Leo Tolstoy

a.k.a. Count Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

Author Code: RLTX

Tolstoy was of noble birth and was educated at Kazan University. He spent some time in the military, taking part in the Crimean War in 1851. He travelled to Germany and Switzerland in 1857 and, on his return, started a school at Yasnaya Polyana. He married in 1862 and embarked on his remarkable writing career. His first published work was Childhood in 1852. He published his masterpiece, War and Peace, in 1869 and followed with Anna Karenina in 1877. His other works of importance include The Cossacks (1863), The Death of Ivan Ilyitch (1884), Confession (1882), The Kreutzer Sonata (1890), What is Art? (1898) and Resurrection (1899). His greatest play was The Power of Darkness (1886) and he wrote numerous short stories and essays.