Leo Tolstoy, one of the most famous classics of Russian literature, was not only a novelist but also a thinker. He was born on August 28 (September 9) 1828 in a noble family at the estate of Yasnaya Polyana, located in the Tula province. Tolstoy was the fourth child in the family, but at an early age, he became an orphan and was raised by his aunts.

In 1843, Leo Nikolayevich entered the Imperial Kazan University, choosing Eastern literature, but soon transferred to the law faculty. However, captivated by French literature and philosophy, he left his studies in the second year. Returning to Yasnaya Polyana, he engaged in self-education and agriculture.

In 1850, Tolstoy began writing the autobiographical story "Childhood," and the following year he became a cadet in the 4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade near Kizlyar. Here he continued to write and completed the first part of the trilogy "Childhood," which he sent to the magazine "Sovremennik" in the summer of 1852.

With the start of the Crimean War, Tolstoy transferred to the Danube army and participated in battles, including the battle at the Black River and the defense of Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol. Even in the trenches, he continued to write and published the first of three "Sevastopol Stories," which received approval from readers and Emperor Alexander II.

In August 1855, Tolstoy was sent as a courier to St. Petersburg, where he completed the remaining "Sevastopol Stories" and stayed until November 1856, when he left the service. In the capital, he was warmly received and became a frequent guest at literary salons, befriending I.S. Turgenev, N.A. Nekrasov, and I.S. Goncharov.

From the beginning of 1857, Tolstoy traveled through Western Europe, continuing to write. In 1862, he married Sophia, the daughter of his old acquaintance Lyubov Alexandrovna Islavina. They had nine sons and four daughters, but five children died in childhood. His wife became his faithful companion, helping him in the creation of the novel "War and Peace."

The next significant work was the novel "Anna Karenina," started in 1873. After its completion, Tolstoy experienced a turning point in his creative work: he reevaluated his views on life, religion, and social issues. This was reflected in the autobiographical "Confession" (1884), the religious-philosophical treatise "What is My Faith?", the "Brief Summary of the Gospel," as well as in the novel "Resurrection," the story "Hadji Murat," and the play "The Living Corpse." Tolstoy paid great attention to questions of faith, which distanced him from the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the last days of his life, on October 28 (November 10) 1910, Tolstoy secretly left Yasnaya Polyana and headed for the border, but at the Astapovo station (now in the Lipetsk region) he was forced to disembark due to pneumonia. On November 7 (20), he passed away in the house of the stationmaster at the age of 83. Leo Tolstoy was buried in Yasnaya Polyana, in the forest at the edge of a ravine.