nikolaevich decided to return to his homeland. Here he continued to work on the trilogy “Walking in Torment” (“Sisters”, “The Eighteenth Year”, “Gloomy Sky”). Thematically related to the trilogy is the story “Bread,” written in 1937, which is considered the most unsuccessful work. In it, he distorted the historical truth, falsely described the personality of Stalin and the events of the bloody and hungry time. Because of this hypocritical propaganda, historical truth, moral traditions and the very work of the writer could not help but suffer.

Tolstoy as a citizen and Tolstoy as an artist are two different people. Of course, he saw his acquaintances and friends die from Stalin’s repressions, but he never provided any help to anyone, although he was close to Stalin and favored by the authorities. He simply ignored requests for help.

Other biography options

• Alexey Tolstoy considered collecting stamps important for himself. He was an avid philatelist.
• The writer was married four times, and all four times he married out of great love.
• A series of stamps dear to his heart was issued with the image of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy.
• I despised the writer all my life

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a writer of multifaceted and brilliant talent. He created novels about modernity and the historical past of our Motherland, stories and plays, scripts and political pamphlets, autobiographical stories and fairy tales for children.

A. N. Tolstoy was born in the city of Nikolaevsk, Samara province - now the city of Pugachev, Saratov region. He grew up in the wild life of the bankrupt Trans-Volga landowners. The writer colorfully depicted this life in his stories and novels written in 1909–1912. (“Mishuka Nalymov”, “Cranks”, “The Lame Master”, etc.).

Tolstoy did not immediately accept the Great October Socialist Revolution. He emigrated abroad.

“Life in exile was the most difficult period of my life,” Tolstoy later wrote in his autobiography. “There I understood what it means to be a guy, a person, cut off from his homeland, weightless, barren, not needed by anyone under any circumstances.”

Homesickness evoked in the writer's memory childhood memories and pictures of his native nature. This is how the autobiographical story “Nikita’s Childhood” (1919) appeared, in which you can feel how deeply and sincerely Tolstoy loved his homeland, how he yearned away from it. The story tells about the writer's childhood, beautifully depicting pictures of Russian nature, Russian life, and images of Russian people.

In Paris, Tolstoy wrote the science fiction novel Aelita.

Returning to his homeland in 1923, Tolstoy wrote: “I became a participant in a new life on earth. I see the tasks of the era." The writer creates stories about Soviet reality (“Black Friday”, “Mirage”, “Union of Five”), a science fiction novel “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid”, a trilogy “Walking in Torment” and a historical novel “Peter I”.

Tolstoy worked on the trilogy “Walking Through Torment” (“Sisters”, “The Eighteenth Year”, “Gloomy Morning”) for about 22 years. The writer defined its theme as follows: “This is the lost and returned Motherland.” Tolstoy talks about the life of Russia during the period of revolution and civil war, about the difficult path to the people of Russian intellectuals Katya, Dasha, Telegin and Roshchin. The revolution helps the heroes of the trilogy determine their place in the national struggle for socialism and find personal happiness. The reader parts with them at the end of the civil war. A new stage in the life of the country begins. The victorious people begin to build socialism. But, saying goodbye to his regiment, the heroes of the novel Telegin says: “I warn you - there is still a lot of work ahead, the enemy has not yet been broken, and it is not enough to break him, he must be destroyed... This war is such that it must be won, it cannot be won cannot win... On a stormy, gloomy morning we went out into battle for a bright day, but our enemies want a dark robber night. And the day will rise, even if you burst out of frustration...”

The Russian people appear in the epic as the creators of history. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, he fights for freedom and justice. In the images of representatives of the people - Ivan Gora, Agrippina, Baltic sailors - Tolstoy reflects the perseverance, courage, purity of feelings, devotion to the Motherland of the Soviet people. With great artistic power, the writer managed to capture the image of Lenin in the trilogy, showing the depth of thoughts of the leader of the revolution, his determination, energy, modesty and simplicity.

Tolstoy wrote: “To understand the secret of the Russian people, its greatness, you need to know its past well and deeply: our history, its fundamental nodes, the tragic and creative eras in which the Russian character was born.”

One of these eras was the era of Peter the Great. A. Tolstoy addressed her in the novel “Peter I” (the first book – 1929–1930, the second book – 1933–1934). This is a novel not only about the great transformer Peter I, but also about the fate of the Russian nation in one of the “tragic and creative” periods of its history. The writer truthfully talks about the most important events of Peter's era: the Streltsy revolt, the Crimean campaigns of Prince Golitsyn, Peter's struggle for Azov, Peter's travels abroad, his transformative activities, the war between Russia and the Swedes, the creation of the Russian fleet and a new army, the founding of St. Petersburg and etc. Along with all this, Tolstoy shows the life of the most diverse segments of the Russian population, the life of the masses.

When creating the novel, Tolstoy used a huge amount of material - historical research, notes and letters from Peter’s contemporaries, military reports, court archives. “Peter I” is one of the best Soviet historical novels; it helps to understand the essence of a distant era, fosters love for the Motherland and legitimate pride in its past.

For young children, Tolstoy wrote the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.” Using the material from the fairy tale, he made a film script and a play for the children's theater.

During the Great Patriotic War, A. Tolstoy talked about the strength and heroism of the Soviet people in the fight against the enemies of the Motherland. His articles and essays: “Motherland”, “Blood of the People”, “Moscow is Threatened by an Enemy”, the story “Russian Character” and others - inspired the Soviet people to new exploits.

During the war years, A. Tolstoy also created the dramatic story “Ivan the Terrible,” consisting of two plays: “The Eagle and the Eaglet” (1941–1942) and “Difficult Years” (1943).

A remarkable writer was also an outstanding public figure. He was repeatedly elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

A patriotic writer and humanist, an artist of wide creative range, a master of perfect literary form, who mastered all the riches of the Russian language, Tolstoy went through a difficult creative path and took a prominent place in Russian Soviet literature.

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy was born on December 29 (January 10, n.s.) in the city of Nikolaevsk (now Pugachev), Samara province, into the family of a landowner. His childhood years were spent on the Sosnovka farm, which belonged to the writer’s stepfather, Alexei Bostrom, who served in the zemstvo government of the city of Nikolaevsk - Tolstoy considered this man his father and bore his last name until the age of thirteen.
Little Alyosha hardly knew his own father, Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy, an officer in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment and a noble Samara landowner. His mother, Alexandra Leontievna, contrary to all the laws of that time, left her husband and three children, and, pregnant with her son Alexei, went to her lover. As a girl, Turgenev, Alexandra Leontievna was no stranger to writing. Her works - the novel "Restless Heart", the story "The Outback", as well as books for children, which she published under the pseudonym Alexandra Bostrom - had significant success and were quite popular at that time. Alexei owed his mother a sincere love of reading, which she was able to instill in him. Alexandra Leontyevna tried to persuade him to write.
Alyosha received his initial education at home under the guidance of a visiting teacher. In 1897, the family moved to Samara, where the future writer entered a real school. After graduating in 1901, he went to St. Petersburg to continue his education. Enters the Mechanics Department of the Technological Institute. His first poems date back to this time, not free from the influence of the works of Nekrasov and Nadson. Tolstoy began by imitation, as evidenced by his first collection of poems, Lyrics, published in 1907, which he was later extremely ashamed of, so much so that he tried never to even mention it.
In 1907, shortly before defending his diploma, he left the institute, deciding to devote himself to literary work. Soon he “attacked his own theme”: “These were the stories of my mother, my relatives about the passing and departing world of the ruined nobility. A world of eccentrics, colorful and absurd... It was an artistic find.” Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy
After the stories and short stories that later made up the book “Trans-Volga Region,” they began to write a lot about him (there was an approving review from A. M. Gorky), but Tolstoy himself was dissatisfied with himself: “I decided that I was a writer. But I was ignorant and an amateur..."
While still in St. Petersburg, under the influence of A.M. Remizov, he took up the study of the folk Russian language “from fairy tales, songs, from the records of “Words and Deeds,” that is, judicial acts of the 17th century, from the writings of Avvakum.. His passion for folklore gave the richest material for “Magpie Tales” and the poetic collection “Beyond the Blue Rivers”, permeated with fairy-tale and mythological motifs, after publishing which Tolstoy decided not to write any more poetry.
...In those first years, the years of accumulation of mastery, which cost Tolstoy incredible efforts, he wrote everything - stories, fairy tales, poems, novellas, and all this in huge quantities! - and published everywhere. He worked without straightening his back. The novels “Two Lives” (“Cranks” - 1911), “The Lame Master” (1912), short stories and stories “Behind the Style” (1913), plays that were performed at the Maly Theater and not only in it, and much more - all was the result of sitting tirelessly at a desk. Even Tolstoy’s friends were amazed at his ability to work, because, among other things, he was a regular at many literary gatherings, parties, salons, opening days, anniversaries, and theater premieres.
After the outbreak of the First World War, he, as a war correspondent for Russian Vedomosti, was at the fronts and visited England and France. He wrote a number of essays and stories about the war (stories “On the Mountain”, 1915; “Under Water”, “Beautiful Lady”, 1916). During the war years he turned to drama - the comedies “Evil Spirit” and “Killer Whale” (1916).
Tolstoy perceived the October Revolution with hostility. In July 1918, fleeing the Bolsheviks, Tolstoy and his family moved to Odessa. It seems that the revolutionary events taking place in Russia did not at all affect the story “Count Cagliostro” written in Odessa - a charming fantasy about the revival of an ancient portrait and other miracles - and the cheerful comedy “Love is a Golden Book”.
From Odessa, the Tolstoys went first to Constantinople, and then to Paris, to emigrate. Alexey Nikolaevich did not stop writing there either: during these years, the nostalgic story “Nikita’s Childhood” was published, as well as the novel “Walking Through Torment” - the first part of the future trilogy. In Paris, Tolstoy felt sad and uncomfortable. He loved not so much luxury, but, so to speak, proper comfort. But there was no way to achieve it. In October 1921, he moved again, this time to Berlin. But even in Germany, life was not the best: “Life here is approximately the same as in Kharkov under the hetman, the mark is falling, prices are rising, goods are being hidden,” Aleksey Nikolaevich complained in a letter to I.A. Bunin.
Relations with emigration deteriorated. For his collaboration in the newspaper Nakanune, Tolstoy was expelled from the emigrant Union of Russian Writers and Journalists: only A.I. voted against. Kuprin, I.A. Bunin abstained... Thoughts about a possible return to his homeland increasingly took hold of Tolstoy.
In August 1923, Alexei Tolstoy returned to Russia. More precisely, in the USSR. Forever.
“And he immediately threw himself into work, without giving himself any respite”: his plays were endlessly staged in theaters; In Soviet Russia, Tolstoy wrote one of his best stories, “The Adventures of Nevzorov, or Ibicus,” and completed the fantasy novel “Aelita,” which he began in Berlin, which caused a lot of noise. Tolstoy's fiction was viewed with suspicion in literary circles. “Aelita,” as well as the later utopian story “Blue Cities” and the adventure-fantasy novel “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid,” written in the spirit of the then popular “red Pinkerton,” were not appreciated by either I.A. Bunin, nor V.B. Shklovsky, nor Yu.N. Tynyanov, not even the friendly K.I. Chukovsky.
And Tolstoy shared with his wife, Natalya Krandievskaya, with a smile: “It will end with the fact that someday I will write a novel with ghosts, with a dungeon, with buried treasures, with all sorts of devilry. This dream has not been satisfied since childhood... As for ghosts, this is, of course, nonsense. But, you know, without fiction, an artist is still bored, it’s somehow prudent... An artist by nature is a liar, that’s the thing!” A.M. turned out to be right. Gorky, who said that “Aelita is written very well and, I am sure, will be a success.” And so it happened. Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy
Tolstoy's return to Russia caused a variety of rumors. The emigrants considered this act a betrayal and showered terrible curses on the “Soviet count”. The writer was favored by the Bolsheviks: over time, he became a personal friend of I.V. Stalin, a regular guest at lavish Kremlin receptions, was awarded numerous orders, prizes, elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and a full member of the Academy of Sciences. But he did not accept the socialist system; rather, he adapted to it, came to terms with it, and therefore, like many, he often said one thing, thought another, and wrote something completely different. The new authorities did not skimp on gifts: Tolstoy had an entire estate in Detskoe Selo (as well as in Barvikha) with luxuriously furnished rooms, two or three cars with a personal driver. He still wrote a lot and in different ways: he endlessly refined and reworked the trilogy “Walking in Torment” and then suddenly he gave the children the wooden doll Pinocchio that they loved so much - he retold in his own way the famous fairy tale by Carlo Collodi about the adventures of Pinocchio. In 1937, he composed a “pro-Stalinist” story “Bread,” in which he spoke about the outstanding role of the “father of nations” in the defense of Tsaritsyn during the Civil War. And until his last days he worked on his main book - a large historical novel about the era of Peter the Great, the idea of ​​which arose, perhaps, even before the revolution, in any case, already at the end of 1916, and in 1918 such stories as “ Obsession", "The First Terrorists" and, finally, "The Day of Peter". Having read “Peter the Great,” even the gloomy and bilious Bunin, who strictly judged Tolstoy for his understandable human weaknesses, was delighted.
The Great Patriotic War found Alexei Tolstoy already a famous writer at the age of 58. During this time, he often published articles, essays, stories, the heroes of which were people who proved themselves in the difficult trials of the war. And all this - despite the progressive illness and the truly hellish torments associated with it: in June 1944, doctors discovered a malignant lung tumor in Tolstoy. A serious illness did not allow him to live to see the end of the war. He died on February 23, 1945 in Moscow.

Years of life: from 12/29/1882 to 02/23/1945

Famous Russian and later Soviet writer, playwright, publicist, public figure, count, academician. In the USSR he was considered one of the main “official” writers. He left behind an extensive creative legacy in a variety of genres.

Born in the city of Nikolaevsk (now Pugachev), Samara province. Mother A.N. Tolstoy, being pregnant, left her husband for her lover - Alexei Apollonovich Bostrom, a landowner and employee of the zemstvo government. The writer spent his childhood on his Sosnovka estate. A.N. Tolstoy was his stepfather's father and until the age of 13 bore his surname, and Tostoy's final recognition of the right to the title occurred only in 1901. He received his primary education at home, as was the custom of that time, and in 1897 the family moved to Samara, where the future writer entered a real school. After graduating in 1901, he went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the mechanics department of the Technological Institute. His first poems, published in 1907 in the form of a collection, date back to this time. In the same year, the writer left the institute without defending his diploma, deciding to devote himself to literary work.

From this time on, A.N. Tolstoy works a lot and hard. Fame came to the writer in 1910-1911 after the publication of novels and short stories, which later formed the book “Trans-Volga Region”. Before the First World War, Tolstoy wrote many stories, novellas, plays, poems, and fairy tales; he was a regular at literary evenings, salons, and theater premieres. After the start of the war, AN. Tolstoy worked as a war correspondent and wrote a number of essays and stories about the war. He perceived the October Revolution with hostility. In 1918, Tolstoy left for Odessa, and then through Turkey to Paris. However, life in exile did not go well; Tolstoy experienced financial difficulties and was unable to get along with the emigrant environment (for his collaboration in the newspaper Nakanune, Tolstoy was expelled from the emigrant Union of Russian Writers and Journalists). Moving to Berlin in 1921 did not improve the situation, and in 1923 A.N. Tolstoy decides to return to the USSR.

The writer was received well and immediately began to work fruitfully. During this period, his most famous science fiction works (“Aelita”, “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid”) were published. At the same time, in the works of A.N. Tolstoy, ideological aspects play an increasingly important role, and in the 1930s. At the direct order of the authorities, Alexey Tolstoy wrote the first work about Stalin - the story “Bread (Defense of Tsaritsyn)” (published in 1937). In the 30s A.N. Tolstoy begins to actively develop the theme of the reign of Peter I, which has long interested him, and releases the first two parts of the epic novel “Peter I”. The authorities treated the writer very well, he became a personal friend of Stalin, had two luxurious dachas, several cars, A.N. Tolstoy was awarded numerous orders and prizes, was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and a full member of the Academy of Sciences. During the Great Patriotic War A.N. Tolstoy often acts as a publicist, continuing work on the third book of the novel Peter I. In 1944, the writer was diagnosed with a malignant lung tumor. The disease progressed rapidly, delivering A.N. Tolstoy truly suffered hellish torment, and on February 23, 1945, the writer died.

Information about the author's works:

A.N. Tolstoy was married four times (officially and unofficially) and became the father of four children.

In 1944 A.N. Tolstoy actively participated in the work of a special commission led by academician N. N. Burdenko, which came to the conclusion that Polish officers in Katyn were shot by the Germans.

Writer's Awards

1938 - Order of Lenin
1939 - Order of the Badge of Honor
1941 - for 1-2 parts of the novel “Peter I”.
1943 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor
1943 - Stalin Prize, first degree, for the novel “Walking Through Torment.”
1946 - Stalin Prize, first degree, for the play “Ivan the Terrible” (posthumously).

Bibliography

Cycles of works

Stories