Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy

A.D.P. Briggs (University of Bristol)
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An outstanding moral philosopher and religious thinker, Lev Tolstoy was also one of the greatest of all novelists. Superlatives are needed to describe him: he was a big, strong man with a formidable intellect, powerful emotions, and extraordinary qualities and defects that ran to extremes. He lived a long life, and left behind written works filling ninety large volumes, the biggest and richest individual contribution to the treasure house of Russian culture that flourished in the nineteenth century.

Tolstoy was born in 1828 into the Russian aristocracy, at Yasnaya Polyana, 130 miles south-west of Moscow. Both of his parents died while he was young, but he grew up happily, cocooned by female relatives. The family moved to Kazan, 500 miles east of Moscow, in 1841, and three years later, at

3032 words

Citation: Briggs, A.D.P.. "Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4413, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4413 Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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