Leo Tolstoy was a Russian author who is considered one of the world’s greatest novelists. He was born on September 9, 1828, and died on November 20, 1910. His most famous works are “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”.
Here are 13 interesting facts about Leo Tolstoy’s personal and professional life.
Leo Tolstoy Facts
1. People who met with Tolstoy thought he could read their minds
Many people viewed Tolstoy not just as a man nor a human being but as a living symbol. When people met him, they reported that it was as if he understood their unspoken thoughts. It was like he was reading their minds, they said. Some even attributed godlike powers. Others believed he was someone who embodied the world’s conscience.
2. He quit the university
When he was young, he was educated at home by tutors. An interesting fact about Leo Tolstoy is that he then enrolled in the University of Kazan to study Oriental languages but quit after realizing how hard it was. Tolstoy decided to try law school but also quit this career in 1847.
Since he didn’t have a degree, he planned to educate himself. However, he liked to drink, gamble and to engage in debauchery. His weakness was playing cards, which caused him some serious losses. One of his biggest gambles was a building on his estate which he never managed to get back.
Finally, in 1851, he joined the army with his older brother Nikolay. There, he took part in campaigns against the native people and in the Crimean War.
3. Leo Tolstoy kept diaries throughout his entire life
He started his first diary in 1847 and continued writing in them until his last days. His wife kept diaries too. He used the diaries to self-analyze and confide personal things. One of the first things he wrote in them was his belief in having contracted a venereal disease. Additionally, the diaries were like an experiment where he created social rules for himself and then tried to honor them. However, he constantly failed to follow them.
4. He had 13 children
Tolstoy married Sofya Andreyevna Bers, who was the daughter of a prominent Moscow physician. Together, they had 13 children, an interesting fact about Leo Tolstoy. Only 10 of them survived infancy.
5. Some of his ideas inspired leaders like Mahatma Gandhi
Over the last 30 years of his life, he established himself as a moral and also a religious leader. Some of his ideas were about nonviolent resistance to evil and how this was the ideal way of protesting. These influenced social leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.
6. Leo Tolstoy knew more than 10 different languages
As a member of the Russian nobility, he mastered many languages. Besides Russian, he was fluent in English, German and French. He also could read Greek, Latin, Spanish, Ukrainian, Italian, Bulgarian and Turkish. His library had over 23,000 books written in 39 languages!
7. Tolstoy loved the countryside
His love for the countryside is reflected in some of his characters in his books. An interesting fact about Leo Tolstoy is that he loved walking around barefoot and often joined in with peasant work. Despite being born into a wealthy family, he preferred the simpler life.
8. He didn’t have warm feelings for Shakespeare
Tolstoy was friends with many writers of his time and also constantly expressed admiral for their work. However, he did not like William Shakespeare. Some believe that the reason for him not appreciating him was that he felt intimidated by the English writer.
9. Leo Tolstoy became a vegetarian
Around the age of 50, Tolstoy became a vegetarian, an interesting Leo Tolstoy fact. He also believed that everyone in the world would have to eventually become a vegetarian. This was ahead of his time since back then being a vegetarian was not very common.
10. His work “War and Peace” is considered the best novel ever written
All of Tolstoy’s novels are considered fine achievements of literary work. Nonetheless, “War and Peace” is frequently cited as the greatest novel ever written. He is a writer that is also acknowledged for his gift to be able to describe his characters’ unconscious motives.
Both “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” are novel that share the vision of human experience that appreciates daily life and its virtues.
11. The Russian Orthodox Church excommunicated him
Tolstoy eventually thought that life was pointless if everyone eventually was going to die. He turned to religion to find answers and he was drawn to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, he then decided that it, and all other Christian churches, were corrupt.
Therefore, once Tolstoy overcame his fear of death, he devoted the rest of his life to developing a new faith. This caused his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox church in 1901.
12. He did not want a Nobel Prize
Many writers in the world would like to have a Nobel Prize in recognition of their work. This was not the case for Leo Tolstoy. Despite being one of the greatest writers of all time, he was never considered for a Nobel Prize.
There is a belief that the Russian Academy of Sciences had in fact considered Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. However, since he did not want to win it, he pulled some strings to take his name off the nominee list. This kept him from having to decline the prize later on.
13. Tolstoy had terrible handwriting
Tolstoy sure did know how to write great stories, books and ideas, but his handwriting was terrible. “War and Peace” was impossible to read, so his wife decided to rewrite almost everything prior to submitting it to the editor. This happened with all his major works too.
Interestingly, she also decided to rewrite his diaries for the benefit of future generations. She undertook this task despite him having documented things so personal like his fights with her.
Conclusion:
Leo Tolstoy was an acclaimed writer, very ahead of his time. Even today, his work is admired by people all over the world. His ideas of nonviolence and his philosophy about life are still valid, even 110 years after his death.
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