Who is Alexey Tolstoy to Leo Tolstoy. What do the modern descendants of Leo Tolstoy Tolstoy Leo Nikolaevich relatives
Count Leo Tolstoy, a classic of Russian and world literature, is called a master of psychologism, the creator of the epic novel genre, an original thinker and teacher of life. The works of the brilliant writer are the greatest asset of Russia.
In August 1828, a classic was born on the Yasnaya Polyana estate in the Tula province. Russian literature. The future author of "War and Peace" became the fourth child in a family of eminent nobles. On the paternal side, he belonged to the ancient family of Counts Tolstoy, who served and. On the maternal side, Lev Nikolaevich is a descendant of Ruriks. It is noteworthy that Leo Tolstoy also has a common ancestor - Admiral Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin.
Lev Nikolayevich's mother, nee Princess Volkonskaya, died of childbed fever after the birth of her daughter. At that time, Leo was not even two years old. Seven years later, the head of the family, Count Nikolai Tolstoy, died.
Childcare fell on the shoulders of the writer's aunt, T. A. Ergolskaya. Later, the second aunt, Countess A. M. Osten-Saken, became the guardian of the orphaned children. After her death in 1840, the children moved to Kazan, to a new guardian - the father's sister P. I. Yushkova. The aunt influenced his nephew, and the writer called his childhood in her house, which was considered the most cheerful and hospitable in the city, happy. Later, Leo Tolstoy described his impressions of life in the Yushkov estate in the story "Childhood".
Silhouette and portrait of Leo Tolstoy's parents Elementary education the classic received houses from German and French teachers. In 1843, Leo Tolstoy entered Kazan University, choosing the faculty of Oriental languages. Soon, due to low academic performance, he moved to another faculty - law. But even here he did not succeed: two years later he left the university without receiving a degree.
Lev Nikolaevich returned to Yasnaya Polyana, wanting to establish relations with the peasants in a new way. The idea failed, but the young man regularly kept a diary, loved secular entertainment and became interested in music. Tolstoy listened for hours, and.
Disillusioned with the life of the landowner after spending the summer in the countryside, 20-year-old Leo Tolstoy left the estate and moved to Moscow, and from there to St. Petersburg. The young man rushed between preparing for the candidate's exams at the university, music lessons, carousing with cards and gypsies, and dreams of becoming either an official or a cadet of a horse guard regiment. Relatives called Leo "the most trifling fellow", and it took years to distribute the debts he had incurred.
Literature
In 1851, the writer's brother, officer Nikolai Tolstoy, persuaded Leo to go to the Caucasus. For three years Lev Nikolaevich lived in a village on the banks of the Terek. Nature of the Caucasus and patriarchal life Cossack village later they appeared in the stories "Cossacks" and "Hadji Murad", the stories "Raid" and "Cutting the Forest".
In the Caucasus, Leo Tolstoy composed the story "Childhood", which he published in the journal "Sovremennik" under the initials L. N. Soon he wrote the sequels "Adolescence" and "Youth", combining the stories into a trilogy. The literary debut turned out to be brilliant and brought Lev Nikolayevich his first recognition.
The creative biography of Leo Tolstoy is developing rapidly: the appointment to Bucharest, the transfer to the besieged Sevastopol, the command of the battery enriched the writer with impressions. From the pen of Lev Nikolaevich came out a cycle of "Sevastopol stories". The writings of the young writer struck critics with a bold psychological analysis. Nikolai Chernyshevsky found in them "the dialectic of the soul", and the emperor read the essay "Sevastopol in the month of December" and expressed admiration for Tolstoy's talent.
In the winter of 1855, 28-year-old Leo Tolstoy arrived in St. Petersburg and entered the Sovremennik circle, where he was warmly welcomed, calling him "the great hope of Russian literature." But in a year, the writer's environment with its disputes and conflicts, readings and literary dinners got tired. Later, in Confession, Tolstoy confessed:
“These people disgusted me, and I disgusted myself.”
In the autumn of 1856, the young writer went to the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and in January 1857 he went abroad. For six months, Leo Tolstoy traveled around Europe. Traveled to Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. He returned to Moscow, and from there to Yasnaya Polyana. In the family estate, he took up the arrangement of schools for peasant children. In the vicinity of Yasnaya Polyana, with his participation, twenty educational institutions. In 1860, the writer traveled a lot: in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, he studied pedagogical systems European countries to apply what he saw in Russia.
A special niche in the work of Leo Tolstoy is occupied by fairy tales and compositions for children and adolescents. The writer created hundreds of works for young readers, including good and instructive tales"Kitten", "Two Brothers", "Hedgehog and Hare", "Lion and Dog".
Leo Tolstoy wrote the ABC school manual to teach children to write, read and do arithmetic. Literary and pedagogical work consists of four books. The writer included cautionary tales, epics, fables, as well as methodological advice to teachers. The third book included the story " Prisoner of the Caucasus».
Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina" In 1870, Leo Tolstoy, continuing to teach peasant children, wrote the novel Anna Karenina, in which he contrasted two storylines: family drama Karenin and the homely idyll of the young landowner Levin, with whom he identified himself. The novel only at first glance seemed to be a love story: the classic raised the problem of the meaning of the existence of the “educated class”, opposing it with the truth of the peasant life. "Anna Karenina" highly appreciated.
The turning point in the mind of the writer was reflected in the works written in the 1880s. Life-changing spiritual insight is central to stories and novels. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, “Kreutzer Sonata”, “Father Sergius” and the story “After the Ball” appear. The classic of Russian literature paints pictures of social inequality, castigates the idleness of the nobles.
In search of an answer to the question about the meaning of life, Leo Tolstoy turned to the Russian Orthodox Church, but even there he did not find satisfaction. The writer came to the conclusion that Christian church corrupt, and under the guise of religion, the priests promote false doctrine. In 1883, Lev Nikolaevich founded the publication Posrednik, where he set out his spiritual convictions with criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. For this, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the church, the secret police watched the writer.
In 1898, Leo Tolstoy wrote the novel Resurrection, which received critical acclaim. But the success of the work was inferior to "Anna Karenina" and "War and Peace".
For the last 30 years of his life, Leo Tolstoy, with his doctrine of non-violent resistance to evil, has been recognized as the spiritual and religious leader of Russia.
"War and Peace"
Leo Tolstoy did not like his novel "War and Peace", calling the epic " verbose rubbish". The classic wrote the work in the 1860s, living with his family in Yasnaya Polyana. The first two chapters, called "1805", were published by "Russian Messenger" in 1865. Three years later, Leo Tolstoy wrote three more chapters and completed the novel, which caused heated debate among critics.
Leo Tolstoy writes "War and Peace" Features of the heroes of a work written in the years family happiness and spiritual uplift, the novelist took from life. In Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, the features of Lev Nikolayevich's mother, her penchant for reflection, brilliant education and love for art are recognizable. The traits of his father - mockery, love of reading and hunting - the writer awarded Nikolai Rostov.
When writing the novel, Leo Tolstoy worked in the archives, studied the correspondence of Tolstoy and Volkonsky, Masonic manuscripts, and visited the Borodino field. The young wife helped him, copying the drafts cleanly.
The novel was read avidly, striking readers with the breadth of the epic canvas and subtle psychological analysis. Leo Tolstoy characterized the work as an attempt to "write the history of the people".
According to the estimates of the literary critic Lev Anninsky, by the end of the 1970s, only works abroad Russian classic filmed 40 times. Until 1980, the epic War and Peace was filmed four times. Directors from Europe, America and Russia made 16 films based on the novel "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection" was filmed 22 times.
For the first time, "War and Peace" was filmed by director Pyotr Chardynin in 1913. The most famous film was made by a Soviet director in 1965.
Personal life
Leo Tolstoy married 18-year-old Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when he was 34 years old. The count lived with his wife for 48 years, but the life of the couple can hardly be called cloudless.
Sofya Bers is the second of three daughters of Andrey Bers, a doctor at the Moscow Palace Office. The family lived in the capital, but in the summer they rested in the Tula estate near Yasnaya Polyana. For the first time, Leo Tolstoy saw his future wife as a child. Sophia was educated at home, read a lot, understood art and graduated from Moscow University. The diary kept by Bers-Tolstaya is recognized as a model of the memoir genre.
At the beginning of his married life, Leo Tolstoy, wishing that there were no secrets between him and his wife, gave Sophia a diary to read. Shocked wife found out about stormy youth husband, passion for gambling, wild life and a peasant girl Aksinya, who was expecting a child from Lev Nikolayevich.
The first-born Sergey was born in 1863. In the early 1860s, Tolstoy took up writing the novel War and Peace. Sofya Andreevna helped her husband, despite the pregnancy. The woman taught and raised all the children at home. Five out of 13 children died in infancy or early childhood. childhood.
Problems in the family began after the completion of Leo Tolstoy's work on Anna Karenina. The writer plunged into depression, expressed dissatisfaction with the life that Sofya Andreevna so diligently arranged in the family nest. The moral throwing of the count led to the fact that Lev Nikolayevich demanded that his relatives give up meat, alcohol and smoking. Tolstoy forced his wife and children to dress in peasant clothes, which he himself made, and wished to give the acquired property to the peasants.
Sofya Andreevna made considerable efforts to dissuade her husband from the idea of distributing good. But the resulting quarrel split the family: Leo Tolstoy left home. Returning, the writer assigned the duty of rewriting drafts to his daughters.
The death of the last child, seven-year-old Vanya, briefly brought the couple closer. But soon mutual insults and misunderstanding alienated them completely. Sofya Andreevna found solace in music. In Moscow, a woman took lessons from a teacher, to whom romantic feelings arose. Their relationship remained friendly, but the count did not forgive his wife for "half-treason".
The fatal quarrel of the spouses happened at the end of October 1910. Leo Tolstoy left home, leaving Sophia Farewell letter. He wrote that he loved her, but he could not do otherwise.
Death
82-year-old Leo Tolstoy, accompanied by his personal doctor D.P. Makovitsky, left Yasnaya Polyana. On the way, the writer fell ill and got off the train. railway station Astapovo. Lev Nikolaevich spent the last 7 days of his life in a house stationmaster. The whole country followed the news about Tolstoy's state of health.
The children and wife arrived at the Astapovo station, but Leo Tolstoy did not want to see anyone. The classic died on November 7, 1910: he died of pneumonia. His wife survived him by 9 years. Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana.
Quotes by Leo Tolstoy
- Everyone wants to change humanity, but no one thinks about how to change themselves.
- Everything comes to those who know how to wait.
- All happy families similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Let everyone sweep in front of his door. If everyone does this, the whole street will be clean.
- Life is easier without love. But without it there is no point.
- I don't have everything I love. But I love everything I have.
- The world moves forward thanks to those who suffer.
- The greatest truths are the simplest.
- Everyone is making plans, and no one knows if he will live until the evening.
Bibliography
- 1869 - "War and Peace"
- 1877 - "Anna Karenina"
- 1899 - "Resurrection"
- 1852-1857 - "Childhood". "Adolescence". "Youth"
- 1856 - "Two Hussars"
- 1856 - "Morning of the landowner"
- 1863 - "Cossacks"
- 1886 - "Death of Ivan Ilyich"
- 1903 - Notes of a Madman
- 1889 - "Kreutzer Sonata"
- 1898 - "Father Sergius"
- 1904 - "Hadji Murad"
Russia is famous all over the world not only for its production facilities, but also for its great cultural property. A huge impact on the development of the world classical literature provided by three talented writers, united under one name: Leo Tolstoy, Alexei Tolstoy and another Alexei Tolstoy. short biography each of these authors is filled with experiences and suffering, the chosen and most bright facts from the life of the creators were the basis of some creations.
Some sources indicate that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy were relatives. Their great-grandmothers were sisters. Uninformed readers sometimes mistakenly consider Alexei to be Leo's brother. This is not true: although they had the same surname and patronymic, they were born in different time and in different places.
The biography of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy also attracts literary critics with its tragedy and magnificent creative period. However, in this article we will talk about the third of the clan of great writers. Who is known to all early childhood based on the work "The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio" - Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. He is known to all as a subtle lyricist, historical novelist and playwright.
It was then that in the work of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy comes historical theme. After the February bloodshed comes which the writer does not want to understand or accept. The result of this position is emigration with his family to Europe. Later, after returning to his homeland, the Russian writer will speak of this as a hard and difficult time. It was here, in native birch trees, that in 1928 the first two parts of the trilogy "Walking Through the Torments" were completed.
The biography of Alexei Tolstoy is riddled with events and the Great Patriotic War. It was the pain and tears of the people that prompted the writer to create numerous brilliant works, which, alas, were of a dramatic nature: the dilogy "Ivan the Terrible", three volumes, unfortunately, of the unfinished novel "Peter I", the third and final part of "Walking through the torments", "I call for hatred" and many others.
Not accepting the revolution, choosing emigration, but in the end returning to the USSR forever, the author was treated kindly by the Bolsheviks, who did not skimp on gifts and letters for the writer. Fantastic adventures and fairy tales, military stories and dramatic novels, life away from the Motherland and nights under the whistle of bullets, a huge estate and a beloved family, fearless and immortal heroes works and painful death from cancer, black and white - this is the biography of Alexei Tolstoy, the son of Count Nikolai Tolstoy. A huge number of the author's works were filmed, and plays are staged to this day. More than fifty works, millions of copies and worldwide fame - that's what's left for posterity
Rod Tolstoy
Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, a writer, author of the novels War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, a number of novels, plays, stories, brought worldwide fame to the Tolstoy family. The biography of Lev Nikolaevich is familiar to the reader with school years, and we will not talk about it further. However, we note that the Tolstoy family gave several writers.
In the middle of the last century, Count Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, the author of the story "Prince Silver", a dramatic trilogy about Ivan the Terrible and two subsequent tsars, was famous. Together with his brothers A. M. and V. M. Zhemchuzhnikov, he wrote parodic and satirical works under the pseudonym Kozma Prutkov.
Half a century later, Aleksey Nikolaevich Tolstoy enjoyed no less fame. Soviet writer, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, author of the novels "Walking through the torments", "Peter I", "Aelita", "Engineer Garin's Hyperboloid", etc.
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Writers (but not so famous) were also Dmitry Nikolaevich, Mikhail Nikolaevich and Lev Lvovich Tolstoy.
Several Tolstoy counts were statesmen. Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy was the chief prosecutor of the Synod (a position equated to a ministerial one). He was a close friend of N.V. Gogol, Gogol lived in his house recent months of his life, there he burned the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls.
Dmitry Andreevich Tolstoy was also Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, then Minister of Public Education (under Tsar Alexander II), Minister of the Interior (under Tsar Alexandra III). Ivan Matveyevich Tolstoy was the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs (under Tsar Nicholas I). Ivan Ivanovich Tolstoy was a minister Agriculture(under Tsar Nicholas II). Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy, general of infantry (second rank in the Table of Ranks), was a member of the State Council.
Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy was a Kriegskommissar General (Head of the Supply Service). Alexander Petrovich and Andrey Andreevich Tolstoy rose to the military service only up to the rank of colonel (sixth rank according to the Table of Ranks). And Fedor Andreevich Tolstoy, being in the civil service, became a privy councilor (third rank according to the Table of Ranks).
Other Tolstoys found their calling in other directions: Fedor Petrovich - painter, sculptor and medalist, professor and vice-president of the Academy of Arts; Ivan Ivanovich - archaeologist and numismatist, vice-president of the Imperial Archaeological Society; Feofil Matveyevich - composer; Yuri Vasilievich - historian, was vice-governor.
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
All the representatives of the Tolstoy family listed above lived quite a long time ago, it is appropriate here to recall one of the current Tolstoys. The author happened to meet with Nikita Alekseevich Tolstoy, the son of the writer Alexei Nikolaevich. N. A. Tolstoy became interested in scientific activities, became a physicist, was a professor at the Technological Institute, then at the university. He came to exams with a large box of chocolates, which he treated students to. He said that this is how he relieves students of stress. I didn’t give twos or threes: either the sweets helped, or the examiner was soft-hearted. At the end of his life, he suddenly became interested in politics, infected his son Mikhail with this, together they became deputies of the Supreme Council of the country, advocated radical reforms.
However, it would be more correct to start the story about the Tolstoy family with the representative of the family who first received the title of count. Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy lived during the time of Peter I. At first, he was a supporter of the Miloslavskys in their struggle with the Naryshkins. But when Princess Sophia was imprisoned in a monastery, P. A. Tolstoy began to serve Tsar Peter I faithfully. He was appointed ambassador to Turkey, where the Turks imprisoned him twice. The time was not easy: Russia and Turkey fought for decades, there was no trust between the countries. There was no unity within the Russian embassy either; denunciations were written against Ambassador P. A. Tolstoy in Moscow. Tsar Peter I did not take these denunciations into account, but he was still wary of Tolstoy, remembering his former commitment to Miloslavsky.
P. A. Tolstoy acquired full confidence in the tsar after he was able to return Tsarevich Alexei to Russia from distant Italy, who had fled there from his formidable father. Tolstoy convinced the tsarevich that he needed to repent - and the tsar-father would have mercy. But when Tsarevich Alexei returned to Petersburg, he was sentenced to death for treason. And P. A. Tolstoy became the head of the Secret Chancellery and Count of the Russian Empire.
Under Tsarina Catherine I, Count P. A. Tolstoy was appointed a member of the Supreme Privy Council (“supreme leader”), that is, he actually rules the state together with A. D. Menshikov, F. M. Apraksin and others. But two years later he became king Peter II, son of the murdered Tsarevich Alexei. The man who brought the unfortunate prince from Italy to Russia must be punished: Peter Tolstoy is deprived of the title of count and exiled to Solovetsky Monastery where he dies two years later. And only in 1760, Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Peter I and Catherine I) returned the title of count to the descendants of A. A. Tolstoy.
And let's finish this story with a story about the most extravagant of the Tolstoy family - Fyodor Ivanovich. One day he went to circumnavigation with Admiral I.F. Kruzenshtern, and out of boredom or out of mischief, he quarreled without exception of all officers and sailors. He annoyed the admiral so much that he, usually calm and self-possessed, landed Fyodor Ivanovich on one of the Aleutian Islands. The count had to live for several years in a society of savages, they made him a fantastic tattoo all over his body. Back in Moscow, Tolstoy (who has since become known as the American) invariably boasted about his tattoo. But he did not find any worthy employment for himself. From idleness, boredom and anger, he became a duelist. For completely absurd reasons, he challenged people to a duel, and those out of a sense of false pride could not refuse. The count killed 11 people in duels in a short time. He compiled a synodic list, where he wrote down the names of the people he killed. However, during the duel, he himself put his chest under the gun. Formally, the duel in Russia has long been banned, but in fact, some nobles decided questions of honor (as they understood it) in a duel.
Then Fyodor Ivanovich almost committed suicide due to the inability to pay a huge gambling debt. He was saved by Avdotya Tugayeva, a gypsy who loves him, who contributed the required amount of money. Count Fedor married a gypsy. They had 12 children, all but two of whom died in infancy. When another child died, the father crossed out one surname in his synodic and wrote the word “quit” on the side. The eleventh child, daughter Sarah, who had undoubted poetic ability, died at the age of 17. Fyodor Ivanovich crossed out the last name from the synodik, made the last entry “quit” and breathed a sigh of relief: he got even for all those killed in duels. His last child, Praskovya's daughter, lived for 64 years, and fate did not weigh on her.
From the book Love for History (network version) part 1 author Akunin BorisFrom thick to thin 3.01.2011 I would like to start the year with something soft and fluffy like a rabbit. For example, with a discussion about female beauty. Here are some of the most legendary beauties European history. Look, we love. Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry's heart
From the book Love for History author Akunin BorisFROM THICK TO THIN 3.01.2011 I would like to start the year with something soft and fluffy like a rabbit. For example, with a discussion about female beauty. Here are some of the most legendary beauties of European history. Look, we love. Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry's heart
From book Noble nests author Moleva Nina MikhailovnaFamily legend of the Counts Tolstoy It was in the 37th year. But when - in autumn or winter, I can’t remember ... Rather, it was that we rode on wheels ... my father rode behind in a carriage and we were taken to him for breaks - it was a great joy - they took us to him. I remember that I got to enter Moscow in
From the book Stilyagi author Kozlov Vladimir From the book Personalities in History author Team of authorsMagician Andersen Natalya Tolstykh All his life he was a restless, impractical dreamer, a passionate lover of surprises and changes, a generous and frank friend. He also knew how to see a pearl even in the gutter.BeginningFuture storyteller Hans Christian
From the book Wonderful China. Recent Travels to the Middle Kingdom: Geography and History author Tavrovsky Yury VadimovichParadise for fat men with glasses The road from Lijiang to Dali goes through fields - first terraced on the slopes of the mountains, and then ordinary, flat ones. On those and on others, the harvest is harvested, straw is stacked, fertilizers are scattered mainly by women. Mini-tractors, mules and others
Why do we know only the multi-volume Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, while we hear Alexei Konstantinovich mainly in quotations
September 5, 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy, one of the most prominent representatives this glorious family. And the "illustrious peasant" Lev Nikolaevich, and "Soviet Count" Alexey Nikolaevich were recognized as classics during their lifetime - their elder namesake did not escape this fate. However, his posthumous biography turned out to be less happy: many still quote his lines without realizing who their author was.
Descendants of the prince
The famous family of Tolstoy, among whom were not only writers, but also sculptors, artists and other famous people in Russia, originates from the Lithuanian prince Indrisa. And the famous Petr Andreevich Tolstoy, diplomat, Russian envoy to Turkey, colleague and friend PetraI, awarded for services to the Fatherland with the title of count, - the common ancestor and creator of "War and Peace" Lev Nikolaevich, and the author of "Peter I" and "Walking through the torments", "Aelita" and "Hyperboloid engineer Garin" Alexei Nikolaevich, and Alexei Konstantinovich . About the last representative famous family we know the least. Meanwhile, the merry fellow, the wit, the "troll of the 19th century" deserves to be remembered and re-read from time to time.
Exclusive fairy tale
Alexei Konstantinovich, who was a second cousin of Lev Nikolayevich, entered the history of literature while still very young. Alyosha grew up without a father, he was raised by his mother's brother Alexey Perovsky. Apparently, the boy was distinguished by a lively disposition and rebelliousness, so Perovsky resorted to an unbanal pedagogical move: he wrote for his nephew (who was 8–9 years old) scary tale"Black hen, or Underground inhabitants". This fairy tale is considered the first original author's work for children in Russia. That is, for the sake of right upbringing Alyosha Tolstoy was created on Russian soil, a genre that later became so popular, which, by the way, will be paid tribute to by the younger Tolstoys (Aleksey Konstantinovich is 11 years older than Lev Nikolaevich and 65 years older than Alexei Nikolaevich).
Typical nobleman
Like his second cousin, Alexey loved hunting. True, unlike the young Lev Nikolaevich, with a passion for revelry and gambling did not differ, although he also knew how to play cards with young years. But he had remarkable strength: they said that he easily unbent horseshoes and could drive a nail into the wall with his fingers. Numerous oddities, unlike famous author epics "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", he was also not particularly noticed, with the exception of a passion for spiritualism.
Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy lived the typical life of a Russian nobleman-intellectual of the middle of the century. He married late future wife who was called Sofia- like the wife of Lev Nikolaevich, - could not get a divorce for a long time), unlike his more literary famous relative, he had no children, he served at court, but at the same time he was very skeptical of power . Barefoot, unlike brother Leo, did not wander , in adulthood, he preferred to live abroad or in his Chernihiv estate.
For the public, he was primarily a successful playwright, but his exceptional wit helped him express his attitude to Russian reality in such poems, which often simply could not be published in the country. At the same time, it was a cheerful and at the same time deeply philosophical satire on our entire ridiculous, but such a sweet way of life.
By the way: If the museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana is known to the whole world, then not everyone knows about the museum-estate of Alexei Tolstoy, located in Krasny Rog. Meanwhile, the count spent his childhood in it, returned to his favorite places more than once, and was buried here.
From the "History of the State ..." to Kozma Prutkov
His famous poem "History of the Russian State from Gostomysl to Timashev" was published only after the death of the author, otherwise he would not have been greeted. In this mischievous parody of the famous work Karamzin the phrase “Our land is great and plentiful, but there is no order in it” from The Tale of Bygone Years is played up, and the whole history of Russia appears as a hopeless striving for at least some kind of order. Only once was it possible to achieve temporary success:
Ivan Vasilievich the Terrible
He was named for being a serious, respectable person.
Receptions are not sweet,
But the mind is not lame; This brought order, Though roll the ball!
You can live safely
With such a king; But ah! nothing lasts forever - And Tsar Ivan died!
Later, additions were added to this "History" more than once, which once again confirms the correctness of the observations and irony of Alexei Konstantinovich.
It is Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy who is the main author of the "works of Kozma Prutkov" - along with his friends, three brothers Zhemchuzhnikovs And Alexander Ammosov, he came up with a character, hilarious in its seriousness, "the director of the Assay Chamber" to whom the corresponding poems and aphorisms were attributed.
Who has not heard pseudo-profound “aphorisms” like “If you read the inscription “buffalo” on an elephant’s cage, do not believe your eyes”, “Look at the root!”, “Watch out!”, “No one will embrace the immensity”! The mockery of the pompous arrogant "author" painfully wounded many writers of that time, who, not without reason, recognized their own traits in Kozma Prutkov.
Morphine victim
Trolling was a success, but the true creators of this parody for a long time were not known - the Zhemchuzhnikovs admitted to the hoax only a few years after Tolstoy's death. If Leo Tolstoy lived to be 82 years old, and who knows how long he could have lived if not for pneumonia that took him to the grave, then Alexei died at 58 years old. For many years he suffered from severe headaches that medicine could not cope with. Tolstoy escaped with morphine - the doses became larger, the deadly "medicine" killed him.
