When did the mother of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy die? Maria Volkonskaya-fat
Family
Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy (1757-1820) - grandfather of L. N. Tolstoy
He studied in the Naval Corps, was a midshipman in the navy, later transferred to the Life Guards, to the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and retired in 1793 with the rank of brigadier. He owned estates in the Tula province and a magnificent mansion in Moscow, but preferred to live in Polyany, a vast estate in Belevsky district. Ilya Andreevich had four children: two sons (the youngest of them, Ilya, died in childhood) and two daughters. “My grandfather Ilya Andreevich... was..., as I understand him, a limited man, very gentle, cheerful and not only generous, but stupidly wasted, and most importantly, gullible. On his estate... there was a long, non-stop feast, theaters, balls, dinners, skating... it ended with the fact that his wife’s large estate was so entangled in debt that there was nothing to live on, and the grandfather had to procure... the place of governor in Kazan” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 359).
Pelageya Nikolaevna Tolstaya (née Gorchakova, 1762-1838) - wife of I. A. Tolstoy
The family of princes Gorchakov, dating back to Rurik, became famous in the 18th and especially in the 19th centuries for their military leaders, one of whom, Pelageya Nikolaevna’s second cousin Alexei Ivanovich Gorchakov, was a minister of war, and the other, Andrei Ivanovich, was a military general. Pelageya Nikolaevna - daughter of Prince. Nikolai Ivanovich Gorchakov - “she was narrow-minded, poorly educated - she, like everyone else then, knew French better than Russian (and this was the limit of her education), and very spoiled - first by her father, then by her husband, and then ... by her son - woman. In addition, as the daughter of the eldest in the family, she enjoyed great respect from all the Gorchakovs...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 359).
Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky (1753-1821) - grandfather of L. N. Tolstoy
Information about N. S. Volkonsky is scarce and not always accurate. According to the custom of his time, at the age of 7 he was enrolled in military service, as a young man he served in the guard and in 1787, as part of the retinue of Catherine II, accompanied the empress during her trip to Crimea. In 1794, for unknown reasons, he took leave for two years. With the accession of Paul I, Volkonsky returned to service and was appointed military governor of Arkhangelsk. In 1799 he retired and began raising his only daughter. “My mother lived her childhood partly in Moscow, partly in the village with an intelligent, proud and gifted man, my grandfather Volkonsky” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 351). “My grandfather was considered a very strict master, but I never heard stories about his cruelties and punishments, so common at that time... I heard only praise for his intelligence, thriftiness and care for the peasants and, in particular, my grandfather’s huge servants” ( Tolstoy L.N. t. 34, p. 351). In 1784, after the death of his father Sergei Fedorovich Volkonsky, Nikolai Sergeevich received the Yasnaya Polyana estate into personal possession and began to develop it. “He probably had a very subtle aesthetic sense. All his buildings are not only durable and comfortable, but extremely elegant. The park he laid out in front of the house is the same” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 352).
Ekaterina Dmitrievna Volkonskaya (née Trubetskaya, 1749-1792) - wife of N. S. Volkonsky
Ekaterina Dmitrievna is the youngest daughter of Prince Dmitry Yuryevich Trubetskoy. The Trubetskoy family belonged to the old Russian aristocracy, famous for its liberalism and broad cultural interests. The Volkonskys had two daughters: Varenka, who died in childhood, and Maria. Ekaterina Dmitrievna died when her daughter Maria was barely two years old.
Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794 - 1837) - father of L. N. Tolstoy
Nikolai Ilyich is the eldest of four children of gr. I. A. Tolstoy. He had all the qualities young man good manners: knew French perfectly and German languages, was interested in poetry, music, painting, danced the mazurka and waltz... From the age of 6 he was enlisted in the civil service, at the age of 17 he transferred to military service, took part in foreign campaigns against Napoleon (1813-1814). For distinction in battles he received the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree, and the rank of captain. In 1822 he married Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. After the death of his wife, he lived on the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and shortly before his death he moved with his children to Moscow. He died on June 21 in Tula, where he arrived on business, from a “blood stroke,” as stated in the medical report. “The father was of average height, well-built, lively sanguine, with a pleasant face and always sad eyes” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 355). “... Father never humiliated himself before anyone, did not change his lively, cheerful and often mocking tone. And this self-esteem that I saw in him increased my love, my admiration for him” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 357).
Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya (née Volkonskaya, 1790-1830) - mother of L. N. Tolstoy
N. S. Volkonsky made sure that his only daughter received an excellent education. Teachers and governesses taught her German, English, Italian And humanities, since childhood, she spoke French as a native speaker. Her father taught her exact sciences. Maria Nikolaevna devoted a lot of time to music lessons and read a lot. Her diaries testify beyond doubt literary talent, which is confirmed by her other works: poems, stories, literary translations. At the age of 19, Maria Nikolaevna was introduced high society Petersburg. By the time she entered the world, she had become a sensible, lively and independent girl. She was not a beauty; they said that the most remarkable thing about her appearance was her expressive, radiant eyes. Portraits of her have not survived; only one image of her has reached us - a silhouette in childhood. “... In my idea of her there is only her spiritual appearance, and everything I know about her is wonderful...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 349). On July 9, 1822, Maria Nikolaevna married N.I. Tolstoy. Over the 8 years of marriage, five children were born into their family: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, Lev and Maria. Six months after the birth of her daughter, Maria Nikolaevna died of “childbirth fever,” as they said then. “She seemed to me such a high, pure, spiritual being that she often middle period in my life, during the struggle with the temptations that beset me, I prayed to her soul, asking her to help me, and this prayer always helped me” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 354).
Tatyana Aleksandrovna Ergolskaya (1792-1874)
After the death of her mother, Tatyana Alexandrovna was raised in the family of I. A. Tolstoy. She probably loved L.N. Tolstoy's father, but did not marry him so that he could marry the wealthy heiress M.N. Volkonskaya. Both of these generous women became friends, and after the death of Maria Nikolaevna, Tatyana Alexandrovna took upon herself the care of the orphaned children. “... Aunt Tatyana Alexandrovna had the greatest influence on my life. This influence was, firstly, in the fact that even in childhood she taught me the spiritual pleasure of love... The second is that she taught me the delights of a leisurely, lonely life” (Tolstoy L.N. vol. 34, p. 366 -367). “She never taught how to live in words, she never read moral teachings, everything moral work was processed inside her, and only her deeds came out - and not deeds - there were no deeds, but her whole life, calm, meek, submissive and loving, not anxious, admiring herself, but with a quiet, imperceptible love" (Tolstoy L. N. t. 34, p. 368).
Nikolai Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1823-1860) - elder brother of L. N. Tolstoy
Of the brothers, Nikolai was more like his mother than others; he inherited from her not only character traits: “indifference to people’s judgments and modesty...” (Tolstoy L.N. vol. 34, p. 350), tolerance towards others. “The most dramatic expression of a negative attitude towards a person was expressed by his brother with subtle, good-natured humor and the same smile” (Tolstoy L.N. vol. 34, p. 350). Like his mother, he had an inexhaustible imagination, the gift of telling extraordinary stories. About Nikolai Nikolaevich I. S. Turgenev said that “he did not have those shortcomings that are needed to be a great writer...” (L. N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 350). It was Nikolai who told his younger brothers, “that he has a secret, through which, when it is revealed, all people will become happy, there will be no illnesses, no troubles, no one will be angry with anyone and everyone will love each other... . .. Main secret... was, as he told us, written on a green stick, and this stick was buried by the road, on the edge of the Old Order ravine...” (Tolstoy L.N. vol. 34, p. 386). Nikolai Nikolaevich studied at the Faculty of Mathematics of Moscow University, and in 1844 he graduated from Kazan University. In 1846 he entered military service and was enlisted in an artillery brigade going to the Caucasus. In 1858 he retired with the rank of staff captain and spent time in his small house in Moscow and in Nikolskoye-Vyazemsky. In May 1860 he went for treatment to Soden, Germany, then moved to the south of France, to Gier, where he died of tuberculosis on September 20, 1860 at the age of 37 years.
Sergei Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1826-1904) - elder brother of L. N. Tolstoy
Sergei Nikolaevich stood out among his brothers for his stature and beauty, he was witty, brilliant, multi-talented, and easily achieved success in his studies. “I respected Nikolenka, I was friends with Mitenka, but I admired and imitated Seryozha, loved him, wanted to be him. I admired his handsome appearance, his singing - he always sang - his drawing, his joy and, in particular, oddly enough to say, his spontaneity, his egoism... I loved Nikolenka, and I admired Seryozhey as if he were something completely alien to me, incomprehensible. It was human life, very beautiful, but completely incomprehensible to me, mysterious and therefore especially attractive (Tolstoy L.N. vol. 34, pp. 387-388). S. N. Tolstoy graduated from the mathematics department of Kazan University in 1849, where he was a student of the great Lobachevsky. In 1855-1856 he took part in the war with Turkey, and in 1856 he retired with the rank of staff captain. In 1876-1885 was the leader of the nobility of Krapivensky district. In 1867, he married M. M. Shishkina, a “state gypsy peasant woman,” with whom he had been in a civil marriage since 1850. The children of Sergei Nikolaevich: son Grigory, daughters Vera and Varvara were not happy and brought more grief to their father than joy. . Once a brilliant aristocrat, cheerful, sociable, in old age Sergei Nikolaevich became irritable, lived secludedly on his estate Pirogovo, where he died on August 23, 1904.
Dmitry Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1827-1856) - elder brother of L. N. Tolstoy
“... He grew up unnoticed, communicating little with people, always, except in moments of anger, quiet, serious, with thoughtful, strict, large brown eyes. He was tall, thin, quite strong..., with long big hands and a stooped back." “He was always serious, thoughtful, pure, decisive, quick-tempered, courageous, and what he did he brought to the limit of his strength” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 380). In 1847, Dmitry Nikolaevich graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics of Kazan University, tried to enter the civil service in St. Petersburg, but not finding support, he entered a modest position in Kursk province. Owned the Shcherbachevka estate. Died of consumption on January 21, 1856.
Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya (1830-1912) - younger sister of L. N. Tolstoy
Maria Nikolaevna studied at the Kazan Rodionovsky boarding school for noble maidens. I. S. Turgenev, who once had tender feelings for her, wrote about her: “... one of the most attractive creatures I have ever met! Sweet, smart, simple, - I couldn’t take my eyes off... “I haven’t seen so much grace, such touching charm for a long time” (S. M. Tolstoy, “The Only Sister”). In 1847 she married Count. Valerian Petrovich Tolstoy, his three sibling, with whom she separated in 1857. From this marriage she had 4 children. In 1861, while traveling abroad, she met Viscount Hector de Clain, from civil marriage with whom daughter Elena Sergeevna was born. Returning from abroad, she lived with her brother Sergei Nikolaevich in Pirogovo, where a house was built for her. She owned her mother's estate Pokrovskoye in the Chernsky district of the Tula province. After the premature death of her son Nikolai in 1879, Maria Nikolaevna experienced a period of deepened religious quest. In 1888 she visited Optina Pustyn, met and talked with Elder Ambrose, in 1889 she settled near Optina Pustyn, in the Shamordino Monastery, and in 1891 she took monastic vows. Having lived in the monastery for 21 years, she left the best memory there.
Alexandra Ilyinichna Osten-Sacken (1795-1841) - aunt of L. N. Tolstoy, guardian of the children of N. I. Tolstoy’s deceased brother
As a young girl, she shone in St. Petersburg society and was the queen of the ball more than once. Unsuccessful marriage with Count Karl Ivanovich Osten-Sacken, who suffered mental disorder, turned her from a carefree, cheerful, flirtatious girl into a recluse, a “boring praying mantis,” as she called herself. “Auntie... was a truly religious woman. Her favorite pastimes were reading the lives of saints, conversations with wanderers, holy fools, monks and nuns... Aunt Alexandra Ilyinichna was not only outwardly religious, observed fasts, prayed a lot..., but she herself lived a truly Christian life, trying to avoid all luxury and services, but trying, as much as possible, to serve others” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 363).
Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya (née Bers, born August 22, 1844; died November 4, 1919) - wife of L. N. Tolstoy
Sofya Andreevna is the second daughter of the Moscow doctor Andrei Evstafievich and Lyubov Aleksandrovna Bers. Having received a good education at home, in 1861 she passed the exam at Moscow University for the title of home teacher. In 1862, Sofya Andreevna married L.N. Tolstoy. The first years of their married life were the happiest. Tolstoy wrote in his diary after his marriage: “Incredible happiness... It cannot be that this all ends only in life” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 19, p. 154). Tolstoy’s friend I.P. Borisov remarked about the couple in 1862: “She is a beauty, all good looking. She is smart, simple and uncomplicated - she should also have a lot of character, that is, her will is in her command. He's in love with her before Sirius. No, the storm in his soul has not yet calmed down - it has calmed down with honeymoon, and there will probably be more hurricanes and seas of angry noise." These words turned out to be prophetic; in the 80-90s, as a result of Tolstoy’s change in views on life, discord occurred in the family. Sofya Andreevna, who did not share her husband’s new ideas, his desire to renounce property and live with his own, primarily physical labor, still understood perfectly well to what moral and human heights he had risen. In the book “My Life” Sofya Andreevna wrote: “... He expected from me, my poor, dear husband, that spiritual unity that was almost impossible under my material life and worries from which it was impossible and nowhere to escape. I would not have been able to share his spiritual life in words, but to bring it to life, to break it, dragging a whole big family, was unthinkable, and even unbearable.” For many years, Sofya Andreeva remained her husband’s faithful assistant in his affairs: a copyist of manuscripts, a translator, a secretary, and a publisher of his works. Possessing a subtle literary flair, she wrote novels, children's stories, memoir essays. Throughout her life, with short breaks, Sofya Andreevna kept a diary, which is described as a noticeable and unique phenomenon in memoirs and literature about Tolstoy. Her hobbies were music, painting, photography. The departure and death of Tolstoy had a hard effect on Sofya Andreevna, she was deeply unhappy, she could not forget that before his death she had not seen her husband conscious. On November 29, 1910, she wrote in the Diary: “Unbearable melancholy, remorse, weakness, pity to the point of suffering for my late husband... I can’t live.” After Tolstoy's death, Sofya Andreevna continued publishing activities, having published her correspondence with her husband, completed the publication of his collected works. Sofya Andreevna died on November 4, 1919. Knowing that her role in the life of L.N. Tolstoy was assessed ambiguously, she wrote: “... Let people treat with condescension the one who, perhaps, was too much for her to handle.” youth to carry on weak shoulders a high purpose - to be the wife of a genius and a great man.”
Sergei Lvovich Tolstoy (born June 28, 1863; died December 23, 1947) - son of L. N. Tolstoy
In 1872, L. N. Tolstoy, in a letter to A. A. Tolstoy, described his son as follows: “The eldest, blond, is not stupid. There is something weak and patient in his expression and very meek... Everyone says he looks like my older brother. I'm afraid to believe. That would be too good. Main feature brother was not selfishness and not self-sacrifice, but a strict middle.... Seryozha is smart - a mathematical mind and a sensitivity to art, he studies well, is agile in jumping, gymnastics; but gauche (clumsy, French) and absent-minded.” Sergei Lvovich studied at the Tula gymnasium, in 1881 he entered Moscow University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, the department of natural sciences, and at the same time attended courses at the conservatory, studied music theory, composition and the features of Russian song. After graduating from university, he worked in the Tula branch of a peasant bank, then went to St. Petersburg, served in the management of a peasant bank. In 1890, he was appointed to the post of zemstvo chief of one of the districts of the Tula province. Sergei Lvovich was married for the first time to Maria Konstantinovna Rachinskaya, and for the second - to Maria Nikolaevna Zubova. In 1898-1899 was involved in the resettlement of the Doukhobors to Canada. Sergei Lvovich was seriously involved in music, from 1926 to 1930 he was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, and is known as an author musical works: “Twenty-seven Scottish Songs”, “Belgian Songs”, “Hindu Songs and Dances”; wrote romances based on poems by Pushkin, Fet, Tyutchev. He was engaged and literary activity, wrote stories about the life of the people, memoirs, biographical essays. He was one of the founders of the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow, took part in commenting Full meeting works of L. N. Tolstoy. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. He died in 1947 at the age of 84.
Tatyana Lvovna Tolstaya - Sukhotina (born October 4, 1864; died September 21, 1950) - daughter of L. N. Tolstoy
Tatyana Lvovna combined the characteristics of the characters of both her parents. Created from flesh and blood, she, like her father, fought against their dominance. From her mother she inherited practicality, the ability to do the most different things Like her mother, she loved toilets, entertainment, and was not without vanity. Tatyana was equally close to both her father and mother. In 1872, L.N. Tolstoy, in a letter to A.A. Tolstoy, gave his daughter the following description: “Tanya is 8 years old. If she were Adam's eldest daughter and there were no children smaller than her, she would be an unhappy girl. Best pleasure her to mess around with little ones... her dream is now conscious - to have children... She doesn’t like to work with her mind, but the mechanism of her head is good. She will be a wonderful woman if God gives her a husband...” Tatyana Lvovna showed her ability to draw early. In 1881 she entered the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow. Her teachers were V. G. Perov, I. M. Pryanishnikov, L. O. Pasternak. She often turned for instructions to N.N. Ge, who in 1886 wrote to her: “I am glad that you want to take up art. You have great abilities, but know that abilities without love for your work will not do anything.” In 1899, Tatyana married Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin, they lived on the estate of Sukhotin Kochety. On November 19, 1905, Tatyana Lvovna gave birth to her only daughter, Tanya. From 1914 to 1921 she lived in Yasnaya Polyana. From 1917 to 1923 she was the curator of the estate museum. In 1923 - 1925 was the director of the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. In 1925, together with her daughter, Tatyana Lvovna went abroad, lived in Paris, where her guests were Bunin, Maurois, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Alexander Benois and many other representatives of culture and art. From Paris she moved to Italy, where she spent the rest of her life.
Ilya Lvovich Tolstoy (born May 22, 1866; died December 11, 1933) - son of L. N. Tolstoy
L.N. Tolstoy in 1872, characterizing his children, prophetically wrote about this son: “Ilya, the third... Broad-boned, white, ruddy, shining. He studies poorly. Always thinking about what he is not told to think about. He invents games himself. He is neat, thrifty, and “what’s mine” is very important to him. Hot and violent (impulsive), now fight; but also gentle and very sensitive. Sensual - he loves to eat and lie quietly... Everything that is unlawful has a charm for him... Ilya will die if he does not have a strict and beloved leader.” The character traits noted by my father became more acute with age. A talented man, but more pleasure-loving, he was unable to realize his abilities and became scattered in numerous hobbies. Despite his talent, he did not finish high school. He entered military service in the Sumy Dragoon Regiment. In 1888 he married Sofya Nikolaevna Filosofova. Constantly experiencing financial difficulties, Ilya Lvovich alternately served as an official, then as a bank employee, then as an agent of a Russian company. social insurance, then an agent for the liquidation of private estates. During the First World War he worked in the Red Cross, tried to become a journalist, and in 1915 founded the newspaper “ New Russia" According to L.N. Tolstoy, Ilya was the most literary gifted of all the children. In 1916, Ilya Lvovich left Russia and went to the USA. In America he married theosophist Nadezhda Klimentyevna Katulskaya. He made his living by giving lectures on Tolstoy’s work and worldview, and took part in film adaptations of the novels “Anna Karenina” and “Resurrection,” which were unsuccessful. Died on December 11, 1933 in New Haven (USA).
Lev Lvovich was one of the most talented in the family. L.N. Tolstoy described his three-year-old son as follows: “Pretty: dexterous, attentive, graceful. Every dress fits as if it were made for it. Everything that others do, he does, and everything is very clever and good. I still don’t understand it well.” Passionate, generous, sensitive to beauty and nobility, ambitious, he was a musician, a portrait painter, a sculptor, a writer, and a journalist. Lev Lvovich graduated from the L. I. Polivanov gymnasium, then for a year he studied at the medical faculty of Moscow University, and in 1889 -1892. - in historical and philological. He served as a private in the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Family in Tsarskoye Selo. In his youth, Lev Lvovich was passionately interested in his father’s ideas, but later his thoughts began to take a direction opposite views Tolstoy. Lev Lvovich dreamed of becoming a great writer and moral philosopher, and was seriously involved in literature. L.N. Tolstoy wrote to his son on November 30, 1890: “You, I think, have what is called talent and... the ability to see, notice and convey...”. In 1896, Lev Lvovich married the daughter of the famous Swedish doctor Dora Westerlund. In 1918 he emigrated and lived in France, Italy, and Sweden. In exile he continued to study literature, painting, and sculpture. He perfected his talent as a sculptor under the great Auguste Rodin. Died on December 18, 1945 in Sweden.
Maria Lvovna Tolstaya-Obolenskaya (born February 12, 1871; died November 27, 1906) - daughter of L. N. Tolstoy
When Maria was two years old, her father wrote about her: “A weak, sickly child. Like milk, white body, curly white hairs; big, strange, Blue eyes: strange in their deep, serious expression. Very smart and ugly. This will be one of the mysteries. He will suffer, he will search, he will find nothing; but will forever seek the most inaccessible.” Maria admired her father from childhood. Having read his religious and philosophical works in adolescence, she completely believed in his ideas and became, in theory and practice, the most consistent sweatshirt of all the writer’s children. Smart, tactful, brilliantly knew several foreign languages, she became best friend and father's assistant. Following his ideas, she renounced her share of the inheritance during the division of property in 1892, did not go out into the world, physically worked until exhaustion, taught peasant children to read and write, and treated peasant women. Alexandra Lvovna, Maria’s younger sister, wrote about her in her memoirs: “... Everyone loved her, she was friendly and sensitive: whoever she met, there was something for everyone. sweet Nothing, and she didn’t do it artificially, but naturally, as if she felt which string to press so that the opposite one would sound.” On June 2, 1897, Maria Lvovna married Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky, her second cousin. Maria Lvovna died on November 27, 1906 at the age of 35 from pneumonia.
Pyotr Lvovich Tolstoy - son of L. N. Tolstoy
Nikolay Lvovich Tolstoy - son L. N. Tolstoy
Varvara Lvovna Tolstaya - daughter of L. N. Tolstoy
born and died November 1875
Andrei Lvovich Tolstoy (1877-1916) - son of L. N. Tolstoy
Andrei Lvovich was loved by many for his kindness, generosity, and nobility. He was an impetuous, passionate man, brave and self-confident. He loved his mother very much, who adored him and forgave him everything. The father, appreciating Andrei’s kindness, “is the most precious and important quality, which is dearer than anyone else in the world,” advised him to apply his ideas for the benefit of the people. Andrei Lvovich did not share his father’s views, believing that if he was a nobleman, he should enjoy all the privileges and advantages that his position gave him. He studied at the Polivanov gymnasium and the Katkovsky Lyceum, but did not complete the course. In 1895 he entered military service as a volunteer. Participated in Russo-Japanese War with the rank of non-commissioned officer as a mounted orderly. He was wounded in the war and received the St. George Cross for bravery. In 1907 he entered the service as an official special assignments under the Tula governor. His first marriage was to Olga Konstantinovna Diterikhs, his second to Ekaterina Vasilievna Goryainova, after his first husband Artsimovich. Andrei Lvovich’s second wife left her husband, the governor, and six children for his sake. Tolstoy strongly disapproved of his son’s lifestyle, but said about him: “I don’t want to love him, but I love him because he is genuine and does not want to appear to others.” Andrei Lvovich died on February 24, 1916 in Petrograd from general blood poisoning.
Mikhail Lvovich Tolstoy (1879-1944) - son of L. N. Tolstoy
Mikhail Lvovich was a calm, healthy, cheerful child, full of life and those who hate quarrels. He studied at the Polivanov gymnasium, then at the Katkovsky Lyceum, but did not show any inclination towards learning. Like his brothers and sisters, he was musically gifted, learned to play the balalaika, harmonica, and piano masterfully, composed romances, and learned to play the violin. Everyone loved him for his spontaneity and humor. In 1899 served as a volunteer in the 3rd Dragoon Sumy Regiment, in 1900. promoted to warrant officer in the army cavalry reserve. In 1901 he married Alexandra Vladimirovna Glebova. During the First World War, he served in the 2nd Dagestan Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division. In 1914-1917 participated in battles on the Southwestern Front. He was nominated for the Order of St. Anne, 4th degree. In 1920 emigrated and lived in Turkey, Yugoslavia, France and Morocco. In Morocco, like all his relatives, he put pen to paper. Died on October 19, 1944 in Morocco.
Alexey Lvovich Tolstoy - son of L. N. Tolstoy
Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya (1884-1979) - daughter of L. N. Tolstoy
Alexandra Lvovna received an excellent education at home. She was difficult child. Her mentors were governesses and older sisters, who worked with her more than Sofya Andreevna. Her father also had little contact with her as a child. When Alexandra turned 16 years old, she became close to her father. Since then, she devoted her whole life to him. She did secretarial work and mastered shorthand and typing. According to Tolstoy's will, Alexandra Lvovna received copyrights to literary heritage father. During the First World War, she completed courses for nurses and voluntarily went to the front, serving on the Turkish and North-Western fronts. For her participation in the war, for her inexhaustible energy, for her organizational skills, for dedication and courage, she was awarded three St. George Crosses and awarded the rank of colonel. After the war, Alexandra Lvovna devoted herself to preserving and disseminating her father’s spiritual heritage and took part in the publication of “Posthumous works of art L. N. Tolstogodgotovka Complete Works. In 1920, she was arrested by the GPU and sentenced to three years in prison at the Novospassky Monastery. Thanks to the petition of the peasants of Yasnaya Polyana, she was released in 1921, she returned to her native estate, and after the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee she became the curator of the museum. Over the next 8 years, she organized a cultural and educational center in Yasnaya Polyana, opened a school, a hospital, and a pharmacy. In 1924, slanderous articles about Alexandra Lvovna began to appear in the press, in which she was accused of improperly conducting business. In 1929, she decided to leave Russia, went to Japan, then to the USA. Abroad, she gave lectures about L.N. Tolstoy at many universities, and in 1939 she organized and headed the Tolstoy Foundation to help all Russian refugees, whose branches are now located in many countries. In 1941, she accepted American citizenship. Her charitable work has been recognized throughout the world. Alexandra Lvovna died on September 26, 1979 in Valley Cottage, New York.
Ivan Lvovich Tolstoy (born March 31, 1888, died February 23, 1895) - son of L. N. Tolstoy
The last son of L.N. Tolstoy was unusually similar to his father. He had gray-blue eyes that saw and understood more than he could express in words. Tolstoy believed that this son would continue his work on earth after his death, a work of love for people. The parents' hopes did not come true. Vanechka (as he was most often called in the family) died in Moscow at one and a half days old from fulminant scarlet fever, when he was 7 years old.
L. N. Tolstoy's mother - Maria
Nikolaevna Tolstaya, when she was 9 years old. The only surviving image of her.
Soon after the wedding of Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya and Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, which took place on July 9, 1822 in the church of the village of Yaseneva near the Trubetskoy Bitsy estate near Moscow, the newlyweds moved from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana.
A new period has begun in the history of Yasnaya Polyana: with the arrival of the large Tolstoy family, the entire way of life in Yasnaya Polyana has changed. After all, together with Nikolai Ilyich, his relatives and relatives also moved to the new estate: his mother, Pelageya Nikolaevna, a capricious and spoiled first by her father, then by her husband and son, a high-society lady who spoke better French than Russian; her daughter, Nikolai Ilyich's sister, Alexandra Ilyinichna, by marriage Countess Osten-Sacken, very religious, meek, with big blue eyes - Aunt Aline, as her nephews called her; her pupil Pashenka is a kind and affectionate girl of about fourteen; and, finally, Pelageya Nikolaevna’s distant relative of the Gorchakovs, Tatyana Aleksandrovna Ergolskaya, Auntie Toinette, “the third and most important” person after her mother and father, “in terms of influence on me,” recalls Lev Nikolaevich...
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Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy is the father of L. N. Tolstoy. Artist Molinari. 1815
Along with the Tolstoys, new servants appeared in the Yasnaya Polyana house: the husband’s valets Volodya, Matyusha and Petrusha; Pelageya Nikolaevna’s maid - Agafya Mikhailovna, Gasha, who was most affected by the whims of her mistress, who addressed her with the words “you, my dear” and often demanded from her what she did not ask, as well as the old blind storyteller Lev Stepanovich, whose duties included telling Pelageya Nikolaevna bedtime stories in the evenings; the maids of Alexandra Ilyinichna, Tatyana Alexandrovna and Pashenka and the holy fools and nuns who constantly lived in the house.
The former Yasnaya Polyana servants also remained in the house: one of the main persons among the female servants was the housekeeper Praskovya Isaevna, described by Tolstoy in “Childhood” under the name of Natalya Savishna; Anna Ivanovna, who was, as they said, 100 years old and who still remembered Pugachev and lived out her life with the gentlemen; children's nannies: old woman Annushka and young Evpraksey and Tatyana Filippovna; their brother is the coachman Nikolai Filippovich, the waiter Tikhon, who once played the flute in the orchestra of Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky, a little cheerful man whom children loved for his ability to make them laugh by the fact that, standing behind their grandmother or father, he made faces unnoticed by the adults .
IN Yasnaya Polyana Guests and friends of Nikolai Ilyich began to come more often. They came with their families and sometimes lived there for several months. It was especially noisy on name days. The Islenyevs were constantly visiting with their children - Vladimir, Mikhail, Konstantin, Vera, Nadezhda and the youngest Lyubov. They were neighbors in Yasnaya Polyana - their estates Ivitsy and Krasnoye were 30 and 50 versts from Yasnaya.
In the very first year of family life, Maria Nikolaevna wrote scenes from their lives, the characters of which, and then the performers in home performances, were the household members and guests themselves. In one of the scenes, the heroines were “twin sisters” - Maria Nikolaevna herself and her sister-in-law Alin (Alexandra Ilyinichna), whom she fell in love with for her “kindness and gentleness”, “the charm of her character” and called her twin. The skit was written in French and was distinguished by liveliness and grace. In it, the “twin sisters” are thinking about what surprise Maria should give for Nikolai. The play is permeated with light irony and humor. The home theater staged plays by well-known authors at the time, for example, the comedy by M.N. Zagoskin.
Nikolai Ilyich energetically began to finish building the house, the foundation for which had been laid by the late prince. But, since he was short on funds, the new house was no longer built of brick, like all the prince’s previous buildings, but of logs. The result was a huge wooden house, not even plastered, with unpainted plank floors and modest furniture, where the whole family moved. The advantage of a large house was that it was roomy, with sections for visitors. Most At that time, the Tolstoys “had an inviolably regular family life (guests staying for months at a time did not disturb it), with its usual teas, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from home provisions. But there were no guests who would unexpectedly arrive in the middle of the working day.”
These were the parents of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, the great writer of the land of Tula.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy's parents, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, got married in 1822. They had four sons and a daughter: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, Lev and Maria. The writer's relatives became the prototypes of many of the heroes of the novel "War and Peace": father - Nikolai Rostov, mother - Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, paternal grandfather Ilya Andreevich Tolstoy - the old Count Rostov, maternal grandfather Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky - the old Prince Bolkonsky. L.N. Tolstoy had no cousins, since his parents were the only children in their families.
According to his father, L. N. Tolstoy was related to the artist F. P. Tolstoy, F. I. Tolstoy (“American”), the poets A. K. Tolstoy, F. I. Tyutchev and N. A. Nekrasov, the philosopher P. . Y. Chaadaev, Chancellor Russian Empire A. M. Gorchakov.
The Tolstoy family was elevated by Peter Andreevich Tolstoy (1645-1729), an associate of Peter I, who received the title of count. From his grandson, Andrei Ivanovich Tolstoy (1721-1803), nicknamed the “Big Nest” for his numerous offspring, many famous Tolstoys descended. A.I. Tolstoy was the grandfather of F.I. Tolstoy and F.P. Tolstoy, the great-grandfather of L.N. Tolstoy and A.K. Tolstoy. L.N. Tolstoy and the poet Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy were each other’s second cousins. The artist Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy and Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy the American were cousins of Lev Nikolaevich. Native sister F. I. Tolstoy-American Maria Ivanovna Tolstaya-Lopukhina (i.e., cousin aunt of L. N. Tolstoy) is known from the “Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina” by the artist V. L. Borovikovsky. The poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev was the sixth cousin of Lev Nikolaevich (Tyutchev’s mother, Ekaterina Lvovna, was from the Tolstoy family). The sister of Andrei Ivanovich Tolstoy (great-grandfather of L.N. Tolstoy) - Maria - married P.V. Chaadaev. Her grandson, the philosopher Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadaev, therefore, was Lev Nikolaevich’s second cousin.
There is information that the great-great-grandfather (father of the great-grandfather) of the poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov was Ivan Petrovich Tolstoy (1685-1728), who was also the great-great-grandfather of Lev Nikolaevich. If this is really so, then it turns out that N.A. Nekrasov and L.N. Tolstoy are fourth cousins. L. N. Tolstoy's second cousin was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov. The writer's paternal grandmother, Pelageya Nikolaevna, was from the Gorchakov family.
L. N. Tolstoy’s great-grandfather, A. I. Tolstoy, had younger brother Fyodor, whose descendant was the writer Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, who depicted his ancestor Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy in the novel “Peter I”. A. N. Tolstoy’s grandfather, Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy, was Lev Nikolaevich’s fourth cousin. Consequently, A. N. Tolstoy, nicknamed the “red count,” was a fourth cousin great-nephew Lev Nikolaevich. The granddaughter of A. N. Tolstoy is the writer Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya.
By maternal line L.N. Tolstoy was related to A.S. Pushkin, the Decembrists, S.P. Trubetskoy, A.I. Odoevsky.
A. S. Pushkin was the fourth cousin of L. N. Tolstoy. Lev Nikolaevich’s mother was the poet’s second cousin. Their common ancestor was admiral, associate of Peter I, Ivan Mikhailovich Golovin. In 1868, L. N. Tolstoy met his fifth cousin Maria Alexandrovna Pushkina-Hartung, some of whose features he later gave to the appearance of Anna Karenina. The Decembrist, Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky was the writer’s second cousin. Lev Nikolaevich's great-grandfather, Prince Dmitry Yuryevich Trubetskoy, married Princess Varvara Ivanovna Odoevskaya. Their daughter, Ekaterina Dmitrievna Trubetskaya, married Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky. D. Yu. Trubetskoy’s brother, Field Marshal Nikita Yuryevich Trubetskoy, was the great-grandfather of the Decembrist Sergei Petrovich Trubetskoy, who, therefore, was Lev Nikolaevich’s second cousin. The brother of V.I. Odoevskaya-Trubetskoy, Alexander Ivanovich Odoevsky, was the grandfather of the Decembrist poet Alexander Ivanovich Odoevsky, who, it turns out, was L.N. Tolstoy’s second cousin.
In 1862, L. N. Tolstoy married Sofya Andreevna Bers. They had 9 sons and 4 daughters (of 13 children, 5 died in childhood): Sergei, Tatyana, Ilya, Lev, Maria, Peter, Nikolai, Varvara, Andrey, Mikhail, Alexey, Alexandra, Ivan. The granddaughter of L. N. Tolstoy, Sofya Andreevna Tolstaya, became last wife poet Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin. The great-great-grandchildren of Lev Nikolaevich (the great-grandchildren of his son, Ilya Lvovich) are TV presenters Pyotr Tolstoy and Fekla Tolstaya.
L.N. Tolstoy's wife, Sofya Andreevna, was the daughter of the doctor Andrei Evstafievich Bers, who in his youth served with Varvara Petrovna Turgeneva, the mother of the writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev. A.E. Bers and V.P. Turgeneva had an affair, as a result of which the illegitimate daughter Varvara. Thus, S. A. Bers-Tolstaya and I. S. Turgenev had a common sister.
CHILDREN OF LEO TOLSTOY
In total, Leo Tolstoy and Sofia Andreevna had 13 children. Some of them died in infancy. Varvara did not live to see a year, Peter and Nikolai lived only one year, Alexey - 5 years. Tolstoy's beloved daughter Alexandra lived the longest and died in 1979 in America. In her character and energy, she was most like her father. Daughter Maria died in 1906 and was buried on the estate of her husband Nikolai Obolensky in the village of Kochety, Krapivinsky district. Eldest daughter Tatyana married a famous man in 1899 politician Mikhail Sukhotin. She owns one of the most sincere books about the secrets of the Tolstoy family. Son Mikhail, whose ashes were reburied yesterday in Yasnaya Polyana, wrote autobiographical novel"Mitya Tiverin" and memoirs "My Parents".
Tolstoy did not remember his mother; she died when he was not even 2 years old; at the age of 9 he lost his father. In total, the Tolstoy family had 4 brothers (Nikolai, Sergei, Mitya, Lev) and a sister Mashenka. A distant relative of the family, T.A., became the teacher of the orphaned children. Ergolskaya. She was a person of decisive and selfless character.
Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy (1794 - 1837) - father of L.N. Tolstoy
Nikolai Ilyich is the eldest of four children of gr. I.A. Tolstoy. He had all the qualities of a young man of good taste: he knew French and German perfectly, was interested in poetry, music, painting, danced the mazurka and waltz... From the age of 6 he was enlisted in the civil service, at the age of 17 he transferred to military service, took part in foreign campaigns against Napoleon (1813-1814). For distinction in battles he received the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree, and the rank of captain. In 1822 he married Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya. After the death of his wife, he lived on the Yasnaya Polyana estate, and shortly before his death he moved with his children to Moscow. He died on June 21 in Tula, where he arrived on business, from a “blood stroke,” as stated in the medical report. “The father was of average height, well-built, lively sanguine, with a pleasant face and always sad eyes” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 355). “...Father never humiliated himself before anyone, did not change his lively, cheerful and often mocking tone. And this self-esteem that I saw in him increased my love, my admiration for him” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 357).
Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaya (née Volkonskaya, 1790-1830) - mother of L.N. Tolstoy
N.S. Volkonsky made sure that his only daughter received an excellent education. Teachers and governesses taught her German, English, Italian and the humanities; from childhood, she spoke French as a native language. Her father taught her exact sciences. Maria Nikolaevna devoted a lot of time to music lessons and read a lot. Her diaries testify to her undoubted literary talent, which is confirmed by her other works: poems, stories, literary translations. At the age of 19, Maria Nikolaevna was introduced to the high society of St. Petersburg. By the time she entered the world, she had become a sensible, lively and independent girl. She was not a beauty; they said that the most remarkable thing about her appearance was her expressive, radiant eyes. Portraits of her have not survived; only one image of her has reached us - a silhouette as a child. “...In my idea of her there is only her spiritual appearance, and everything I know about her is wonderful...” (L.N. Tolstoy, vol. 34, p. 349). On July 9, 1822, Maria Nikolaevna married N.I. Tolstoy. Over the 8 years of marriage, five children were born into their family: Nikolai, Sergei, Dmitry, Lev and Maria. Six months after the birth of her daughter, Maria Nikolaevna died of “childbirth fever,” as they said then. “She seemed to me such a high, pure, spiritual being that often in the middle period of my life, during the struggle with the temptations that overwhelmed me, I prayed to her soul, asking her to help me, and this prayer always helped me” (L.N. Tolstoy vol. 34, p. 354).
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy - an aristocrat by birth, a failed military man, a conscientious landowner by necessity, at the end of his life - a peasant and artisan, by ideological aspirations, and one of the creators of Russian classical literature, admittedly. The Tolstoy family was one of the most ancient; one of Lev Nikolaevich’s ancestors, Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy, was the closest associate of Emperor Peter I.
“I was born in the 28th year, on the 28th, and all my life 28 was the most lucky number"- recalled Lev Nikolaevich. He was born on his parents' estate Yasnaya Polyana, not far from Tula. Here Tolstoy, his three brothers and younger sister. His parents, Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy and Princess Volkonskaya Marya Nikolaevna (they later served as prototypes for the images of Nikolai Rostov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya in War and Peace), died early and left their children orphans.
Natalia Azarova, Tatiana Nikiforova
“Everything I know about her is great.”
Princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya, married to Countess Tolstaya, is the mother of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Tolstoy did not remember his mother at all - she died when she youngest son was about two years old. Not a single portrait of her has been preserved in the family, except for a small silhouette, where Maria Nikolaevna is depicted as an eight-year-old girl, so Tolstoy could not imagine the “real physical being” of her mother. “I’m partly glad of this, because in my idea of her there is only her spiritual appearance, and everything I know about her is wonderful...” he wrote in “Memoirs.” His mother's soul illuminated Tolstoy's life; prayer addressed to her always helped him in the fight against temptation. Maria Nikolaevna’s “high, pure, spiritual being” can be seen in Tolstoy’s unique images of maman in “Childhood” and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya in “War and Peace.”
Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya was born on November 10, 1790. Maria Nikolaevna's parents are a prominent military figure of the Catherine era, Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Volkonsky and his legal wife Princess Ekaterina Dmitrievna, née Princess Trubetskoy. E.D. Volkonskaya died in 1792, and Maria Nikolaevna’s father, a military general, left her young daughter in the family of his late wife’s brother, Ivan Dmitrievich Trubetskoy. The Trubetskoys’ “house-chest” on Pokrovka, famous throughout Moscow, and their Znamenskoye estate, near Moscow, hosted early childhood Maria Nikolaevna. In 1799, Infantry General Volkonsky retired and settled with his daughter on his estate Yasnaya Polyana, Tula province. He began improving the estate and raising his only daughter, “whom he loved very much, but was strict and demanding of her.” Under the guidance of her “intelligent, proud and gifted” father, teachers and governess taught Maria Nikolaevna German, English, Italian, French, in her own words, from the age of five she spoke it like a native one.
The curriculum included mathematics, physics, geography, logic, Russian literature, General history, natural Sciences. Maria Nikolaevna diligently studied her native language: “...she, contrary to the then accepted Russian illiteracy, wrote correctly...” noted Tolstoy in “Memoirs.”
N.S. Volkonsky sought to give his daughter an education, both scientific and practical; he saw her in the role of an active assistant and a reasonable heir to his estates, especially his beloved Yasnaya Polyana.
Almost all of my conscious life Maria Nikolaevna lived alone with her father - in the summer in Yasnaya Polyana, in the winter in Moscow. The measured course of her life was rarely disturbed - in 1810 she and her father traveled to St. Petersburg, and in September 1812, Prince Volkonsky and his daughter hastily left Yasnaya Polyana and went to the estate of V.V. Golitsyna due to the threat of peasant unrest caused by the approach of the French army.
In 1821, Maria Nikolaevna's father died. In a letter to M.I. Protasova, a friend of her late mother, she wrote from her father’s estate near Moscow: “...You can understand my grief, because you know what kind of father I lost! But you don’t know at what moment I lost it! Then, when I stopped being afraid of him and began to understand all his tenderness towards me; when he began to treat me more like a tender and indulgent friend than like a father; That’s the moment at which Providence was pleased to deprive me of my father, who devoted his entire life to me and lived only for me... In June I will leave for Yasnoye, and will never leave this place where I spent my childhood, where everything was arranged by the cares of my father and everything is for me reminds him..." 1
The princess inherited about seven hundred souls of serfs, a house in Moscow, the Maydarovo estate near Moscow, Yasnaya Polyana, and an estate in the Oryol province.
On July 9, 1822, a year after the death of her father, Maria Nikolaevna married Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, a 27-year-old retired lieutenant colonel, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. They were married in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Yasenevo near Moscow, and the wedding They celebrated next door - on the Trubetskoy estate Znamenskoye.
Tolstoy believed that this marriage was arranged by the relatives of his future parents: “...She was rich, no longer in her early youth, an orphan, but her father was a cheerful, brilliant young man, with a name and connections, but very upset (so upset, that my father even refused to inherit) my grandfather Tolstoy’s fortune. I think that my mother loved my father, but more as a husband and, most importantly, the father of her children, but she was not in love with him,” Tolstoy wrote in “Memoirs.”
During the eight years of married life, Maria Nikolaevna had five children: Nikolai - June 21, 1823, Sergei - February 17, 1826, Dmitry - April 23, 1827, Lev - August 28, 1828, Maria - March 2, 1830 She died in Yasnaya Polyana shortly after birth. youngest daughter, August 7, 1830
* * *
In “Memoirs,” Tolstoy wrote that his “...mother should have been sensitive to art, she played the piano well and... was a great craftsman in telling enticing tales, inventing them as the story progressed.” Maria Nikolaevna was also characterized by a desire for literary studies. She tried her hand at both poetry and prose.
Of the surviving poems of Maria Nikolaevna, the most interesting are those in which she writes about herself, her thoughts and feelings, and mentions her activities, family and friends. They differ in simple language, imbued with humor. These are the poems addressed “To Micah,” Maria Nikolaevna’s cousin Mikhail Alexandrovich Volkonsky 2 . Maria Nikolaevna was especially friendly with him and even contributed to his marriage to the sister of her companion, donating part of her fortune for the dowry bride.
No more than a week
How we live in Moscow
The days flew by quickly
Micah, not me.
Micaiah is jumping everywhere
On the gray ones at full speed,
Plays naughty, laughs, dances
Or the wasteland speaks.
Poor little Yasenska
Sits quietly
Left birdie
In Micah he sees a guest.
Is there when it will happen
To be left alone
Micah deals with her
He remains politely silent.
And he will never remember
What often happened to them
Play naughty and laugh
Often succeeded
Chat with her during launches.
And songs and walks,
Billiards and casino,
And swearing and arguing and jokes
Everything sank to the bottom.
Micah threw it on everything
Oblivion cap
Turned everything upside down
And it would be so.
I don't know how it happened
I should forget my pride
But by the way it was decided
That it's boring to live with her.
And so, grabbing the lyre
And strumming it
I want to tell the world
That the jester knight Micaiah
Although unworthy
I decided to make an attempt
I make him laugh
Express yourself in poetry
And cut to the nose
What a shame in the capital too
Forget friends
Be a windy bird
Get bored with friends
Although his action
It's impossible to prove
But friendship is no joke
She can also recover.
Maria Nikolaevna’s archive preserves two large prose works: the fairy tale “Forest Twins” in French and the story in two parts “Russian Pamela, or There are No Rules Without Exceptions,” written under the undoubted influence of famous novel S. Richardson.
Maria Nikolaevna's story tells the story of two lovers: Evgeny, the son of the proud, hot-tempered Prince Razumin, and the peasant girl Sashenka, a pupil of the meek, virtuous wife of the old prince. The young prince is depicted according to the canons sentimental novels. It combines “something masculine and heroic” with “great sensitivity and even tenderness”; his “correct and beautiful features are enlivened by the expression most beautiful soul"; he has “a sharp and insightful mind, enriched with knowledge and adorned with elegant literature”; “his fiery soul was capable of everything great.”
Sashenka, the daughter of the freed maid Princess Razumina, realizes that her origin is an insurmountable barrier between her and her beloved, and struggles with her feeling: “Should a freedwoman occupy the prince’s heart?”
The story is not finished, but everything is going towards the fact that the lovers are united in a happy marriage, their ideal love will triumph over the class arrogance of the old Prince Razumin.
The most remarkable work of Maria Nikolaevna is the diary that she kept during her journey with her father from Moscow to St. Petersburg and life at V.V. Golitsyna’s Kamennoostrovskaya dacha in the summer of 1810. This work is completely finished and completely independent, although there are several stylistic amendments in the text, made by the hand of N.S. Volkonsky, suggest that he exercised control over his daughter’s writing. “A Day's Note for Your Own Memory” is a small essay, but in it a 19-year-old girl who had just entered the world contained surprisingly rich content. In just over a month of her stay in St. Petersburg, Maria Nikolaevna examined almost all the sights of St. Petersburg and its environs, visited the Hermitage twice, visited the Academy of Arts, enjoyed the performance of the famous Mademoiselle Georges, was amazed at the “lightness and incredible agility” of the “glorious Duport”, and was amused “a brilliant play, The Marriage of Figaro.” She accompanied her father on trips to the glass and porcelain factories, to the Alexandrovskaya weaving factory, where orphans lived and worked. Maria Nikolaevna spent a rare day at home, playing music, reading the “Historical Lexicon,” talking and discussing sacred history with V.V. Golitsyna.
In her descriptions of what she saw, Maria Nikolaevna reveals a thorough knowledge of literature, art, history, mythology, sacred history, a subtle aesthetic sense and often an almost childlike curiosity with which she examines various rarities.
In communicating with people, Maria Nikolaevna shows subtle observation and good-natured humor. About Sergei Golitsyn, who “kept talking about the Freemasons,” she notes: “While he insists that the secrets of this society cannot be revealed, it is clear that he has an unbearable desire to tell everything.”
“A daily note for one’s own memory” could have been a true find for Leo Tolstoy at the time of writing “War and Peace,” when he was looking for and studying documents depicting the historical background of his novel, but it became known in the Tolstoy family only in the summer of 1903 In a letter to her son Lev dated June 14, 1903, S.A. Tolstaya wrote: “...Dad is very busy reading materials on the history of Nicholas I. The other day I brought him the servants found in the attic and the blue notebooks you threw there, which turned out to be his notes mother and among them is his mother’s diary, which she wrote when she went with her father to St. Petersburg for the first time. We read it out loud."
Tolstoy donated these “blue notebooks,” in addition to the diary, in August 1903 to the Public Library in St. Petersburg, where they are kept to this day in the manuscript department of the Russian National Library, in the M.N. Tolstoy collection. These are mainly her numerous study notebooks, written by the hand of teachers, and materials from her creative heritage 3 .
Another part of M.N. Tolstoy’s archive is stored in the manuscript department of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. Almost all the materials from this part, including “A Day Note for Your Own Memory,” were published in S. L. Tolstoy’s book “L. N. Tolstoy’s Mother and Grandfather.” The book was published in 1928 by the Federation publishing house and has long become a bibliographic rarity.
For this publication, the text of the “Daily Note” was prepared anew from the autograph. The features characteristic of the unsettled spelling of the early 19th century (“Aglichanin”, “Gotfy”, “Ottudova”), the spelling of the surnames “Issupova”, “Engelhard”, “Ruben”, “Bert”, “Strogonova”, and the structure of phrases have been preserved.
1 Russian National Library. F.783. Op.2. Unit file 74. Per. from fr. L.V. Gladkova.
2 RNB. F.783. Unit archive 3. L.2-3.
3 For an overview of the M.N. Tolstoy Foundation, see: Zaborova R.B.. Archive of M.N. Tolstoy (New materials) // Yasnopolyansky collection. Tula, 1960. P. 166-184; M.N. Tolstaya as a writer // Yasnopolyansky collection. Tula, 1972. S. 232-240; Notebooks by M.N. Tolstoy as material for “War and Peace” // Russian literature. 1961, no. 1. pp. 202-210.