Nikolai Nikolaevich Tolstoy biography. Lev and Nikolai are fat

27.06.2007 16:32

Nikolai Tolstoy, the eldest in the family, played a big role in the development of the writer Leo Tolstoy. In his article “Nikolai Tolstoy - a fellow writer” E.V. Belousova writes that Nikolai was the inspirer of the first attempt at writing and a colleague in the work of Leo Tolstoy.

Indeed, Lev Nikolaevich writes about his brother: “Not only is this one of the best people I have met in my life, that he was a brother, that people are connected with him best memories of my life, - this was my best friend." For his younger brother, he was a kind of guideline, whom he looked up to in this difficult life. This landmark radiated love that extended to everyone without exception. These first 32 years of life are connected so strongly with brother Nikolenka. He will live without him for another half a century, but will not meet anyone with such an attractive character.

Start creative life Leo is closely associated with Nicholas. It was on his advice that he went to the Caucasus to visit him. The Caucasus became the cradle of creative inspiration for the brothers, as well as for A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov and other famous poetic talents of Russia. They started writing at the same time. In 1852, readers already had the opportunity to get acquainted with L. Tolstoy’s story “Childhood”, and only his younger brother Lev, who supported and encouraged creative ideas brother Already in 1857, readers had the opportunity to get acquainted with his work.

Researchers are attracted not by his work, but by completely different human qualities: he was a man with the rarest qualities of the soul, which Lev Nikolaevich admired all his life. Nikolai Nikolaevich loved people and never condemned anyone. Just think about it: love for one’s neighbor, non-judgment and humility - rare qualities person at all times. This is how everyone who knew him well describes him. At the end of his life path Lev Nikolaevich recalled his mother and older brother: “They both had a character trait that was very endearing to me... - indifference to people’s judgments and modesty, going so far as to try to hide the mental, educational and moral advantages that they had over other people” It is from the writer’s memoirs that we know about their following virtue: “Both had another trait that, I think, determined their indifference to the judgment of people - this is that they never, precisely never, and no one - that’s already true. I know about my brother, with whom I lived half my life, - they never condemned anyone,” he wrote. This is, indeed, such a virtue that opens the gates of Heaven. The writer met such righteous people on the pages of the Holy Scriptures.

There is a story about one such monk in “The Lives of Dmitry of Rostov.” The elder in a dream saw one of his monks among the saints in best place Raya. The elder asked what the not very temperate monk did to deserve such honors in Paradise? They answered him: “He never condemned anyone.” And Leo Tolstoy draws his conclusions: “If there were such awards, I think that my brother and my mother would have received them.”

Nikolai Tolstoy served in the Caucasus for 12 years, until 1857, participated in many military expeditions, twice awarded the order Anna and was twice marked with royal gratitude. At the same time in my own words, younger brother “... lived very carelessly, without service, without classes, without purpose.” And, of course, the elder brother could not look at this state of affairs with indifference and took him with him.

The very first Caucasian diary entry expresses bewilderment and disappointment: “How did I get here? Don't know. For what? Same"

Literally two weeks later, on June 11, he will write in his diary: “Yesterday I didn’t sleep almost all night, after writing in my diary, I began to pray to God. - The sweetness of the feeling that I experienced during prayer is impossible to convey... I thank him for the moment of bliss that showed me my insignificance and greatness. I want to pray, but I don’t know how, I want to comprehend, but I don’t dare - I surrender to Your will.”

It was with such a feeling of the sweetness of prayer that the beginning was illuminated. Caucasian life brothers. The Lord God Himself directed the actions of Leo; Lev Nikolaevich repeatedly indicated this Divine influence on his fate, on his adoption of various fateful decisions for him in his diary entries.

A.A. Stakhovich wrote that in the Caucasus, in the detachment, during the expedition, Lev and Nikolai began to remember their childhood. There was no end to these memories. As a result of this night conversation, L. Tolstoy’s first book, the story “Childhood,” was written. It turns out that it was Nikolai who pushed his brother to this idea.

There is a terrible war going on, but it occupies little imagination of Lev Nikolaevich. He is more interested in the people they move among, their relationship with their brother. What interests him most is the respect that the officers have for their brother. He writes to his brother Sergei: “Nikolenka is on an excellent footing here: both his superiors and his fellow officers all love and respect him. He also enjoys the reputation of a brave officer.” To enjoy such a reputation in the Caucasus meant a lot. When every bush, every tree was fraught with danger, when along the route Imam Shamil’s warriors could appear in any place and at any time, showing fearlessness was not given to everyone. It was in such an environment that the formation of the brothers’ characters took place. In one of these expeditions, a cannonball fired from the barrel of a Chechen cannon hit the wheel of the cannon that fireworksman Leo Tolstoy was aiming. The slightest deviation of the Chechen gun in any direction and Levushka would have been killed.

The impressions received from these expeditions formed the basis for the stories “The Raid” and “Cutting the Forest.” We wrote about the humanistic basis of the story “The Raid,” where Lev Nikolaevich condemned this war, which killed people on both sides, where, using the example of the story of the Jamie family, it is shown whose side is right. Today we want to emphasize that the most attractive character in the story, Captain Khlopov, who absorbed all the best features of Russian officers, is in many ways similar to Nikolai.

After painstaking work, work on the story “Childhood” was completed. And finally, the fate of the book, and not just one book, had to be decided by Nikolai. L. Tolstoy writes in his diary: “Will I send this essay or not? I haven't decided. Nikolenka’s opinion will decide this matter.”

Nikolai had an innate talent as a writer. L. Tolstoy writes: “The qualities... of a writer that he had were, first of all, a subtle artistic sense, an extreme sense of proportion, good-natured cheerful humor, an extraordinary, inexhaustible imagination and a truthful, highly moral worldview, and all this without the slightest complacency "The only obstacle to development this talent I was too lazy to write.

Again, L. Tolstoy’s diary entry dated October 29, 1852: “Nikolenka came to me and read me his notes about hunting. He has a lot of talent. But the form is not good. Let him give up stories about hunting, and pay more attention to the description of nature and morals: they are more varied and very good for him.”

During a lull, when the brothers returned to the village of Starogladovskaya, the old Cossack Epifan Sekhin, in whose apartment Nikolai lived, invited the brothers to hunt, telling them his endless stories about the Cossacks, abreks, and after some time all these pictures were reflected in the works of the brothers . By the way, in the February issue of 1857, the Sovremennik magazine published a series of autobiographical essays by Nikolai, “Hunting in the Caucasus.” Regarding these essays, I.I. Panev wrote to I.S. Turgenev: “Tolstoy delivered... his brother’s precious, capital item “Hunting in the Caucasus. We reveled in reading it with Botkin. What simplicity, the grandeur of the paintings, what the grandeur of nature - a miracle.

Two brothers living nearby perceived their surroundings differently. Leo is interested in a man with his wealth inner world, experiences..., and Nicholas - only the rich, peaceful Caucasian nature, with its flora and fauna. From the first line of his essays, Nikolai convinces us that “The Caucasus, due to the variety of game, the diversity of terrain and climate, is one of most interesting countries. In the light for the hunter." The customs and traditions of the Chechens, Circassians, Nogais, and Greben Cossacks are described very interestingly. The colorful figure of Epifan Sekhin became the subject of description under the name Epishka in “Hunting in the Caucasus” by Nikolai and under the name Eroshka in the story “Cossacks” by Lev. This is how Nikolai Tolstoy saw him: “This is an extremely interesting, probably the last type of old Greben Cossacks. In due time, i.e. During his youth, Epishka, in his own words, was a fine fellow, a thief, a swindler... This old man is also remarkable in that he is not at all a boaster: when telling his adventures, he never adds anything, he simply conveys everything as it was matter... He is naturally very smart and has a great gift of words.”

Another resident of the mountains, the Chechen Girey-Khan, also came into the brothers’ field of view. In Nikolai's essays, he is a virtuoso hunter; in “Cossacks” - the cunning and crafty kunak Lukashka.

Nikolai probably had other works. We know about them only from diary entries Lev Nikolaevich. For June 13, 1856 we read the entry: “I read the most charming story “Chechenka” by Nikolenka. This is an enormous epic talent.” The next day, the entry: “I read Nikolenka’s story and cried again.”

There is little information about the writing of Nikolai’s story “Plastun”. In 1926, in preparation for its publication by A.E. Gruzinsky, it received the title “The Beggar Half-Robber who does not remember kinship.” It is interesting because in it Nikolai Nikolaevich touched on a topic that was raised earlier in the story “The Raid” by Lev Nikolaevich about the unnaturalness of wars and murders: “Why, I thought, do the Russians come here to fight the highlanders, why? Apparently, people cannot live in peace anywhere... And in the mountains too, there is also war, quarrels and murders?

Such parallels, especially in the descriptions of hunting scenes, are found quite often among the brothers. After retiring, Nikolai Nikolaevich settled on his estate Nikolskoe-Vyazemskoye and devoted his life to hunting. Famous writers and poets of Russia often came to visit him to hunt and talk together, and discuss new books. After retirement, the disease—consumption—began to progress. I. Turgenev, having learned about his friend’s illness, wrote down: “Does this precious, dear man really have to die?”

The time of Nikolai’s illness coincided with the time of Lev Nikolaevich’s work on the story “Three Deaths”. After a conversation with his brother, Lev Nikolaevich writes: “Nikolenka advises leaving the tree.” This was due to the fact that in the essay “Plastun” his main character thought like this: “Maybe I will die, like a tree dies, cut down at the root or torn out by the wind...”

The sick Nikolai Nikolaevich was taken abroad for treatment. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last three days with his dying brother. Nikolai knew that he would soon die, like a young tree cut down in its prime. What will happen to the soul? In the essay “Plastun” he expressed a purely Orthodox view of the immortality of the soul: “It seems to me that when I die, I will not stop seeing and feeling everything that I now feel, that I will love what I now love... Apparently, God put this thought in me, and He will reveal it to me only after I die...”

L. Tolstoy wrote to his aunt T. Ergolskaya: “He died the way I would like to die: calmly, meekly and beautifully.”

Lev Nikolaevich all his life idolized his older brother, who played a big role in his life. In this article it is impossible to describe all of life together brothers in the Caucasus. We intentionally omitted the facts of the brothers’ relationship with Sado Miserbiev and his friends. A lot has been written about this, we will write more. Such people are never forgotten. People who have done even in years terrible war everything so that the peoples of Chechnya and Russia live in peace and harmony. I would do everything to bring to the consciousness of the careless politicians of the present time the words of the Tolstoy brothers: “Is it really cramped for people to live on this beautiful light, under this immeasurable starry sky? Is it really possible that, amid this charming nature, a feeling of malice, revenge or the passion of exterminating one’s own kind can be retained in a person’s soul?”

The brothers lived a bright life, the general reader knows little about Nikolai, but Lev Nikolaevich rose to such heights, God forbid everyone. The only thing is that he preached kindness and love for one's neighbor...

Kh. Zagibov

Used literature: article by E.V. Belousova “Nikolai Tolstoy - fellow

writer by pen", Tolstoy Yearbook for 2002. GMT

Behind the epic four-volume “War and Peace” (which the author himself called “ verbose rubbish") and especially for its interpretation in school curriculum the true, mystical personality of Leo Tolstoy was lost. Who was he - a free-thinking philosopher or was schizophrenia visible through his messianic insights? If such a person lived in medieval Europe, he would certainly have been burned as a heretic, as the Master of the Templar Order, Jacques de Molay, was burned in 1314. And Leo Tolstoy was not as far from the Templars as one might think.

Leo Tolstoy - descendant of the Templar Crusader

Family of Leo Tolstoy's mother, M.N. Volkonskaya, ascended to Prince Yaroslav the Wise. And the founder of his father’s family was a Templar knight named Henri de Mons, also called Indris, who arrived in Rus' in 1352, hiding from the terror unleashed against the Order. After the defeat of the Order and the execution of its Master, some of the knights disappeared in an unknown direction, taking with them part of the Order’s treasures and important documents, which talked about the origins of Christianity. The main version - that the fugitives fled to Scotland - remained unconfirmed.

According to the Chernigov Chronicle, the nobleman Indris came to Rus' with his two sons Litvonis and Zigmonten. 3 thousand people from the squad came with them. At baptism, Indris was named Leonty, and his sons were named Konstantin and Fedor. Subsequently, Leonty's descendants entered the service of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily the Dark.

To others famous descendant Indris is Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky.

Tolstoy - “loser”

Tolstoy received his primary education at home. At first his tutor was the German Reselman, then the Frenchman Saint-Thomas. In 1844, Leo Tolstoy entered the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​at the Imperial Kazan University (group of Arabic-Turkish literature). Despite excellent results, the student simply did nothing, and was eventually retained as a freshman for the second year. Then he transferred to the Faculty of Law, but he studied there for only two years. To a young nobleman hated any information imposed from outside and learned from general program he could not, while with self-study he always achieved high results. In 1847, Tolstoy left the university without passing his degree exams. But the young student began keeping a diary, became interested in this activity, and subsequently drew many of the subjects for his works from his personal notes.

The future writer is a hero of the Sevastopol War

Tolstoy's older brother, Nikolai, served in the army and convinced his brother to also join the army as a cadet. The brothers traveled to the Caucasus together and took part in many skirmishes with the mountaineers. Lev Nikolaevich deserved the St. George Cross, but generously gave it up to a simple soldier, to whom this award entitles him to significant benefits. In November 1854, Lev was transferred to Sevastopol, where he participated in the Crimean War for ten months. He commanded an artillery battery and was present during the assault on Malakhov Kurgan. During active battles also wrote biographical work“Boyhood” and the trilogy “ Sevastopol stories", where he reflected on the harsh and unexpected ways of war. The books turned out to be successful, and they were willingly published for the Sovremennik magazine, whose editor was A.N. Nekrasov.

For his participation in the defense of Sevastopol, Tolstoy received several awards, including the Order of St. Anne, 4th degree, and the medal “For the Defense of Sevastopol.”

"Rebellious" value system

The young writer was critical of the existing order public life. He saw how unfairly benefits were distributed, and tried to somehow help people.

Already in 1849, Tolstoy discovered in Yasnaya Polyana a school for serfs, taught there by Foka Demidovich, a serf peasant. Often Tolstoy himself conducted classes.

Lev Nikolaevich was not dependent on anyone's approval. He spoke out against church abuses and called the rituals witchcraft. As a result, he was excommunicated and is still vehemently denounced as a “sinner,” “blasphemer,” “possessed,” and “spiritual suicide.” However, in his actions and statements, the Russian writer was a humanist, and it is not for nothing that he is compared to Mahatma Gandhi. Of course, Tolstoy also had misconceptions, mainly due to gaps in his knowledge of history, but this man was in a sincere search for the right path and was always honest with himself and with others.

There is a version that Tolstoy not only demanded religious reforms, he also aimed at creating his own religion. He knew well the basic teachings of Freemasonry and all kinds of sects, as well as the Talmud and the Koran. This awareness was also the reason for accusing him of blasphemy.

In 1889, Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “A new worldview and movement is ripening in the world, and it is as if my participation is required - its proclamation. It’s as if I was purposely made for this purpose by what I am with my reputation—made by a bell.” “At night I heard a voice demanding that the errors of the world be exposed. This night a voice told me that the time had come to expose the evil of the world... We must not hesitate or put off. There is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to think about how or what to say.”

Tolstoy wrote a letter of appeal to Tsar Nicholas II, where he called him brother. In the letter, he demanded a change in the existing order and warned that otherwise great misfortunes would follow for the country and society. Pointed out that due to religious and political persecution the prisons are overcrowded, the people are starving, and literally all segments of the population are dissatisfied with the government. Prophetically quoted the phrase of King Louis XV: “After us there may be a flood.” Yes, in France, as a result of thoughtless rule, a revolution occurred, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed by guillotine, and rivers of blood were shed in the country.

“You can oppress a people by measures of violence, but you cannot control them.” “The only means... is to give the people the opportunity to express their desires and needs... to fulfill those that will meet the requirements not of one class or estate, but of the majority of it.”

However, for all his moral qualities, Nicholas II was too weak-willed and dependent on his environment and did not follow the advice of the writer, who turned out to be a seer.

A grave without a cross

Tolstoy bequeathed that he should be buried without a funeral service, in a simple grave without a cross: simply “bury the body so that it does not stink.” This phrase of the Russian writer echoes a similar statement by the ancient Greek sage Demonakt, who, when asked what orders he would give about his burial, replied: “Don’t bother. The smell will take care of my burial.”

An incident occurred at Tolstoy’s grave shortly after his death, which served as the reason for a new surge of talk about his demonic essence. Disciples, followers and admirers of the great writer’s talent constantly came here - to the great chagrin of orthodox believers, who stated that his grave had become an object of religious veneration. On August 28, 1911, a group of Tolstoy’s students laid flowers on the grave. The ten-year-old son of one of them, Biryukov, bent down to straighten them and suddenly screamed loudly. The father saw with horror that the child’s right arm was entwined with a large viper, which had bitten the boy.

This incident was again regarded as a mystically evil echo of the writer’s soul. However, vipers often settle on graves: they are less disturbed there and, naturally, protect their offspring from possible attacks.

Descendants of the writer

The writer's descendants include several talented and outstanding contemporaries. Vladimir Ilyich Tolstoy, advisor to the Russian President on cultural issues, lives in Russia. He is the organizer of preserving the heritage of his ancestor.

Fyokla Tolstaya is a famous Russian journalist. She graduated from Moscow State University and speaks five languages.

Pyotr Tolstoy is also a journalist; his father and his family returned to Russia from emigration in 1944.

Dmitry Tolstoy lives in Paris and owns a photography studio. He is the author of a series of photographs dedicated to Yasnaya Polyana.

Tolstoy founded the Swedish branch withLev Nikolaevich's son - Lev Lvovich: he was forced for health reasons to turn to the Swedish doctor Westerlund. And then he fell in love with his daughter Dora and married her.

Their descendants: Andrei Tolstoy, one of the most famous reindeer herders in Scandinavia. Victoria Tolstoy (exactly like that, without inclining) - jazz singer, who, having visited her historical homeland, said: “When I was in Moscow several years ago, I visited the Tolstoy House Museum. I remember I saw there a portrait of a lady from the Tolstoy family and was amazed at how much this young woman from past centuries looked like me! Then for the first time I really felt my involvement in the Tolstoy family: how much connects and unites us at the deepest genetic level!”

Ilaria Shtiler-Timon lives in Israel and teaches Italian language. She is a great granddaughter eldest daughter Leo Tolstoy - Tatiana Sukhotina-Tolstaya.

Nikolai Nikolaevich TOLSTOY
(1823-1860)

Nikolai Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1823-1860) - older brother of L.N. Tolstoy.
Of the brothers, Nikolai was more like his mother than others; he inherited from her not only character traits: “indifference to people’s judgments and modesty...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 350), tolerance towards others. “The most dramatic expression of a negative attitude towards a person was expressed by his brother with subtle, good-natured humor and the same smile” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 350).
Like his mother, he had an inexhaustible imagination, the gift of storytelling. extraordinary stories. About Nikolai Nikolaevich I.S. Turgenev said that “he did not have the shortcomings that are needed to be a great writer...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 350). It was Nikolai who told his younger brothers “that he has a secret, through which, when it is revealed, all people will become happy, there will be no illnesses, no troubles, no one will be angry with anyone and everyone will love each other...
...Main secret... was, as he told us, written on a green stick, and this stick was buried by the road, on the edge of the Old Order ravine...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 386).
Nikolai Nikolaevich studied at the Faculty of Mathematics of Moscow University, and in 1844 he graduated from Kazan University. In 1846 he entered the military service, was enlisted in an artillery brigade heading to the Caucasus. In 1858, he retired with the rank of staff captain and spent time in his small house in Moscow and Nikolskoye-Vyazemsky.
In May 1860 he went for treatment to Soden, Germany, then moved to the south of France, to Gier, where he died of tuberculosis on September 20, 1860 at the age of 37 years.
(From the project "Leo Tolstoy")

N.N. Tolstoy - the eldest, beloved, early deceased brother of L.N. Tolstoy. Lev Nikolaevich noted more than once in his diaries and letters that he was greatly influenced by the versatile mind, charming character and literary talent of his older brother-friend. About the literary talent of Nikolai Nikolaevich L.N. Tolstoy responded like this: “...the qualities of a writer that he had were, first of all, a subtle artistic sense, an extreme sense of proportion, good-natured, cheerful humor, an extraordinary, inexhaustible imagination...”.
In 1851-1854. The Tolstoy brothers served together in the Caucasus: Nikolai Nikolaevich - as an artillery officer, Lev Nikolaevich - as a cadet.
In 1857, in Nekrasov’s magazine “Sovremennik” (No. 2), a series of essays by N.N. appeared in first place. Tolstoy "Hunting in the Caucasus". Nekrasov expressed his impressions of the essays in a letter to Turgenev on April 22, 2857: “The task that the author set himself, he completed masterfully and, in addition, discovered himself to be a poet. Poetry is in place here and pops up on its own in passing... the talent for observation and description, in my opinion, is enormous - the figure of the old Cossack is at first slightly touched, but, importantly, not shrunken, love for nature itself and the bird is visible, and not a description of both . This is a good thing...”
Turgenev also highly praised “Hunting in the Caucasus.”
Essays by N.N. Tolstoy - a colorful description of Caucasian nature and hunting (and partly life and people). The essays are written in a free, easy and figurative language, are full of great lyrical feeling.
“Hunting in the Caucasus” is also interesting as a document characterizing the situation and environment in which the Tolstoy brothers lived and moved.
“Hunting in the Caucasus” is not the only work by N.N. Tolstoy. In 1926, a long story by N.N. was published in the magazine “Krasnaya Nov” (No. 5 and No. 7). Tolstoy’s “Plastun”, and in 1927 in the collection “Hunter’s Heart” - “Hunting Notes”.
The story “Plastun” (from the life of the Greben Cossacks) is remarkable for the fact that it was written in the artistic adventure genre, which was almost not typical of Russian literature of that time. It is very plot-driven, entertaining and heroic. “Hunting Notes” in its form is close to the type of Aksakov’s monographs.
(From the project "St. Petersburg Hunter")

Ivan Bunin about Nikolai Tolstoy

After thinking a little, he continued: “And while re-reading “The Cossacks,” I regretted only one thing: that at the same time I could not read “Hunting in the Caucasus” again, which you probably have never heard of. We know you..."
I muttered something incomprehensible, because I guessed what Ivan Alekseevich was talking about, although, in fact, I had never read the essay he named.
“But this is a truly beautiful thing, as if trying to convince me of something,” Bunin exclaimed almost with excitement in his voice. - Could it have been otherwise, if its author was such amazing person like Nikolai Tolstoy. If you get the chance, be sure to read this story, even if you don’t know anything about hunting. When I wrote my book about Tolstoy, I wanted to devote at least a few pages to his brother Nikolai, but I did not have enough materials at hand. After all, Nikolai Tolstoy died long before I was born. My father met him once or twice, and speaking about him, he could hardly hold back tears, but my father was not distinguished by sentimentality. Who remembers Nikolai Tolstoy now? Just read what Turgenev and Fet thought about him, who in his very unpretentious memoirs wrote that “Nikolai Tolstoy was wonderful person, about whom it is not enough to say that all his acquaintances loved him - they adored him.” Nicholas, in fact, quietly put into practice many of the ideas that his brother developed in his theoretical constructs. And Turgenev argued that Nikolai did not become a writer because he was deprived of the shortcomings that are needed to become one. You, of course, have no idea that Tolstoy cites these Turgenev words somewhere in his diaries and you have no idea how often I think about them...<...>
“Don’t distract me from what I still want to say about The Hunt,” he smiled. - I repeat, try to read it and you will see how amazingly transparent it is written, with such light humor that, by all means, it’s worth “Notes of a Hunter.” Any professional can learn from this amateur. Without further ado, he writes about what he saw, but how poetically all this is conveyed, and his Epishka, of course, is the prototype of the more colorful Uncle Eroshka, to whom Lev Nikolaevich, after all, gave a certain tendentiousness, wanting to portray him as a representative of the natural principle. After all, it was not for nothing that both brothers lived for some time together in the same Grebenskaya village, met the same people - so coincidences are inevitable.
Well done were the editors of Sovremennik,” Bunin reassured himself, “that a hunting essay is of no use to anyone.” famous Nicholas Tolstoy was placed in first place in one of the issues of their magazine. It was not entirely in vain that Nekrasov admitted that “the hand of Nikolai Tolstoy has a stronger command of the language than the hand of his brother” and that “far from literary circles has its advantages." What a clever girl Nekrasov is, whom you, of course, don’t like. Where are you? All you have to do is launch a pineapple into the sky! (This was Bunin’s favorite refrain when talking to me).
(From the page)

Works: (sent by David Titievsky)

Collection of essays "Hunting in the Caucasus" - April 2009

Excerpts from the book:

“During the grape harvest, you will certainly find the owner in each garden. All the Kizlyars, as a rule, move into the gardens. In general, they are very hospitable, but at this time, surrounded by an abundance of earthly fruits, when the grape harvest promises good profits, they receive with special cordiality everyone.
It must be said that the owners of the gardens are very happy when they hunt: since abreks hide in the gardens, often for several days, the presence of well-armed people and, in addition, good shooters, in some way, provides the owner of the garden...
One of my friends, a good hunting acquaintance, lived for several years in the Kizlyar gardens, now with one or another owner, who simply tried to lure him to themselves, gave him full content, i.e. tea, sugar, table, wine, dog food - in a word, everything he needed just so that he could live and hunt in their gardens."

“In his youth, Mamonov served in Russia as a cadet, - then, for some prank, he was demoted to non-commissioned officer and moved to the Caucasus, where he served for eleven years in the lower ranks. Despite the fact that Mamonov was really very brave and, to besides, very a kind person, despite several wounds he received, he did not serve anything and retired the same as he was; i.e. “from the nobility.” But he acquired a reputation as a desperate brave man, which is not very easy in the Caucasus, and as an excellent hunter. “Mamon himself said this,” the hunters said among themselves, “and this often resolved disputes. Mamonov's passion for hunting, over the years, took on incredible proportions: he resolutely lived for one hunt, risked his life for it, spoiled his service, quarreled with his superiors. Both the soldiers and the commanders loved him in the regiment; but both of them looked at him, it is true, as a truly brave man, but the most careless and useless for service. In a word, he fought off all hands, even from the Tatars, who were afraid of him and called Sheitan-agach (forest devil). Mamonov walked with his dogs through the most dangerous places alone, met with the mountaineers several times and always happily got rid of them. One day, while hunting, his ear was shot off; But this time he killed two or three people."

The story "Plastun. From the memories of a prisoner" - April 2009

Fragments from the story:

"I've never shot it; I don't like guns, I'm used to a bow. But now that everyone has a gun, remember that it's the main thing is yours weapons, and use them rarely. Don't shoot far, don't shoot close. When the enemy is close, take out your saber and cut, but remember that when you are on a horse, it is a shame to cut at the horse: try to hit the rider and always cut backhand from left to right, then the enemy will always remain under you right hand; if he remains behind, try to turn sharply to the left and shoot while he also turns his horse. In general, whether you shoot or chop, never let go of the reins. If you are on foot and the enemy is on horseback, cut down the horse; if you hit her, she herself will throw off the rider, then take out the dagger - this is the last weapon. However, Cossacks prefer to meet rams or cattle than Circassians; they go to steal, not to fight. Just be careful. Good man You must always be on your guard, and in the wrong direction be afraid of every bush. “Whoever is afraid of everything before a battle is afraid of nothing during a battle,” old people say.”

“From a young age, I began to hunt with Atalik, who was a hawk-watcher: he always had 5 or 6 wonderful hawks, hunters, balabans and Kyrgyz. At first I caught larks and various birds, catching them with a hawk, then I began to put springs and kalevs4 and catch pheasants, hares and partridges. I think I was no more than 8 years old when I started hunting, and I was already sitting alone in the steppe for whole nights. After that I hunted a lot, killed a lot of wild boars, wild goats, saigas, deer, aurochs, foxes and various animals, but even now I remember with pleasure how I guarded the pheasants then."

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in the Tula province (Russia) into a family belonging to the noble class. In the 1860s, he wrote his first great novel, War and Peace. In 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina.

He continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. One of his most successful later works is “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910 in Astapovo, Russia.

First years of life

September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana ( Tula province, Russia) was born future writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. He was the fourth child in big noble family. In 1830, when Tolstoy’s mother, née Princess Volkonskaya, died, cousin father took over the care of the children. Their father, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died seven years later, and their aunt was appointed guardian. After the death of his aunt, Leo Tolstoy, his brothers and sisters moved to their second aunt in Kazan. Although Tolstoy experienced many losses in early age, he later idealized his childhood memories in his work.

It is important to note that elementary education in Tolstoy's biography, he received lessons at home from French and German teachers. In 1843 he entered the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​at the Imperial Kazan University. Tolstoy failed to succeed in his studies - low grades forced him to transfer to an easier law faculty. Further difficulties in his studies led Tolstoy to eventually leave the Imperial Kazan University in 1847 without a degree. He returned to his parents' estate, where he planned to start farming. However, this endeavor also ended in failure - he was absent too often, leaving for Tula and Moscow. What he really excelled at was keeping his own diary - it was this lifelong habit that inspired Leo Tolstoy to most his works.

Tolstoy was fond of music; his favorite composers were Schumann, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, and Mendelssohn. Lev Nikolaevich could play their works for several hours a day.

One day, Tolstoy’s elder brother, Nikolai, came to visit Lev during his army leave, and convinced his brother to join the army as a cadet in the south, in Caucasus mountains where he served. After serving as a cadet, Leo Tolstoy was transferred to Sevastopol in November 1854, where he fought in the Crimean War until August 1855.

Early publications

During his years as a cadet in the army, Tolstoy had a lot of free time. During quiet periods he worked on autobiographical story entitled "Childhood". In it, he wrote about his favorite childhood memories. In 1852, Tolstoy sent a story to Sovremennik, the most popular magazine of the time. The story was happily accepted, and it became Tolstoy's first publication. From that time on, critics put him on a par with already famous writers, among whom were Ivan Turgenev (with whom Tolstoy became friends), Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Ostrovsky and others.

After completing his story “Childhood,” Tolstoy began writing about his daily life at an army outpost in the Caucasus. The work “Cossacks”, which he began during his army years, was completed only in 1862, after he had already left the army.

Surprisingly, Tolstoy managed to continue writing while actively fighting in the Crimean War. At this time he wrote “Boyhood” (1854), a continuation of “Childhood”, the second book in autobiographical trilogy Tolstoy. In the midst Crimean War Tolstoy expressed his views on the astonishing contradictions of war through his trilogy of works, Sevastopol Tales. In the second book of Sevastopol Stories, Tolstoy experimented with relatively new technology: Part of the story is presented as a narration from the soldier's point of view.

After the end of the Crimean War, Tolstoy left the army and returned to Russia. Arriving home, the author enjoyed great popularity on the literary scene of St. Petersburg.

Stubborn and arrogant, Tolstoy refused to belong to any particular school of philosophy. Declaring himself an anarchist, he left for Paris in 1857. Once there, he lost all his money and was forced to return home to Russia. He also managed to publish Youth, the third part of an autobiographical trilogy, in 1857.

Returning to Russia in 1862, Tolstoy published the first of 12 issues of the thematic magazine Yasnaya Polyana. That same year he married the daughter of a doctor named Sofya Andreevna Bers.

Major Novels

Living in Yasnaya Polyana with his wife and children, Tolstoy spent much of the 1860s working on his first famous novel"War and Peace". Part of the novel was first published in “Russian Bulletin” in 1865 under the title “1805”. By 1868 he had published three more chapters. A year later, the novel was completely finished. Both critics and the public argued about historical justice Napoleonic Wars in the novel, combined with the development of stories that are thoughtful and realistic, but still fictional characters. The novel is also unique in that it includes three long satirical essays on the laws of history. Among the ideas that Tolstoy also tries to convey in this novel is the belief that the position of man in society and the meaning human life are mainly derivatives of his daily activities.

After the success of War and Peace in 1873, Tolstoy began work on the second of his most famous books, Anna Karenina. It was based in part on real events period of the war between Russia and Turkey. Like War and Peace, this book describes some biographical events from the life of Tolstoy himself, this is especially noticeable in romantic relationships between the characters Kitty and Levin, which is said to be reminiscent of Tolstoy's courtship of his own wife.

The first lines of the book “Anna Karenina” are among the most famous: “Everyone happy families are similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Anna Karenina was published in installments from 1873 to 1877, and was highly acclaimed by the public. The royalties received for the novel quickly enriched the writer.

Conversion

Despite the success of Anna Karenina, after the completion of the novel, Tolstoy experienced a spiritual crisis and was depressed. The next stage of Leo Tolstoy's biography is characterized by the search for the meaning of life. The writer first turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but did not find answers to his questions there. He concluded that Christian churches were corrupt and, instead of organized religion, promoted their own beliefs. He decided to express these beliefs by founding a new publication in 1883 called The Mediator.
As a result, for his unconventional and controversial spiritual beliefs, Tolstoy was excommunicated from Russian Orthodox Church. He was even watched by the secret police. When Tolstoy, driven by his new conviction, wanted to give away all his money and give up everything unnecessary, his wife was categorically against this. Not wanting to escalate the situation, Tolstoy reluctantly agreed to a compromise: he transferred the copyright and, apparently, all royalties on his work until 1881 to his wife.

Late fiction

In addition to his religious treatises, Tolstoy continued to write fiction throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Among the genres of his later works were moral stories and realistic fiction. One of the most successful of his later works was the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” written in 1886. Main character struggling to fight the death looming over him. In short, Ivan Ilyich is horrified by the realization that he wasted his life on trifles, but the realization of this comes to him too late.

In 1898, Tolstoy wrote the story “Father Sergius”, piece of art, in which he criticizes the beliefs he developed after his spiritual transformation. IN next year he wrote his third voluminous novel, “Resurrection.” Got the job good feedback, but it is unlikely that this success corresponded to the level of recognition of his previous novels. Other late works Tolstoy are essays about art, this satirical play entitled “The Living Corpse,” written in 1890, and a story called “Hadji Murat” (1904), which was discovered and published after his death. In 1903 Tolstoy wrote short story“After the Ball,” which was first published after his death, in 1911.

Old age

During it later years, Tolstoy reaped the benefits international recognition. However, he still struggled to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the tension he had created in his family life. His wife not only did not agree with his teachings, she did not approve of his students, who regularly visited Tolstoy on the family estate. In an effort to avoid his wife's growing discontent, in October 1910 Tolstoy and his youngest daughter Alexandra went on pilgrimage. Alexandra was the doctor for her elderly father during the trip. Trying not to show off your privacy, they traveled incognito, hoping to evade unnecessary questions, but sometimes this was to no avail.

Death and legacy

Unfortunately, the pilgrimage proved too onerous for the aging writer. In November 1910, the head of the small Astapovo railway station opened the doors of his house to Tolstoy so that the ailing writer could rest. Shortly after this, on November 20, 1910, Tolstoy died. He was buried in the family estate, Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy lost so many people close to him.

To this day, Tolstoy's novels are considered one of the best achievements literary art. “War and Peace” is often cited as greatest novel ever written. In the modern scientific community, Tolstoy is widely recognized as having a gift for describing the unconscious motives of character, the subtlety of which he championed by emphasizing the role of everyday actions in determining the character and goals of people.

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Lev Nikolaevich had three brothers and one sister. When he was born, Nikolai, his older brother, was 7 years old. We learn about him from the writer’s memoirs about his childhood, namely from the story of the “ant brotherhood.”

Nikolai told the children that he knew a secret. When it opens, all people will live peacefully and happily, there will be no troubles or wars, everyone will become “ant brothers.” He wrote this secret on a green stick and buried it near a ravine.

Based on this legend, we judge what Nikolai was like.

What conclusions can we draw based on the text about the "ant brothers"

1. Nikolay - very kind child with an incredibly broad soul. He wishes happiness to everyone and worries about the fate of the generation. Perhaps such a bright thought came to his mind because he was overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility for his younger brothers and sister. After all, Lev Nikolaevich’s mother died after the birth of her daughter, and the children were alone.
2. The secret of the green stick speaks of Nikolai’s rich imagination and creative nature. He gathered children in a house built from chairs and could tell stories he had invented for hours. Sometimes I gave the guys roles and organized children's theater. When he grew up, Nikolai even wrote an adventure story "Plastun", which was published in the magazine "Krasnaya Nov".
3. Nikolai was very well brought up, smart, children were drawn to him as a mentor. Such a brother is a worthy role model.

The most important

This legend is given in a literature textbook so that later you, schoolchildren, will understand where there is so much love for people in Tolstoy’s stories, novels, and novels. The writer himself admitted that all of his work is a search for that same green stick with a secret. Thanks to his brother Nikolai, Tolstoy developed as a humanist writer, i.e. someone who loves people. And he already considers life itself a gift from heaven. Later, in almost every book of Tolstoy you will see a large friendly family, where there are many children getting along with each other, caring mother and a patron father.