Tolstoy Lion Nikolaevich

Main article: Writers and poets of Russia

Biography

Paired photo portrait - Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy with his older brother, writer, officer, participant in the war in the Caucasus - Count Nikolai Nikolaevich Tolstoy, photographer: Karl Peter Mather, 1851.

Count Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy with his family at the tea table in the park. Clear Polyana. 1892

1895: First meeting with Anton Chekhov

The first meeting between Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy took place in August 1895. Chekhov came to Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana.

The next meeting took place six months later with a little.

Leo Tolstoy at the game of tennis, 1896

Leo Tolstoy learns to ride a bicycle, 1896

Leo Tolstoy learned to ride a bicycle at the age of 67. And he even received rights, without which it was forbidden to move around big in Moscow.

Leo Tolstoy with his relatives under the "tree of the poor," September 23, 1899.

Writers Maxim Gorky and Leo Tolstoy. Clear glade, 1900

Leo Tolstoy on the way from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana.

1901: Meeting with Chekhov in Crimea

In 1901, Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy met in the Crimea. Chekhov visited Tolstoy in Gaspra. 

Anton Chekhov visiting Leo Tolstoy, Gaspra, 1901.

The last meeting between the writers took place in the winter, when Tolstoy was seriously ill. 

Even friendly correspondence did not begin between Tolstoy and Chekhov, since personal acquaintance was late, and meetings were brief and few. 

​​Pervaya color photograph published in Russia appeared in the Notes of the Russian Technical Society in 1908. This is a portrait of Leo Tolstoy by the pioneer of Russian color photography Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky. He took the first color pictures presumably as early as 1902.

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy and his daughter - Tatiana. Russian Empire. 1900s.

"Bo sleep saw that my wife loved me. Nothing like in reality "- Leo Tolstoy. Diary entries

Leo Tolstoy near the terrace of the house in Yasnaya Polyana. May 1, 1908.

Leo Tolstoy with his family in 1908

The village of Krekshino, now Moscow. Leo Tolstoy on a walk. 1909

1909. Leo Tolstoy plays in the towns in the Yasnaya Polyana estate.

L.N. Tolstoy and V.F. Bulgakov (the last secretary of L.N. Tolstoy). Cochets. Tula province. Photo by T.A.Tapsely. 1910

1911: Posthumous publication and production of the play "Living Corpse" in several countries

Living Corpse is a play by Leo Tolstoy, written in 1900 and published posthumously. Despite the fact that the plot of the work is brought to a logical denouement, it cannot be considered complete: the author interrupted work on the play, leaving it at the draft stage. This is confirmed by the words from the writer's letter to V. G. Chertkov dated December 12, 1900: "I, joking, or, rather, indulging, wrote it in writing, but not only do I not think to end and print it now, but I really doubt that I will ever do it."

Theaters and filmmakers competed for the right to stage the play, which was reflected in the caricature of the 1910s, which until 2023 did not have an author.

Caricature of Alexander Lyubimov "Not a flock of ravens flew..." (Above "The Living Corpse"). From the collection of the Bakhrushinsky Museum.

Cartoon researcher Alexei Naumov suggested his attribution. Together with a researcher at the Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum, the authorship of the Russian artist, graphic artist Alexander Mikhailovich Lyubimov (1879-1955), who painted portraits, genre and historical compositions, landscapes, and also known for his works in the genre of political caricature, was established. Researchers agreed that the style and manner of writing the drawing is similar to other works of the artist, which are stored in the Bakhrushin collection.

In the course of the study of the museum object, the name of the caricature "Critics in the form of a pack of crows on the corpse of L.N. Tolstoy" was clarified and changed to "Not a pack of crows flew..." (Above "The Living Corpse"). The updated title more accurately reveals the content of the caricature. The drawing of Alexander Lyubimov in visual satirical language demonstrates the competition of the Art, Alexandrinsky Theater and film entrepreneurs in the struggle for the right to stage L.N. Tolstoy's drama "Living Corpse."

The premiere took place at the Moscow Art Theater on September 23 (October 5), 1911. The main directors were Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Konstantin Stanislavsky. Soon the production took place in St. Petersburg. Since the text was translated into many languages, productions were also held in Berlin, Vienna, Paris and London.

An English-language production in London on December 6, 1912, was titled The Man Who Was Dead; translation by Zinaida Vengerova and John Pollock), in the production of the theater of the Literary Society. The play was staged by A. Andreev, who came from the Royal Theater in Belgrade. Edmond Breon played Fyodor, Violet Lewis played Lisa, Laurence Anderson played Victor, Lydia Jaworska played Masha, and Anthony Ward played Prince Abrezkov.