Alexey Tolstoy works about the war. Homecoming
Count Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Born on December 29, 1882 (January 10, 1883) in Nikolaevsk, Samara province - died on February 23, 1945 in Moscow. Russian and Soviet writer, public figure from the Tolstoy family. Winner of three Stalin Prizes of the first degree (1941, 1943; 1946 - posthumously).
Alexey Tolstoy was born on December 29, 1882 (January 10, 1883 according to the new style) in Nikolaevsk, Samara province.
Father - Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy (1849-1900), representative of the middle branch count's family Tolstykh, Samara district leader of the nobility.
At the same time, a number of researchers believe that the father could be the so-called. unofficial stepfather - Alexey Apollonovich Bostrom (1852-1921). Thus, Roman Gul in his memoirs cites the version that Alexei Tolstoy was the biological son of A.A. Bostrom, citing in support the other sons of the count, who, according to the version he cited, had a negative attitude towards him, since he participated in the division of his father’s inheritance. At the same time, historian Alexey Varlaamov provides very convincing evidence that Gul’s testimony is just one of the versions, caused in addition negative attitude memoirist to A.N. Tolstoy, and in fact Alexey Nikolaevich had the right to a surname, patronymic and title.
Let us note that Alexey was raised separately from the other children of Nikolai Alexandrovich Tolstoy and until the age of 13 he bore the surname Bostrom.
Mother - Alexandra Leontievna (1854-1906), née Turgenev, writer, great-niece of the Decembrist Nikolai Turgenev. By the time Alexei Tolstoy was born, she left her husband for A.A. Bostrom, whom she could not officially marry due to the definition of spiritual consistory.
Sister - Elizaveta (Lilya; 1874-1940s), in the 1st marriage of Rachmaninov, in the 2nd marriage of Konasevich; in 1898 she published the novel “Lida”; after the revolution she lived in Belgrade.
Sister - Praskovya (1876-1881).
Brother - Alexander (1878-1918), in 1916-1917. Vilna governor.
Brother - Mstislav (1880-1949), agronomist, St. Petersburg vice-governor.
Alexey's childhood years were spent in a small farm on the estate of A. A. Bostrom on the Sosnovka farm, not far from Samara (currently the village of Pavlovka in the Krasnoarmeysky district).
In 1897-1898 he lived with his mother in the city of Syzran, where he studied at a real school. In 1898 he moved to Samara.
In the spring of 1905, while a student at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, Alexey Tolstoy was sent to practice in the Urals, where he lived in Nevyansk for more than a month. Later, in the book Best travel in the Middle Urals: facts, legends, traditions”, Tolstoy dedicated his very first story “The Old Tower” to the Nevyansk leaning tower.
First world war was a war correspondent. In 1916 he traveled to France and England.
After the October Revolution, Alexei Tolstoy was in exile, where he stayed in 1918-1923. His habitats were Constantinople, Berlin and Paris. He reflected his impressions of emigration in the 1924 satirical story “The Adventures of Nevzorov, or Ibicus.”
From the pen of Alexei Tolstoy came a number of works that have become classics of Russian literature - even despite the fact that some of them contain an ideological component reflecting the views of his era. But the skill with which he created his works, the depth of the images and the original form of presentation of the material, his own style- all this brought Alexei Tolstoy into the pantheon of great Russian writers.
In 1927, he took part in the collective novel “Big Fires,” published in the magazine “Ogonyok.”
In the trilogy "The Road to Calvary"(1922-1941) he was able to present Bolshevism as a phenomenon with national and popular soil, and the revolution of 1917 as the highest truth comprehended by the Russian intelligentsia.
Unfinished historical novel "Peter I"(books 1-3, 1929-1945) - perhaps the most famous example of this genre in Soviet literature, contains an apology for the strong and cruel reformist government.
Tolstoy's novels "Aelita"(1922-1923) and "Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin"(1925-1927) became classics of Soviet science fiction.
Tale of 1937 "Bread", dedicated to the defense of Tsaritsyn during the years civil war, is interesting because in a fascinating artistic form tells the vision of the civil war in Russia that existed in the circle and his comrades and served as the basis for the creation of Stalin’s cult of personality. At the same time, the story pays detailed attention to the description of the warring parties, the life and psychology of the people of that time.
Among other significant works: the story “Russian Character” (1944), dramaturgy - “The Conspiracy of the Empress” (1925), about the disintegration of the tsarist regime; “Diary of Vyrubova” (1927). Folk legend attributes to him (though without any convincing justification) the authorship of the anonymous pornographic story “Bathhouse”.
At the First Writers' Congress (1934) he made a report on dramaturgy. As a member of the Writers' Union in 1936, he took part in the so-called persecution of the writer Leonid Dobychin - which may have led to the latter's suicide.
In the 1930s he regularly traveled abroad (Germany, Italy - 1932, Germany, France, England - 1935, Czechoslovakia - 1935, England - 1937, France, Spain - 1937).
Participant of the First (1935) and Second (1937) Congress of Writers in Defense of Culture.
In August 1933, as part of a group of writers, he visited the open White Sea-Baltic Canal and became one of the authors of the memorable book “White Sea-Baltic Canal named after Stalin” (1934). In 1936-1938, after his death, he temporarily headed the Union of Writers of the USSR.
In 1939 he became an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Since 1937 - deputy of the Supreme Council of the USSR of the 1st convocation.
Member of the Commission for the Investigation of the Atrocities of the Nazi Occupiers. Attended the Krasnodar trial. One of the actual co-authors of Stalin’s famous address of 1941, in which the Soviet leader called on the people to turn to the experience of their great ancestors: “Let the courageous image of our great ancestors - Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov! (Stalin's speech at the Red Army parade on November 7, 1941).
During the war, Alexey Tolstoy wrote about 60 journalistic materials (essays, articles, appeals, sketches about heroes, military operations) - from the first days of the war (June 27, 1941 - “What we defend”) until his death at the end of winter 1945. The most famous work Alexei Tolstoy's essay on the war is considered to be "Motherland".
Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy died on February 23, 1945, at the age of 63, from lung cancer.
Buried in Moscow on Novodevichy Cemetery(site no. 2). In connection with his death, state mourning was declared.
Winner of three Stalin Prizes:
1941 - Stalin Prize first degree for parts 1-2 of the novel “Peter I”.
1943 - Stalin Prize of the first degree for the novel “Walking in Torment” (transferred to the Defense Fund for the construction of the Grozny tank).
1946 - Stalin Prize, first degree, for the play “Ivan the Terrible” (posthumously).
In November 1959, in the writer’s homeland - in the city of Pugachev Saratov region- a monument to A.N. was unveiled in the new park on Toporkovskaya Street. Tolstoy by S.D. Merkurova. This square now also bears the name of Alexei Tolstoy.
In 1965, one of the streets of the city of Pushkin, not far from the writer’s luxurious estate (on Moskovskaya Street / Tserkovnaya Street, 8), where he lived and worked in 1928-1938, was renamed Alexei Tolstoy Boulevard.
Since 1983, the name A.N. Tolstoy is worn by the Syzran Drama Theater.
In 2006-2007, the Project 588 motor ship “Nikolai Gastello” received a new name “Alexey Tolstoy”, in honor of the writer.
Established in 2001 All-Russian Prize named after A. N. Tolstoy. Status - awarded once every two years to authors of prose, journalistic works behind creative contribution in development Russian literature. Founders - Union of Writers of Russia, administration of the city of Syzran, Interregional literary center V. Shukshina. Awarded in the following categories: “Great Prose”; “Small prose (stories and stories)”; "Publicism". Awarded in Syzran during gala event, dedicated to this event, in one of the city’s cultural institutions.
Red Count Alexei Tolstoy
Personal life Alexei Tolstoy:
He was married four times.
First wife- Yulia Vasilievna Rozhanskaya (1881-1943). They were together in the period 1901-1907 (they officially divorced in 1910). She became the prototype of Gali, the heroine of the story “Life”. The couple had a son, Yuri, who died in infancy (01/13/1903 - 05/11/1908).
For the first time, Tolstoy saw Yulia Rozhanskaya, the daughter of collegiate adviser Vasily Mikhailovich Rozhansky, at a rehearsal of an amateur drama theater in Samara, where he studied at a local real school. They spent the summer of 1901 together at the Rozhansky dacha in the village of Khvolyn, Saratov province. After graduating from real school, Tolstoy decided to enter the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology and persuaded Yulia to go with him to St. Petersburg. On his advice, in the same year she entered the St. Petersburg Women's Medical Institute.
A marriage proposal soon followed and on June 3, 1902, the wedding took place in Turgenevo. And already in January 1903, a son, Yuri, was born, who was sent to the care of Samara, to her parents.
During the revolutionary events, Tolstoy decided to go to Germany - to join his fellow student at the institute A. Chumakov. There he expected to continue his studies at the Royal Saxon Higher School of Technology. In Dresden, Tolstoy met the aspiring artist Sofia Isakovna Dymshits. Divorce followed only in 1910 and in the same year Yulia Vasilievna married a wealthy metropolitan merchant Nikolai Ivanovich Smolenkov, who was 16 years older than her and had an adult son. In 1919, she, her husband and stepson, left for Riga, where she died in 1943. She was buried at the Pokrovsky cemetery.
Second wife- Sofya (Sara) Isaakovna Dymshits (1884-1963), artist. Born on April 23, 1884 in St. Petersburg, in big family businessman of the Jewish faith. They met in 1906; Tolstoy was her brother’s classmate. Sophia's parents strongly opposed his visits (the writer was married). But in the spring of 1907, Tolstoy proposes to Sophia. After several years of cohabitation with Tolstoy, she converted to Orthodoxy in order to enter into a legal marriage with him.
The couple had a daughter, Maryana (Marianna) (1911-1988), she was married to E.A. Shilovsky.
Their relationship ended in 1914.
In 1921, Sophia married the German architect, communist Hermann Pessati (Guermain Pessati) and gave birth to his son Alexander. In 1925-1935, Dymshits-Tolstaya headed the art department of the magazine “Worker and Peasant Woman”.
Sofia Dymshits - the second wife of Alexei Tolstoy
Third wife- Natalya Vasilievna Krandievskaya (1888-1963), poetess and memoirist. She became the prototype of Katya Roshchina from the novel “Walking Through Torment.”
Natalya Krandievskaya was born in literary family. Her mother, Anastasia Romanovna Tarkhova, was a well-known writer at the beginning of the twentieth century, close to the Chekhovian movement. Father - Vasily Afanasyevich Krandievsky - was a publisher and journalist who, together with S. A. Skirmunt, published the journalistic almanac “Bulletins of Literature and Life” (from the beginning of the 1910s until its closure in 1918). She started writing poetry early. Her works were published in magazines, as well as in collections of 1913 and 1919, and caused positive reviews Bunin, Balmont and Blok and Sofia Parnok.
In 1907-1914, she was married to attorney at law Fyodor Akimovich Volkenshtein. Their son is physical chemist Fedor Fedorovich Volkenshtein (1908-1985).
Having returned from emigration with Alexei Tolstoy, Krandievskaya-Tolstaya completely moved away from literature. After breaking up with Tolstoy, she returned to poetry and never left it until the end of her life. Krandievskaya’s later poems, including those about the siege, were published in the 1970s.
They lived in marriage in the period 1914-1935. The couple had sons Nikita and Dmitry.
Son (adopted, from Krandievskaya’s first marriage) - Fyodor Volkenshtein (1908-1985).
Son Nikita (1917-1994), a physicist, the story “Nikita’s Childhood” is dedicated to him, was married to Natalya Mikhailovna Lozinskaya (daughter of the translator M. Lozinsky), seven children (including Tatyana Tolstaya), fourteen grandchildren (including Artemy Lebedev ).
Son Dmitry (1923-2003), composer, was married three times, had a child from each marriage, including the famous pancreatologist surgeon Professor A.D. Tolstoy.
Fourth wife- Lyudmila Ilyinichna Krestinskaya-Barsheva (01/17/1906 - 1982).. She came to Tolstoy’s house in August 1935 as a secretary. Soon they began an affair. In October 1935 they got married and were together until the writer's death.
Some places near Moscow are associated with the name of A. N. Tolstoy: he visited the House of Writers in Maleevka (now Ruzsky district), in the late 1930s he visited Maxim Gorky at his dacha in Gorki (now Odintsovskii district), together with Gorky visited Bolshevskaya in 1932 labor commune(now the territory of the city of Korolev).
For a long time lived in a dacha in Barvikha (now Odintsovo district). In 1942, he wrote his war stories there: “Mother and Daughter”, “Katya”, “Stories of Ivan Sudarev”. There he began the third book of the novel “Walking Through Torment”, and at the end of 1943 he worked on the third part of the novel “Peter I”.
Novels by Alexei Tolstoy:
1912 - Lame gentleman
1923 - Aelita
1924 - The Adventures of Nevzorov, or Ibicus
1927 - Hyperboloid of engineer Garin
1931 - Emigrants
The Road to Calvary. Trilogy:
Book 1 "Sisters" (1922);
Book 2 "Year 18" (1928);
Book 3 "Gloomy Morning" (1941)
Peter the First
Weirdos
Tales and stories of Alexei Tolstoy:
Old Tower (1908)
Arkhip (1909)
Cockerel (Week in Turenev) (1910)
Matchmaking (1910)
Mishuka Nalymov (Trans-Volga region) (1910)
Actress (Two Friends) (1910)
The Dreamer (Haggai Korovin) (1910)
False Step (The Tale of a Conscientious Man) (1911)
Kharitonov's gold (1911)
The Adventures of Rastyogin (1913)
Love (1916)
Beautiful lady (1916)
The Common Man (1917)
Peter's Day (1918)
A Simple Soul (1919)
Four Centuries (1920)
In Paris (1921)
Count Cagliostro (1921)
Nikita's childhood (1922)
Tale of the Time of Troubles (1922)
Seven days in which the world was robbed, another title: "The Alliance of Five" (1924)
Vasily Suchkov (1927)
Seasoned Man (1927)
High Society Bandits (1927)
Frosty Night (1928)
Viper (1928)
Bread (Defense of Tsaritsyn) (1937)
Ivan the Terrible (The Eagle and the Eaglet, 1942; Difficult Years, 1943)
Russian character (1944)
Strange Story (1944)
Ancient path
Black Friday
On the island of Halki
Manuscript found under the bed
In the snow
Mirage
Murder of Antoine Rivo
Fishing
Plays by Alexei Tolstoy:
"Journey to North Pole"(1900)
"The Hedgehog, or Punished Curiosity" (1900s)
"The Devil's Masquerade, or the Cunning of Apollo" (1900s)
"Fly in the Coffee (Gossip That Ends Bad)" (1900s)
"Duel" (1900s)
"The Dangerous Path, or Hecate" (1900s)
"Lifebuoy to Aestheticism" (1900s)
"The Sorcerer's Daughter and the Enchanted Prince" (1908)
"Accidental Luck" (1911)
"Ryapolovsky's Day" (1912)
"Rapists" (Lazy Man, 1912)
"Young Writer" (1913)
"Cuckoo's Tears" (1913)
"Day of Battle" (1914)
« Devilry"(1916, 2nd edition 1942)
"Killer Whale" (1916)
"Rocket" (1916)
“Obscurantists” (1917 - under the title “Bitter Color”
“Love is a golden book” (1918, 2 ed. - 1940)
“The Death of Danton” (1919, adaptation of the play by G. Buchner)
“Riot of the Machines” (1924, adaptation of the play “RUR” by K. Capek)
“Conspiracy of the Empress” (1925, jointly with P. E. Shchegolev)
“Azef” (1925, jointly with P. E. Shchegolev)
“Polina Gebl” (1925, jointly with P. E. Shchegolev)
"Miracles in a sieve..." (1926)
“On the Rack” (1929, later partially reworked into the play “Peter I”)
“It will be” (1931, jointly with P. S. Sukhotin)
“Orango” (1932, libretto of the opera by D. D. Shostakovich, jointly with A. O. Starchakov)
“Patent No. 117” (1933, jointly with A. O. Starchakov)
"Peter I" (reworked over early play"On the rack")
"The Path to Victory" (1938)
"The Devil's Bridge" (1938; the second act of the play was later revised into the play "The Fuhrer")
“The Golden Key” (arrangement of the story “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”, 1938)
“The Fuhrer” (1941, based on the second act of the play “Devil’s Bridge”)
“Ivan the Terrible” - duology:
"The Eagle and the Eaglet" (1942)
"Difficult Years" (1943)
Tales of Alexei Tolstoy:
Mermaid Tales:
Host (1909)
Polevik (1909)
Rusalka (Restless Heart, 1910)
Ivan da Marya (1910)
The Witcher (1910)
Merman (1910)
Kikimora (1910)
Wild Chicken (1910)
Ivan Tsarevich and Scarlet Alitsa (1910)
The Straw Groom (1910)
The Wanderer and the Serpent (1910)
The Damned Tithe (1910)
The Beast King (1910)
Tit (1918)
Magpie Tales:
Camel (1909)
Pot (Little feuilleton, 1909)
Magpie (1909)
Painting (1909)
Mouse (1909)
Goat (1909)
Hedgehog (Hedgehog the Hero, 1909)
Fox (1910)
Hare (1909)
Vaska the Cat (1910)
The Owl and the Cat (1910)
Sage (1909)
Gander (1910)
Crayfish Wedding (1910)
Briefs (1910)
Ant (1910)
Cockerels (1910)
Gelding (1910)
Chicken God (1910)
Masha and the Mice (1910)
Lynx, Man and Bear (1910)
Giant (1910)
Bear and the Goblin (1910)
Bashkiria (1910)
Silver pipe (1910)
The Humble Husband (1910)
Bogatyr Sidor (1910)
Fairy tales and stories for children:
Polkan (1909)
Ax (1909)
Sparrow (1911)
Firebird (1911)
The Gluttonous Shoe (1911)
Snow House (1911)
Fofka (1918)
Cat Sour Cream Mouth (1924)
As if nothing had happened (1925)
A story about Captain Hatteras, about Mitya Strelnikov, about the bully Vaska Taburetkin and about the evil cat Ham (1928)
The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Pinocchio (1936)
Screen adaptations by Alexei Tolstoy:
1915 - Lame gentleman
1920 - Lame gentleman
1924 - Aelita
1928 - Lame gentleman
1937-1938 - Peter the Great
1939 - Golden Key
1957 - Walking through torment: Sisters (1 episode)
1958 - Walking through torment: 1918 (episode 2)
1958 - The Adventures of Pinocchio (cartoon)
1959 - Walking through torment: Gloomy morning (episode 3)
1965 - Hyperboloid of engineer Garin
1965 - Viper
1971 - Aktorka
1973 - The collapse of engineer Garin
1975 - The Adventures of Buratino (“The Golden Key, or The Adventures of Buratino”)
1977 - Walking through torment
1980 - Youth of Peter
1980 - At the beginning of glorious deeds
1980 - Aelita (Hungary)
1982 - The Adventures of Count Nevzorov
1984 - Formula of Love (“Count Cagliostro”)
1986 - Pranks in the old spirit
1992 - Nikita's childhood
1992 - Beautiful Stranger
1996 - Dear friend of long-forgotten years
1997 - Newest Adventures Pinocchio
2002 - Zheltukhin
2017 -
Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a writer of multifaceted and brilliant talent. He created novels about the present and historical past of our Motherland, stories and plays, scripts and political pamphlets, autobiographical story and fairy tales for children.
A. N. Tolstoy was born in the city of Nikolaevsk, Samara province - now the city of Pugachev, Saratov region. He grew up in the wild life of the bankrupt Trans-Volga landowners. The writer colorfully depicted this life in his stories and novels written in 1909–1912. (“Mishuka Nalymov”, “Weirdos”, “The Lame Master”, etc.).
Tolstoy did not immediately accept the Great October Socialist Revolution. He emigrated abroad.
“Life in exile was the most difficult period of my life,” Tolstoy later wrote in his autobiography. “There I understood what it means to be a guy, a person, cut off from his homeland, weightless, barren, not needed by anyone under any circumstances.”
Homesickness evoked in the writer's memory childhood memories, paintings native nature. This is how the autobiographical story “Nikita’s Childhood” (1919) appeared, in which you can feel how deeply and sincerely Tolstoy loved his homeland, how he yearned away from it. The story tells about the writer's childhood; it beautifully depicts pictures of Russian nature, Russian life, and images of Russian people.
In Paris, Tolstoy wrote a scientific fantasy novel"Aelita."
Returning to his homeland in 1923, Tolstoy wrote: “I became a participant in a new life on earth. I see the tasks of the era." The writer creates stories about Soviet reality (“Black Friday”, “Mirage”, “Union of Five”), a science fiction novel “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid”, a trilogy “Walking in Torment” and a historical novel “Peter I”.
Tolstoy worked on the trilogy “Walking Through Torment” (“Sisters”, “The Eighteenth Year”, “Gloomy Morning”) for about 22 years. The writer defined its theme as follows: “This is the lost and returned Motherland.” Tolstoy talks about the life of Russia during the period of revolution and civil war, about the difficult path to the people of Russian intellectuals Katya, Dasha, Telegin and Roshchin. The revolution helps the heroes of the trilogy determine their place in the national struggle for socialism and find personal happiness. The reader parts with them at the end of the civil war. Begins new stage in the life of the country. The victorious people begin to build socialism. But, saying goodbye to his regiment, the heroes of the novel Telegin says: “I warn you - there is still a lot of work ahead, the enemy has not yet been broken, and it is not enough to break him, he must be destroyed... This war is such that it must be won, it cannot be won cannot win... On a stormy, gloomy morning we went out into battle for a bright day, but our enemies want a dark robber night. And the day will rise, even if you burst out of frustration...”
The Russian people appear in the epic as the creators of history. Under the direction of Communist Party he fights for freedom and justice. In the images of representatives of the people - Ivan Gora, Agrippina, Baltic sailors - Tolstoy reflects fortitude, courage, purity of feelings, devotion to the Motherland Soviet people. With a big artistic power the writer managed to capture the image of Lenin in the trilogy, to show the depth of thoughts of the leader of the revolution, his determination, energy, modesty and simplicity.
Tolstoy wrote: “To understand the secret of the Russian people, its greatness, you need to know its past well and deeply: our history, its fundamental nodes, the tragic and creative eras in which the Russian character was born.”
One of these eras was the era of Peter the Great. A. Tolstoy addressed her in the novel “Peter I” (the first book – 1929–1930, the second book – 1933–1934). This is a novel not only about the great transformer Peter I, but also about the fate of the Russian nation in one of the “tragic and creative” periods of its history. The writer truthfully talks about the most important events of Peter's era: the Streltsy revolt, the Crimean campaigns of Prince Golitsyn, Peter's struggle for Azov, Peter's travels abroad, his transformative activities, the war between Russia and the Swedes, the creation of the Russian fleet and new army, about the founding of St. Petersburg, etc. Along with all this, Tolstoy shows the life of the most different layers population of Russia, the life of the masses.
When creating the novel, Tolstoy used a huge amount of material - historical research, notes and letters from Peter’s contemporaries, military reports, court archives. “Peter I” is one of the best Soviet historical novels, it helps to understand the essence of a distant era, fosters love for the Motherland, legitimate pride her past.
For children younger age Tolstoy wrote the fairy tale “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio.” Using the material from the fairy tale, he made a film script and a play for the children's theater.
During the Great Patriotic War A. Tolstoy spoke about the strength and heroism of the Soviet people in the fight against the enemies of the Motherland. His articles and essays: “Motherland”, “Blood of the People”, “Moscow is Threatened by an Enemy”, the story “Russian Character” and others - inspired the Soviet people to new exploits.
During the war years, A. Tolstoy also created the dramatic story “Ivan the Terrible,” consisting of two plays: “The Eagle and the Eaglet” (1941–1942) and “Difficult Years” (1943).
A remarkable writer was also an outstanding public figure. He was repeatedly elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, was elected full member Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
Patriotic writer and humanist, artist of a wide creative range, master of the perfect literary form, who mastered all the riches of the Russian language, Tolstoy went through a difficult creative path and took a prominent place in Russian Soviet literature.
Years of life: from 12/29/1882 to 02/23/1945
Famous Russian and later Soviet writer, playwright, publicist, public figure, count, academician. In the USSR he was considered one of the main “official” writers. He left behind an extensive creative legacy in a variety of genres.
Born in the city of Nikolaevsk (now Pugachev), Samara province. Mother A.N. Tolstoy, being pregnant, left her husband for her lover - Alexei Apollonovich Bostrom, a landowner and employee of the zemstvo government. The writer spent his childhood on his Sosnovka estate. A.N. Tolstoy was his stepfather's father and until the age of 13 bore his surname, and Tostoy's final recognition of the right to the title occurred only in 1901. He received his primary education at home, as was the custom of that time, and in 1897 the family moved to Samara, where the future writer entered a real school. After graduating in 1901, he went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the mechanics department of the Technological Institute. His first poems, published in 1907 in the form of a collection, date back to this time. In the same year, the writer left the institute without defending his diploma, deciding to devote himself to literary work.
From this time on, A.N. Tolstoy works a lot and hard. Fame came to the writer in 1910-1911 after the publication of novels and stories that amounted to later a book"Zavolzhye". Before the First World War, Tolstoy wrote many stories, tales, plays, poems, fairy tales, he was a regular literary evenings, salons, theater premieres. After the start of the war, AN. Tolstoy worked as a war correspondent and wrote a number of essays and stories about the war. October Revolution received it with hostility. In 1918, Tolstoy left for Odessa, and then through Turkey to Paris. However, life in exile did not go well; Tolstoy experienced financial difficulties and was unable to get along with the emigrant environment (for his collaboration in the newspaper Nakanune, Tolstoy was expelled from the emigrant Union of Russian Writers and Journalists). Moving to Berlin in 1921 did not improve the situation and in 1923 A.N. Tolstoy decides to return to the USSR.
The writer was received well and immediately began to work fruitfully. During this period, his most famous science fiction works (“Aelita”, “Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid”) were published. At the same time, in the works of A.N. Tolstoy everything big role ideological aspects play a role, and in the 1930s. At the direct order of the authorities, Alexey Tolstoy wrote the first work about Stalin - the story “Bread (Defense of Tsaritsyn)” (published in 1937). In the 30s A.N. Tolstoy begins to actively develop the theme of the reign of Peter I, which has long interested him, and releases the first two parts of the epic novel “Peter I”. The authorities treated the writer very well, he became a personal friend of Stalin, had two luxurious dachas, several cars, A.N. Tolstoy was awarded numerous orders and prizes, was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and a full member of the Academy of Sciences. During the Great Patriotic War A.N. Tolstoy often acts as a publicist, continuing work on the third book of the novel Peter I. In 1944, the writer was diagnosed with a malignant lung tumor. The disease progressed rapidly, delivering A.N. Tolstoy truly suffered hellish torment, and on February 23, 1945, the writer died.
Information about the author's works:
A.N. Tolstoy was married four times (officially and unofficially) and became the father of four children.
In 1944 A.N. Tolstoy actively participated in the work of a special commission led by academician N. N. Burdenko, which came to the conclusion that Polish officers in Katyn were shot by the Germans.
Writer's Awards
1938 - Order of Lenin
1939 - Order of the Badge of Honor
1941 - for 1-2 parts of the novel “Peter I”.
1943 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor
1943 - Stalin Prize, first degree, for the novel “Walking Through Torment.”
1946 - Stalin Prize, first degree, for the play “Ivan the Terrible” (posthumously).
Bibliography
Cycles of works
Trans-Volga region (1909-1910)(1909-1910)
(1910-1918)
Stories by Ivan Sudarev (1942-1944)
Stories
The Dreamer (Haggai Korovin) (1910)False Step (The Tale of a Conscientious Man) (1911)
The Adventures of Rastegin (1913)
Big Trouble (1914)
Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a man with amazing fate. Being a descendant of a noble noble family, he built a career in the Soviet Union after returning from emigration. In his later works the reader will find the exaltation of Stalin, which with light hand talented author has acquired the proportions of a personality cult. How did his “walk through torment” go? Why did he choose this path for himself?
Alexey was born on January 10, 1883 in Nikolaevsk (Samara province). His parents were influential and wealthy nobles. The father held the honorary post of leader of the nobility and was a representative of the ancient Tolstoy family. However, relations in the family did not go well: his mother left her husband immediately after the birth of her son and cohabited with A.A. Bostrom. The boy lived on his estate and was raised by an educated and intelligent mother, however family drama worried him very much and did not let him go throughout his life. In 1898 they moved to Samara, where the future writer graduated from college.
Youth
Samara was followed by St. Petersburg, where the young man studied in a technical specialty (department of mechanics). A trip to the Urals (1905) ignited the young man’s imagination; he composed poems that were published in the Kazan newspaper “Volzhsky Listok” in 1906. Recognition on literary field inspired Alexey to quit his studies and take up writing. He leaves for Paris.
A year later he published his first collection of lyric poems. A year later, the book “Beyond the Blue Rivers” was published, but the author was still in search. He found his “I” only in prose, writing “Magpie Tales.” Next, Alexei Tolstoy begins to work closely with publishing houses, where his stories are published with great eagerness. Then a collection of short prose “Trans-Volga Region” and two novels “Cranks” and “The Lame Master” appear. The aspiring writer is praised by the recognized master of words - M. Gorky, and with him other critics. Alexey Nikolaevich gets a job at Russian Vedomosti and becomes a war correspondent during the First World War.
Emigration
The writer condemned the revolution, like most representatives of his class. He moves to Paris with his family. Being in the midst of the raging waves of history, he is fascinated by the past of his country and works on historical works. From 1918 to 1923, he rushed between Berlin and Paris, where various emigrant circles with opposing ideologies were formed. He chooses "On the Eve", where all members are more loyal to communism than the Paris Writers' Union. According to him, several years in a foreign land were the darkest period in his life. The novel “Aelita” and the stories “Black Friday”, “The Manuscript Found Under the Bed”, “Nikita’s Childhood” were written in exile.
Return and recognition
Thanks to his preserved friendship with M. Gorky, Tolstoy finds the opportunity to return to his homeland. He is working on the trilogy “Walking in Torment” and the novel “Black Gold”, writing the famous “Pinocchio”. His prose reveals a desire to find in Bolshevism folk roots. He sees the highest truth in the new ideology and wants to convey it to the entire opposition-minded intelligentsia, to which he recently counted himself. In 1932, he met Gorky in person and became his closest ally. Two years later he is already cooking All-Union Congress writers, and after three more he becomes a deputy of the Supreme Council. In the same year, he wrote the story “Bread,” which became the basis for exalting Stalin’s personality in the popular consciousness. There he gives revolutionary events an ideologically correct interpretation.
The author was captivated by the idea of a strong state ruler; only in him did he see salvation for his country. Therefore, he continues to work on the historical novel “Peter the Great”, and for the script of a film about him he receives the Order of Lenin. In 1939, Tolstoy received the title of Academician of Sciences, and in 1943, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and a prize of 100,000 rubles for the trilogy “Walking through Torment.”
Death
In 1944, Alexei Tolstoy was diagnosed with a tumor in his lung. After diagnosis he lived less than a year and died in February 1945, just a little before reaching Great victory. During the war he wrote many essays, stories and articles. Also paid special attention to the personality of another strong monarch in Russian history– Ivan the Terrible, dedicating a duology to him.
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Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose biography will be discussed in this article, is a writer of bright and multifaceted talent. He wrote novels about the historical past of Russia and the present, plays and stories, political pamphlets and scripts, fairy tales for children and an autobiographical story. About the fate of this wonderful person It will be useful for everyone to know.
Origin
The biography of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy began back in 1883. He was born on December 29 in Nikolaevsk, in the Samara province. Future writer was brought up in the family of a landowner. His stepfather - A. Bostrom - was the heir of the sixties and a liberal. Tolstoy's mother, Alexandra Leontievna, left her legal husband to him. She was an educated woman noble origin. Her maiden name- Turgenev, she was the great-niece of the Decembrist Nikolai Turgenev. The writer's father was Count Tolstoy Nikolai Alexandrovich. However, some attribute paternity to the boy’s stepfather, Alexei Apollonovich Bostrom. This moment in the origin of Alexei Nikolaevich is still a mystery for biographers.
Childhood
The boy's early years were spent in Sosnovka, a farm owned by his stepfather. The future writer received his primary education at home, studying under the guidance of visiting teacher. Further, the biography of Alexei Tolstoy continued in Samara, where he moved with his parents in 1897. There the boy entered a real school and graduated in 1901. He then moved to St. Petersburg to continue his education. There Alexey Nikolaevich entered the Technological Institute in the mechanics department. His first poetic experiments, created under the influence of the works of Nadson and Nekrasov, date back to the same time.
Early creativity
The young man was so fascinated by writing that in 1907, before defending his diploma, he left the institute and decided to devote himself entirely to literary creativity. short biography Alexei Tolstoy says that in 1908 he composed a book of poems called “Beyond the Blue Rivers,” which was the result of his acquaintance with Russian folklore. A year later he wrote his first story, “A Week in Turgenev.” Then two of the writer’s novels saw the light - “The Lame Master” and “Eccentrics”. M. Gorky himself drew attention to the works of Alexei Tolstoy. He described them as the creations of an undoubtedly great and powerful writer. Critics also showed favor to the author's first publications.
War years
The biography of Alexei Tolstoy during the First World War deserves special attention. The writer worked as a war correspondent for the Russian Vedomosti publication, was at the fronts, and visited France and England. At this time, he wrote a number of stories and essays about the war: “On the Mountain”, “Beautiful Lady”, “Under Water”. Alexey Nikolaevich also turned to drama and composed two plays - “Killer Whale” and “Evil Spirit”. The events of the February Revolution aroused the writer's interest in the problems of Russian statehood. He became seriously interested in the history of the times of Peter the Great. The writer spent many days in the archives, trying to penetrate into the essence of that difficult time.
Alexei Nikolaevich perceived the October Revolution with hostility. During the general unrest, his brothers died and other relatives were shot, some died from disease and hunger. The writer blamed the Bolsheviks for everything. He still continued to work, historical themes appeared in his work (the stories “The Day of Peter”, “Obsession”), but in 1918 he moved with his family to Odessa, and from there he emigrated abroad.
Emigration
The biography of Alexei Tolstoy continued in Paris. The writer spoke of this period as the most difficult period of his life. Far from his homeland, he had a hard time. Domestic disorder was aggravated by the fact that Tolstoy could not find like-minded people among the emigrants. No one shared his boundless faith in the Russian people. Overcoming the oppressive longing for his homeland, Alexey Nikolaevich composed several works permeated with memories of his sweet childhood. In 1920, he wrote the story “Nikita’s Childhood,” and two years later published the book “The Adventures of Nikita Roshchin.” In 1921, Tolstoy moved to Berlin. Here he joined the Smenovekhov group “Nakanune”. This socio-political association of Russian emigrants abandoned the fight against the power of the Soviets and moved on to its actual recognition. As a result former friends due to emigration they turned away from Alexei Nikolaevich. In 1922, Gorky visited Berlin. The writer established close friendships with him friendly relations. Under the influence of Alexei Maksimovich, the writer in 1922 published “ Open letter N.V. Tchaikovsky,” in which he explained the reasons for his break with the white emigration and unconditionally admitted Soviet power. While living abroad, Tolstoy wrote many prose works: “The Manuscript Found Under the Bed”, “Black Friday”, the novel “Aelita” and the first part of the “Walking in Torment” trilogy - “Sisters”.
Homecoming
The biography of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy took a new fateful turn in 1923 - the writer returned to Russia. In his homeland in subsequent years, along with countless novels and short stories, he wrote the second and third parts of “Walking Through Torment”: “The Eighteenth Year” and “Gloomy Morning”. Then the writer created the frankly unsuccessful loyalty story “Bread,” in which he glorified the defense of Tsaritsyn under the leadership of Stalin, and the pompous play “The Path to Victory.” However, soon Alexey Nikolaevich really comes to mind brilliant idea. He begins to compose the historical novel “Peter the Great,” in which he strongly approves of the activities of the great reformer. It was assumed that Stalin's harsh methods were deeply rooted in Russian history. This gesture was appreciated by the authorities. Alexei Tolstoy, whose brief biography is given in this article, was showered with all sorts of favors and earned the nickname “Comrade Count.” The writer took almost sixteen years to create the novel “Peter the Great,” and it remained unfinished.
The Great Patriotic War
Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy, whose biography is interesting and instructive, during the Great Patriotic War often spoke with stories, essays, articles, the main characters of which were ordinary people who managed to show their severe trials. During the war years, he managed to brilliantly demonstrate his journalistic gift. Alexey Nikolaevich wrote more than sixty patriotic articles, including the famous essay called “Motherland” (in 1941, November 7). In addition, he composed a series of front-line essays “Stories of Ivan Sudarev” and a dramatic duology “Ivan the Terrible”. In his works, Alexey Tolstoy sought to convey the indestructible spirit of his compatriots. “Russian Character” is a story that makes readers think about those who managed to give their lives for the freedom of the Fatherland. Subsequently, the writer wanted to write a novel about the feat of the Russian people during the Great Patriotic War, but this plan remained unfulfilled.
last years of life
In hospitable and open house The writer had guests all the time. We gathered here interesting people: musicians, actors, writers. Alexei Tolstoy, whose Russian character did not allow him to isolate himself within four walls and devote himself entirely to creativity, knew how to live in grand style and generously shared the benefits he received with friends. The writer was married several times, women loved him for his unusually easy character and breadth of nature.
The biography of Alexei Tolstoy ended in 1945, on February 23, in Moscow. He only a few months did not live to see the Victory. The writer was buried with great honors at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
Tolstoy Alexey Konstantinovich. Childhood
It is well known that Alexei Tolstoy was not the only one who made his mark in Russian literature. A brief biography of one of them was outlined above, but another famous one deserves no less attention Russian writer. Tolstoy Konstantin Alekseevich was born on September 28, 1878 in the village of Krasny Rog, Chernigov province. His father was Count Tolstoy Konstantin Petrovich, and his mother was illegitimate daughter Count Razumovsky Perovskaya Anna Alekseevna. For unknown reasons, the woman broke up with her husband immediately after the birth of the boy and, instead of his own father, the future writer was raised by his uncle maternal line- A. A. Perovsky. This man became famous in Russian literature under the pseudonym Antony Pogorelsky.
Alexey spent his early years in Ukraine, on his uncle’s estate - the village of Pogoreltsy. From the age of ten, the boy was constantly taken abroad. The future writer was part of the inner circle of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II.
Career and creativity
Having matured, Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy made a successful civil career. First (in 1934) he was assigned to the “students” of the Moscow archive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then he served in the Russian diplomatic mission in Germany, and in 1940 he entered the service in St. Petersburg at the court, where he received the rank of chamber cadet in 1943 .
A short biography of Alexei Tolstoy cannot reveal everything significant events in his life. It is known that in the 1830-1840s he composed in French two fantastic works: stories “Meeting after Three Hundred Years” and “Family of the Ghoul.” In May 1941, the writer published his book for the first time - fantastic story"Ghoul". Belinsky reacted very favorably to this work and saw in it glimpses of remarkable talent.
Personal life
The biography of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy in 1850 was marked by important event- he fell in love with Colonel Miller’s wife Sofya Andreevna. This marriage was officially formalized only in 1863, as it was prevented by the relatives of the lovers. On the one side, ex-husband Sofia Andreevna did not give a divorce, but on the other hand, the writer’s mother did her best to interfere with her son’s relationship.
Alexey Tolstoy, whose work and life are covered in this article, retired in 1861. He settled near St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Tesna River in the Pustynka estate, and only occasionally visited the capital. In the next decade of his life (1860-1870) he often traveled abroad and traveled to England, France, Germany, and Italy. The writer did not give up his creativity and was constantly published in the magazines “Bulletin of Europe”, “Russian Bulletin” and “Sovremennik”. In 1867, Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy published a collection of his poems. The biography of this man was rich interesting events. He left his mark on Russian literature.
Demise
The writer died in 1975, on September 28, during another attack of severe headache. The biography of Konstantin Alekseevich Tolstoy ended because he injected himself with too much morphine, which was prescribed to him by a doctor. The museum-estate of this wonderful man is located in Krasny Rog ( Bryansk region). The writer spent his childhood here and returned here several times. In this estate, Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, whose biography is interesting to many, found his last refuge. The writer did not leave any children behind. He only raised adopted daughter- Bakhmetyeva Sofya Petrovna.
Tolstoy Alexey Konstantinovich. Creative heritage
The works of Alexei Tolstoy were distinguished by their noticeable originality. The writer created many satirical poems and ballads. He is also the author of the famous historical novel"Prince Silver". The creative biography of Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy is also associated with the writing of a dramatic trilogy about Ivan the Terrible. In addition, the pen of this wonderful author belongs to lyric poems. It is enough to recall the lines from the popular romance “Among the Noisy Ball...” to appreciate the full power of Alexei Konstantinovich’s literary talent. Tolstoy was also a good playwright. In 1898, the opening of the Moscow Art Theater was marked by its production historical drama"Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich."
And we certainly cannot ignore the comic talent of this wonderful writer. Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, whose biography is very rich, along with the Zhemchuzhny brothers, created the immortal image of Kozma Prutkov. More than half of the works of this funny character belongs to his authorship.
Now you know the biographies of two outstanding Russian writers. Tolstoy is a surname that is forever entrenched in Russian literature as a symbol of the highest literary talent, which not everyone can surpass.