History of the Tolstoy family

By Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Genealogical table ancestors of Leo Tolstoy (1950/1950) by S.L. TolstoyMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

The history of the Tolstoy family begins with the man which name was Indris. This person was significant not only for one kind, but also for the formation of the Russian people - he was were among the “Germans” who took part in the formation of the Russian state.

The Tolstoy family is one of the most famous and numerous Russian noble clans, whose members, over the course of the family’s history, have had an impact on the political, socio-economic, and cultural processes of our country.

Star of the Order of St. Andrew (1812/1814)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

At all times, under all rulers, and even in all the different forms of government, the Tolstoys never themselves strived for eminence, but distinguished themselves nevertheless as people of “uncommon expression”, to borrow a phrase from the poet Baratynsky. Among them were well-known scientists, public figures, writers, artists, and travelers. As S. M. Tolstoy wrote:

“The Tolstoy family has distinguished itself by its gifts, originality, talent, complexity, contradictoriness, uncontrollability, vigor, scale, longevity, and fertility”

S. M. Tolstoy

Infantry officer's sword of the sample in 1798, premium Anna's arms "For Bravery"Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

The significance of the Tolstoys’ activities in the history of Russia may also be judged by orders and medals:
there is virtually no award which has not been granted to the members of this family, from the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the arms of St. Anna “for bravery”, and St. George’s crosses of all classes, to the Red Banner of Labor.

Congratulatory letter to S.L Tolstoy about awarding him the Order of the Red Banner (1943/1943)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Congratulatory letter to S.L Tolstoy about awarding him the Order of the Red Banner. 1943

Coat of arms of the TolstoyMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

History of the Tolstoy Counts

P.A Tolstoy (1822/1822)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy was the first count in the Tolstoy family, an Actual State Councillor, a diplomat, a close associate of Peter I, and an extraordinary and controversial figure.
There are many debates about whether his actions were on the whole positive or negative, but his role in the history of Russia is undeniable, as is the role of another Tolstoy, who had a second noble surname, Osterman.

Portrait of Count A.I Osterman-Tolstoy (1807/1812) by P.P PrydonMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Aleksandr Ivanovich Osterman-Tolstoy took part in many wars and battles in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, had many wounds and medals, became a role model for the Russian troops in the war of 1812. Like many other Tolstoys, he belonged to a Masonic lodge.
Another Tolstoy who became a Freemason was Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, the vice-president of the Academy of Arts and an honorary member of almost all the European academies of art.

Portrait of F. I Tolstoy's "The American" by K. Y. ReyhelMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

In his youth, after he graduated from the Naval Corps, he was supposed to participate in the first Russian circumnavigation of the world, but he declined, instead dedicating himself to art, and according to the story, was replaced by another Fyodor Tolstoy, later known as the “American”. The unusual personality of Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy served as an inspiration for characters in the works of Pushkin, Griboyedov, Leo Tolstoy, and Turgenev.

Portrait of the artist and sculptor F. P Tolstoy, vice president of the Academy of Arts (1850/1850) by S. K. ZaryankoMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

“Almost all the noble families that were elevated under Peter and Catherine degenerated. The Tolstoys were the exception. This family manifested a special vitality”

V. O. Klyuchevsky

Portrait of Count D.A Tolstoy (1884/1884) by I. N KramskoyMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

The well-known statesmen among the Tolstoys were the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, Minister of Education, and Minister of the Interior Dmitrii Andreyevich Tolstoy; the writer, church historian, and researcher of Russian antiquities.
Count Mikhail Vladimirovich Tolstoy; the writer and archaeologist Count Dmitrii Nikolayevich Tolstoy-Znamensky; the physician and publicist Konstantin Konstantinovich Tolstoy (the works of the last are stored in the personal library of Leo Tolstoy).

Portrait of M.V Tolstoy, 1867/1867, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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K. K Tolstoy, Y. Shteinberg, 1895/1895, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Alcoholism in Russia, K. K Tolstoy, 1896/1896, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Portrait of Count I.M TolstoyMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Another exciting milestone in the life of this family is the story of the so-called “junior branch” of the counts Tolstoy. They are called “junior” because their title of count was obtained only under Alexander II in 1866 by Ivan Matveevich Tolstoy, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, a personal friend of the emperor.

Portrait of Count D.I Tolstoy, later director of the Hermitage (1901/1901) by I. E BryazMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

His children were well-known political and cultural figures of Russia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Ivan Ivanovich, a famous numismatist, vice-president of the Academy of Arts, Minister of Education, mayor of Petersburg/Petrograd; Dmitrii Ivanovich, colleague of the director of the Russian Museum, then director of the Hermitage, who saved Russian cultural treasures in the tumultuous year of 1917.

A. A. Tolstoy album recordings, drawings and herbaria. (1817/1904) by Alexandra A. TolstayaMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Among the well-known female members of the Tolstoy family were Leo Tolstoy’s aunt Aleksandra Andreevna, a maid of honor of the imperial court and Leo Tolstoy’s irreplaceable friend and counselor for many years.

Alexandra A. Tolstaya (1850/1850)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Alexandra A. Tolstaya. 1850

Portrait of A.K Tolstoy (1879/1879) by I. E RepinMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

An indisputable contribution to Russian culture came from the writers Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoy and Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoy, the latter of whom was also concerned for the fate of Russia, as evidenced by his letter to Joseph Stalin on 25 March 1943, in which he request that the money from the Stalin Prize he won for his novel “The Road to Calvary” be used to build a tank.

Portrait of A.N Tolstoy (1940/1940) by P.D KorinMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Portrait of A.N Tolstoy. 1940

Alexey Nikolayevich Tolstoy's letter to Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Prize on transfer for his novel "The Road to Calvary" to build a tank (1943/1943)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Alexey Nikolayevich Tolstoy's letter to Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Prize on transfer for his novel "The Road to Calvary" to build a tank. 1943

Portrait of L.N Tolstoy (1904/1904)Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Leo Tolstoy

The peak and focus of the Tolstoy family across all its generations was the world-renowned writer Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

“What is a stock? The traits of ancestors which are repeated in the descendants. In this way every living thing carries within itself the traits (or the potential) of all its ancestors ... and passes on its traits, which will be indefinitely modified, to all future generations ... So I, Leo Tolstoy, am the temporary manifestation of the Tolstoys, Volkonskys, Trubetskoys, Gorchakovs, and so on”

Leo Tostoy.

Signet, 1800/1850, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Desktop screen with thumbnails of their ancestors and relatives of Leo Tolstoy, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Signet, 1780/1790, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Coat of arms of Volkonsky, Truhanov A.A., From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Portrait of Nikolai Tosltoy by Alexander MolinariMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Thanks to the marriage of the writer’s father N. I. Tolstoy with M. N. Volksonskaya, two great ancient families were united in their children, one of whom was Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

Letter from N. I Tolstoy to M.N Tolstaya (nee Volkonskaya), 1824/1824, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Silhouettes of Maria Nikolaevna and Varvara Volkonsky, Неизвестен, 1810/1810, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Photo brothers Leo TolstoyMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

The family heirlooms have become unique items in the museum exhibits.

Finger ringMuseum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

Among them are a ruby and diamond ring, bought by Leo Tolstoy for his wife with the royalties from the publication of Anna Karenina, the manuscript of which was copied by Sophia Tolstaya, who worked out the difficult handwriting of her husband; a silver chain with petal pendants, on which are inscribed the names of Leo Tolstoy’s children; and Sophia Andreevna’s gold bracelet with a portrait of her husband.

Gold bracelet, 1862/1862, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Pendant with chain., 1880/1880, From the collection of: Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"
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Photograph (1892/1892) by Sherer, Nabgolts & Co.Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana"

“The Tolstoy family tree is ancient and mighty, but it is not threatened by wilting and desiccation. The roots go back centuries, the trunk is still strong and straight, the branches spread wide, many of them have young, strong shoots... I am convinced that the Tolstoys have still not said their last word, they will still serve the Fatherland many times and enter their names into its history”

V. I. Tolstoy, advisor to the president of the Russian Federation.

Credits: Story

Sources of images:
The State Historical Museum. Moscow
The State Museum of Leo Tolstoy. Moscow
The State Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg
The State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow
The State Russian Museum. Saint Petersburg
All-Russian Museum of AS Pushkin. Saint Petersburg
Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House). Saint Petersburg
Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Moscow
State Literature Museum. Moscow

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions (listed below) who have supplied the content.
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