  count aleksey konstantinovich tolstoy, often referred to as a. k. tolstoy () ( â ), was a russian poet, novelist and playwright, considered to be the most important nineteenth-century russian historical dramatist, primarily on the strength of his dramatic trilogy the death of ivan the terrible (1866), tsar fyodor ioannovich (1868), and tsar boris ( 1870). he also gained fame for his satirical works, published under his own name (history of the russian state from gostomysl to timashev, the dream of councillor popov) and under the collaborational pen name of kozma prutkov. his fictional works include the novella the vampire (1841), and the historical novel prince serebrenni (1862). aleksey was a member of the tolstoy family, and a second cousin of leo tolstoy. due to his mother's closeness with the court of the tsar, aleksey was admitted to the future alexander ii's childhood entourage and became "a comrade in games" for the young crown prince. as a young man tolstoy traveled widely, including trips to italy and germany, where he met johann wolfgang von goethe. tolstoy began his education at home under the tutelage of his uncle the writer antony pogorelsky, under whose influence he first became interested in writing poetry, and a number of other teachers. in 1834 tolstoy enrolled in the moscow foreign ministry state archive as a student. in december 1835 he completed exams (in english, french and german languages and literature, latin, world and russian history, and russian statistics) at the university of moscow. throughout the 1840s tolstoy led a busy high society life, full of pleasure trips, salon parties and balls, hunting sprees and fleeting romances. he also spent many years in
1817_births 1875_deaths Corresponding_Members_of_the_St_Petersburg_Academy_of_Sciences Deists Imperial_Russian_novelists Imperial_Russian_poets Moscow_State_University_alumni Russian_deists Russian_dramatists_and_playwrights Russian_military_personnel_of_the_Crimean_War Tolstoy_family Writers_from_Saint_Petersburg