Knowra Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was a Russian novelist and moral philosopher whose fiction includes War and Peace and Anna Karenina. His later writings advocated nonviolence, Christian anarchism, and a life of moral simplicity.
War and Peace : Leo Tolstoy’s novel follows Russian families during the Napoleonic Wars and examines history, society, and personal life. Its interwoven private lives and military history exemplify Tolstoy’s approach to the novel.
Yasnaya Polyana : A country estate in Tula Oblast, Russia, where Leo Tolstoy was born and lived for much of his life. The estate was Tolstoy’s home, workplace, and the setting for his educational experiments.
Sophia Tolstaya : A Russian diarist and editor who was Leo Tolstoy’s wife and managed much of his literary work. Her copying, editing, and preservation of manuscripts supported Tolstoy’s literary career amid deep marital tensions.
Tolstoyan movement : A Christian anarchist movement inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s teachings on nonviolence, simplicity, and resistance to state authority. Followers attempted to put Tolstoy’s ethical principles into communal and everyday practice.
Tolstoyanism : The ethical and religious doctrine associated with Leo Tolstoy, centered on the Gospels, nonviolence, and simple living. The name captures the body of teachings that emerged from Tolstoy’s late writings.
Anna Karenina : Leo Tolstoy’s novel portrays adultery, family life, and social change in nineteenth-century Russian society. Its parallel stories of Anna and Levin reveal Tolstoy’s moral and social concerns.
Crimean War : A war fought from 1853 to 1856 between Russia and an alliance including the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and France. Tolstoy served as an artillery officer and drew on the siege of Sevastopol in early writings.
Fyodor Dostoevsky : A Russian novelist whose works explore moral choice, faith, suffering, and psychological conflict. Dostoevsky offers a contrasting vision of moral and spiritual struggle in nineteenth-century Russian fiction.
Christian anarchism : A political theology that rejects coercive government on the basis of Christian teachings. Tolstoy’s interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount became a major expression of Christian anarchism.
Aylmer Maude : An English biographer and translator who helped introduce Leo Tolstoy’s life and works to English-speaking audiences. Maude’s translations and biography shaped Tolstoy’s reception in the English-speaking world.
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