Leo Tolstoy

Lev Nikolaevich Count Tolstoy (Russian Лев Николаевич Толсто́й listen to^{? /i}, scient. transliteration Lev Nikolaevič Tolstoy, German often also Leo Tolstoy; * 28 Augustjul^. / 9 September 1828greg^. in Yasnaya Polyana near Tula; † 7 Novemberjul^. / 20 November 1910greg^{. in} Astapovo, Ryazan Governorate, now Lev Tolstoy, Lipetsk Oblast) was a Russian writer. His major works War and Peace and Anna Karenina are classics of the realist novel.

Tolstoy's Legacy

After his death, his wife, who had published Tolstoy's works as an editor since 1885, published a last complete edition of his works, which she supervised. Daughter Alexandra, who had been formally appointed by Tolstoy as sole heir to the literary estate, bought the Yasnaya Polyana estate from her mother in 1913. Together with Vladimir Chertkov, she had made a handsome sum by publishing Tolstoy's unpublished writings and selling the rights to an edition of his works to the publisher Ivan Sytin, thus fulfilling her father's wish that the estates be passed on to the peasants. Chertkov also became the founder of Tolstoyanism, a movement of Christian anarchism and pacifism.

When the will was legally valid, Alexandra attempted to assert her ownership rights to those manuscripts that had been transferred to the archive by the writer's wife with his consent since the late 1880s. Pending a decision in this matter, both parties were denied access to the manuscripts. A protracted dispute in court ensued. This dispute between mother and daughter was not about copyright; Tolstaya fully acknowledged her husband's will. Tolstaya's ownership rights to the collection of manuscripts in the archives of the Historical Museum, which were the subject of the dispute, were confirmed by the court and by ukase of the Tsar in 1914.

Honors

• In 1873 he was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg. In 1900 he became an honorary member of the Academy.

Two modern Russian coins were dedicated to Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy in Russia:

• 100 rubles 1991, gold: Tolstoy sitting in an armchair
• 1 ruble 1988, Cu/Ni: bust of Tolstoy en face

The flagship of the Russian inland waterway fleet, the Lev Tolstoy, bears his name.

In 1976 the Mercury crater Tolstoy and in 1984 the asteroid (2810) Lev Tolstoy was named after him. He is also the namesake of the valley Dolina L'va Tolstogo in Antarctica.