Valentin Bulgakov

Valentin Bulgakov
Valentin Bulgakov, and Leo Tolstoy in 1910

Valentin Fyodorovich Bulgakov (Russian: Валентин Фёдорович Булгаков; 25 November 1886 in Kuznetsk, Russian Empire – 22 September 1966 in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last secretary of Leo Tolstoy and his biographer. He was director of a number of literary museums and was engaged in Tolstoyan, pacifist, and anti-communist activities. He was imprisoned by both the Tsarist and Soviet regimes and was a Nazi concentration camp survivor. During the final 20 years of his life he was head of the Yasnaya Polyana museum.

Valentin Bulgakov was the son of an official of the city of Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk). He received his early education at the Tomsk grammar school.

At an early age, Valentin Bulgakov became a regular correspondent for a local newspaper. In 1904, a supplement to "Siberian Life" published his best-known early article "F. Dostoevsky in the Kuznetsk". The article contained new material on the wedding of Fyodor Dostoyevsky with Maria Dmitrievna Isayeva held in Kuznetsk in 1857.

In 1906 he finished high school with honors.

Bulgakov became a student of history and philology of Moscow University (1906–1910). In 1907, Bulgakov became acquainted with Leo Tolstoy. He became a sincere follower of Tolstoyanism and its life principles such as pacifism, vegetarianism, non-participation in political activities and a high level of social activity based on Christian principles.

In 1910 he dropped out of University and became the personal secretary of Leo Tolstoy. He was a personal witness to the lives of the Tolstoy family at Yasnaya Polyana during the last period of the writer's life. On 28 October 1910, he managed to prevent a suicide attempt of Tolstoy's wife Sophia Tolstaya following the departure of Tolstoy.