Leo Tolstoy | |||
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Tolstoy in May, 1908, four months before his 80th birthday (photographed at Yasnaya Polyana by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky; the first colour photograph taken in Russia)
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Native name | Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й | ||
Born | Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy September 9, 1828 Yasnaya Polyana, Russian Empire |
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Died | November 20, 1910 Astapovo, Russian Empire |
(aged 82)||
Resting place | Yasnaya Polyana | ||
Occupation | Novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist | ||
Language | Russian, French | ||
Nationality | Russian | ||
Period | 1852–1910 | ||
Notable works |
War and Peace Anna Karenina The Death of Ivan Ilyich The Kingdom of God Is Within You Resurrection |
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Spouse | Sophia Tolstaya (m. 1862; his death 1910) | ||
Children | 14 | ||
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Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (/ˈtoʊlstɔɪ, ˈtɒl-/;Russian: Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, Lev Nikolajevič Tolstoj, pronounced [lʲɛf nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj]; 9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 – 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time.
Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, he is best known for the novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays.