Leo Tolstoy

Count **Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy** (9 September 1828  20 November 1910) was a Russian novelist and anarchist, famous for writing the books _War and Peace_ and _Anna Karenina_, and many other works. He was a Christian and believed in non-violence and practiced simple living. His work _The Kingdom of God is within you_ has influenced people like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

## Life

Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana, the family estate in the region of Tula, Russia and he married Sofia Andreevna Bers.

When he was young his parents died, so he and his siblings were brought up by relatives. At the age of 16, he began studying law and oriental languages. Unfortunately, he left University in the middle of his studies and spent much of his time in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Later on in his life, he joined the Army with his brother after running up some heavy gambling debts. It was at that time that he started writing.

His conversion from a wealthy society author to the non-violent and spiritual anarchist of his later days was notable. It was caused by his experience in the army as well as two trips around Europe in 1857 and 1860–61. Others who followed a similar path were Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin. During his 1857 visit, Tolstoy saw a public execution in Paris, an experience which marked the rest of his life.

After _Anna Karenina_, Tolstoy concentrated on Christian themes, and his later novels such as _The Death of Ivan Ilyich_ (1886) and _What Is to Be Done?_ (1886) develop a radical Christian philosophy which led to his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901.

After shaping both his political and literary development in Europe, he returned to Russia and founded 13 schools for Russia's peasant children.

Tolstoy died in 1910, at the age of 82. He died of pneumonia.

### Schopenhauer

Tolstoy read _Arthur Schopenhauer_'s _The World as Will and Representation_ and gradually agreed with its idea that self-denial and simple living were the proper spiritual path, especially for the wealthy. In 1869, he wrote that reading Schopenhauer brought him "spiritual delights" he had never felt before.

In his _Confession_, Tolstoy quoted Schopenhauer on how denying the self leads to a peaceful emptiness that is not frightening. He was impressed by how Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu ascetics gave up wealth and comfort to live holy lives. Inspired by these ideas, Tolstoy chose to live simply and gave up luxury, following examples like Buddha and Saint Francis of Assisi.

### Christianity

In 1884, Tolstoy wrote What I Believe, explaining his Christian faith. He followed Jesus' teachings, especially the Sermon on the Mount, which calls for nonviolence and turning the other cheek. He criticized the Church for twisting Christ’s teachings and promoted pacifism and moral living instead.

Tolstoy believed that true happiness came from loving God and neighbors, not from following the Church or the state. His ideas on nonviolence influenced Mahatma Gandhi and modern nonviolent movements. He opposed private property, aristocracy, and war, and valued chastity and simple living. His later works, like The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Master and Man, explore moral crises and the foolishness of living for wealth or power.

Tolstoy also praised anthropologists like Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay for showing that all humans are equal and should be treated with kindness.

### Christian anarchism

Tolstoy influenced Christian anarchism. He believed that being a true Christian meant being a pacifist and rejecting war, which made him a philosophical anarchist. He criticized the state, the Church, and existing property laws, arguing that governments often act worse than criminals.

He encouraged moral reform through personal change, not violent revolution, and helped spread anarchist ideas in Russia while rejecting violent tactics. Tolstoy’s followers, called Tolstoyans, promoted his religious and ethical ideas.

### Pacifism

Tolstoy supported nonviolence and wrote A Letter to a Hindu in 1908 to encourage India’s independence without violence. Gandhi read this letter and corresponded with Tolstoy, crediting him as a major influence on nonviolent resistance.

Tolstoy opposed wars like the Russo-Japanese War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Second Boer War. He praised the Chinese for their patience during the Boxer Rebellion and condemned the brutality of Western troops. He supported groups like the Doukhobors and Mennonites, who resisted war and government oppression.

### Georgism

Later in life, Tolstoy studied Georgism, an economic theory that opposed private land ownership and promoted fair access to land for everyone. He admired Henry George and included these ideas in his works, such as Resurrection. Tolstoy suggested that small, locally governed communities could manage land and resources more fairly than large governments.

### Hunting

Tolstoy grew up learning to hunt from his father and loved it as a young man, but by the 1880s he stopped hunting for ethical reasons. He continued to enjoy horse-riding but opposed killing animals.

### Vegetarianism

Tolstoy gradually became a vegetarian starting in the 1880s, fully adopting the diet by 1890. He avoided meat, eggs, and later all animal products for ethical and spiritual reasons, believing that killing animals is immoral. He praised The Ethics of Diet, a book translated into Russian, and wrote an essay called The First Step.

His diet included simple foods like oatmeal, bread, cabbage or potato soup, buckwheat, potatoes, and fruit compote. Tolstoy claimed his health improved on this diet, and he regretted his earlier habits of hunting and eating meat.

## Related pages

- List of Russian-language novelists
- List of Russian novelists

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Leo Tolstoy
- **image**: L.N.Tolstoy Prokudin-Gorsky.jpg
- **caption**: Tolstoy on 23 May 1908 at Yasnaya Polyana, Lithograph print by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky
- **native name**: Лев Николаевич Толстой
- **birth place**: Yasnaya Polyana, Tula Governorate, Russian Empire
- **death place**: Lev Tolstoy (rural locality), Astapovo, Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire
- **resting place**: Yasnaya Polyana, Tula
- **occupation**: Novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist
- **language**: Russian
- **period**: 1847–1910
- **movement**: Literary realism, Realism
- **notableworks**: __
- **children**: 13
- **signature**: Leo Tolstoy signature.svg