Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1910-11-25
COUNTTOLSTOID DEAD
NOTED AUTHOR OF RUSSIA
Died SATURDAY.
Wife and Children at His Bedside, But
He Didn't Recognize Them-The
Great Writer Had Strong Religious
views and Wrote Many Books on
Same-He Came of Noble Blood.

| Same-He Came of noble B1oou'
| Astapova, Russia, Nov. 2O-Count
Tolstoi died peacefully here this morn
ing. Attending physicians and Countess
Tolstoi were at his bedside when the
end came.
Several of the physicians were great
ly affected by the approaching death
of Russia s great writer. His heart
beat its last apparently without clear
moment to enable him to say farewell
or cast a forgiving look upon his wife
and children.
When the end came, the countess,
four sons and three daughters were
present.
Sought Solitude.
Tolstoi, accompanied only by Dr.
Makovetski, left his home at Yasnaya
Poliana with the purpose of ending his
DAYS in solitude, to which he more and
more inclined in his latter years. His
pilgrimage led him to the monastery
at Shamardine, in the province of Ka-
luga, where he remained as the guest
of his sister Marie, who is a nun in the
cloister.
Learning that his retreat had been
discovered he insisted upon proceed
ing on his journey to the Caucasus,
where he hoped to spend his last days,
close to the Tolstoian colony on the
shores of the Black sea. But on the
railroad journey he was overcome with
exhaustion and the cold, and his doc
tor was compelled to have him trans
ferred to the flag station at Astapova,
where he was made as comfortable as
possible in the rude wooden building.
For five days he had lain there suf-
fering first from bronchitis and later
from Inflammation of the lungs.
Countess Tolstoi had fastened to him
when she learned several days ago that
his illness was serious, but the physi-
clans had deemed it advisable that she
be kept away from the count, fearing
that her presence might cause the pa
tient emotion.
Other members of the family from
time to time were admitted to the
presence of their father, and his daugh-
ter, Alexandra, has been in constant at
tendance.
Tolstoi's Life and Work.
Count Lyof Nikolaievitch Tolstoi,
usually called Count Leo Tolstoi, nov
elist and social reformer, was born
August %, 1928, at Yasnaya Poliana, in
the province of lula, Russia. When 20
years old he entered the army and
| served in the Caucasus and in the de-
, Tense of Sebastapol against the British
and French allied forces.
He first made reputation in liter
allure by a series of vivid sketches
written from Sebastapol, and when he
left the army soon after the Crimean
war he devoted himself entirely to
literature.
Tolstoi wrote much on education and
published several short stories and
} "reminiscences of childhood and youth,
but of recent years he had confined
t himself to religious teachings.
The religious views of TOlstoi were
, set forth in his "Christ 8 Christianity
and "My Religion"
t Was Excommunicated.
In 1901 Tolstoi was accommodated
by the Holy Synod and in October, 1902,
3 he deposited his memories and diaries
' with the curator of Rumyansoff mu-
. scum, on the condition they should not
D be published until 10 years after his
death, and in November of the same
bn lnnol1xr !, .
fortune, including his real and personal
estate, to his wife and children.
: In 1895 Tolstoi wrote a powerful
: vindication of the Dukhober sect, which
: IN that year had suffered great perse-
eutlon. On the Russian censor refusing
: to permit its publication, Tolstoi ap-
: Piled to the London Times, which
e printed the lengthy article in full.
r He continued from that time on to
f address his literary efforts to the Brit.
ISL press. On March II, 1896, the Lon.
t don Daily Chronicle published long
d letter from Tolstoi to a correspondent
IN England on the Venezuela dispute
o which had recently arisen between the
n United States and England. 1t was a
q strong indictment of war.
Tolstoi was several times threatened
d with expulsion from Russia and was
e several times, according to reports
:, upon the point of being exiled, but he
: seemed on the whole to have been
treated with unusual leniency in view
OF his pronounced views, especially as
set forth in manifesto entitled 'tThe
Peoples Rights" his criticism of i'm
) perial acts and his open letters to the
emperor. He was, however, expelled
= from Moscow in July, 1901, and had
D since resided at Yasnaya Poliana.
Although Tolstoi came of an aristo
l. cratic family, being a descendant o.
Count Peter Tolstoi, the friend ani
/ comrade of Peter the Great, and re
celved his education at Kazan mi