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Leo Tolstoy/ Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828-1910) was born on the 28th of August 1828 in the lineage of Russian nobility to Countess Maria Volkonsky and Count Nicolay Ilyich Tolstoy (1797-1837) — a Lieutenant Colonel graced with the order of St. Vladimir for his service.

Childhood tragedies & Youthhood failures

Tolstoy had fond memories of his childhood at his family estate ‘Yasnaya Polyana.’ But those tender years were marred by tragedies. He suffers the loss of loved ones in the family, one after the other, eventually being raised by Aunt Tatyana for the most part of his childhood.

Years thus pass, and as he grows into a youth, Leo moves out of Yasnaya Polyana to join Kazan University, where he pursues oriental languages. But while at Kazan, being unable to graduate, Leo shifts his attention to studying law. However, again, unable to respond to the conventional study system, he quits college in 1847 with a decent working knowledge of over a dozen languages.

In his youth, Tolstoy identified himself as a young nobleman, unaware of his next course of life, often torn between aspirations and disappointments resulting from his inability to stand up to them. He recounted his life as a constant battle between unrestrained passions and nobility of the self — gripped by compelling vices like gambling and drinking.

However, Tolstoy was earnest in his self-examination. He often questioned his own moral standing and dualistic existence. For example, in his letter to his Aunt Tatyana and other confidantes, Tolstoy writes, “I am living a completely brutish life….I have abandoned almost all my occupations and have greatly fallen in spirit.”

In his autobiographical trilogy, Childhood (1852), Boyhood (1854), and Youth (1857), and in his other works, Tolstoy enumerates his life at all these stages. Though they earned him the credit of a well-known author, Tolstoy, in light of what he perceived himself as and his ideals during the later stages of life, discarded them as insincere and clumsy confusion of truth with fiction.

Tolstoy’s first fiction

In 1851, with the support of his older brother Nikolay an officer in the Caucasian army, Tolstoy joined the army. During his service in the military, he turns his attention to writing fiction. Tolstoy’s first novel, Childhood (1852), was published in the magazine Sovremennik. Encouraged by the response, he pens Boyhood and Youth.

In the year 1855, Tolstoy quits the army. Later, he witnesses the loss of his brothers Dmitriev and Nikolay, who succumb to Tuberculosis one after another. After several attempts, his efforts to find himself a constructive career path simply go in vain. Tolstoy described the period as dark days of his life, struggles with overwhelming temptations, and questions his own self-integrity over his muddled past. 

He writes, “I put men to death in war, I fought duels to slay others. I lost at cards, wasted the substance wrung from the sweat of peasants, punished the latter cruelly, rioted with loose women, and deceived men. Lying, robbery, adultery of all kinds, drunkenness, violence, and murder were all committed by me, not one crime omitted, yet I was not the less considered by my equals to be a comparatively moral man. Such was my life for ten years.” (ibid, Ch. VI)

No man fails forever

Tolstoy falls in love with Sofia’ Sonya’ Andreyevna Behrs (b.1844) and marries her in 1862. With the support of Sonya, who helps him organize his notes, copy drafts and manage the affairs of the estate, Tolstoy begins writing for his epic fiction ‘War and Peace.’ 

Cast with 560 characters and set during 19th century Russia amidst the reign of Tsarist Alexander I and Napoleonic wars, ‘War and Peace’ is massive with its vastness of portrayal, realistic depiction of the scenes of the battlefield and the war, and its bloody trails.

Tolstoy’s witness of public execution in Paris and his dispassion toward the realities of the war strengthens his pacifist outlook, which he vehemently propounds through his philosophy of War and Peace. In his letter to his friend V. P. Botkin, Tolstoy writes, “The truth is that the state is a conspiracy. It is designed not only to exploit but above all to corrupt its citizens … Henceforth, I shall never serve any government; anywhere.” 

Though War and Peace had established itself as a marvelous epic of its time by then, Tolstoy continued to rewrite it many times to his own satisfaction.

“Struggles and triumphs have been part of every individual born on this planet. While most struggles have been for survival, as history reveals, some were induced by greed and pride. Such struggles often led to war and the mass destruction of land, people, and resources. The glory of such triumphs and their fruits will always bear the taint of blood. Though they find themselves mentioned in the history of mankind, they will always be regretted. The loss of lives they resulted in can never be justified, and so are such victories. Every time they won, they only defeated mankind.”

Anna Karenina (1877) was his next novel. With parallel stories of families of the so-called high society, Tolstoy paints his characters with realistic traits and shows how they are easily allured by the falsities of the society and eventually become a victim of the same. He exposes how those who are irresolute and lack moral strength succumb to ill-fate and how individuals with self virtues and high moral values succeed.

Tolstoy’s influence on Gandhi

With both War and Peace and Anna Karenina acknowledged as the greatest novels of all time, Tolstoy pens many other novels and short essays. However, among the non-fiction, Tolstoy’s ‘The Kingdom of God is within you (1893)’ requires a special mention. From Tolstoy’s perception, ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’ remains the most glorified. 

Tolstoy expresses his strong views of non-resistance and Christian Anarchist thought. He describes the state as a conglomeration of wicked and brutal, and the society is ever in danger because of them. He also criticizes the church and the state for extending overpowering influence on the citizens. 

Outlining his pacifist theory based on the Sermon on the Mount, Tolstoy espouses that a true Christian would find lasting happiness by striving for inner self-perfection following the Great Commandment of ‘loving one’s neighbor and God’ rather than looking outward to the church or state for guidance. His words, ‘live like Jesus,’ sums it all up. He said if everyone lived like Jesus, there would be no need for wars in the world.

History reveals how the passive resistance philosophy of Tolstoy had its influence on great personalities like Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In his ‘A letter to a Hindu (1908),’ Tolstoy wrote how a non-violent resistance could gain India its Independence from the harsh clutches of the British. A letter’s copy came into the hands of Mohandas Gandhi while he was in South Africa. The letter profoundly influenced Mohandas Gandhi, who wrote back to Tolstoy, eventually establishing a mutual correspondence. Mohandas Gandhi was moved by the teachings of The Kingdom of God is within you. In his autobiography, Gandhi declares Tolstoy as the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present age has produced.

Leaves home, then the world as a wandering ascetic

Tolstoy was deeply influenced by the renounced order of life enumerated in the Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu ascetic lifestyles and the concept of eternal salvation. As a result, he gave up meat, tobacco, and alcohol and preached chastity. (“A man can live and also be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite” – Leo Tolstoy).

He chose a life of self-assumed poverty and gave up all inherited wealth, even copyrights to his early writings. To everyone’s surprise, Tolstoy also rejected his greatest works, ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Anna Karenina,’ as not true to reality. 

He cited Buddha, who, though born as a Prince, abandoned palace comforts and left to the woods to wander around as a mendicant. He would quote the Savior (Matthew 19:24): “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man entering the kingdom of God.” And until he moved back to Yasnaya Polyana in 1902, Tolstoy frequently visited his countryside estate, rendering a helping hand to the peasants and distributing money among the beggars.

In 1910, bidding farewell to his worldly ties, Tolstoy leaves home to be a wandering ascetic, despite being attended to with utmost care by his wife and daughters. Not too far did he proceed physically. Upon reaching the Astapova Train station, Tolstoy falls ill with Pneumonia and dies at the age of 82. Tolstoy’s final rites saw thousands of peasants who had come to bid adieu to the nobleman, about whom they knew not little else.

About one hundred years after his death, in January 2007, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1878) and War and Peace were placed on Time magazine’s ten greatest novels of all time, first and third place, respectively.

Reference: Wikipedia