Leo Tolstoy's Real Name: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Quick answer: The Russian writer is known in English as Leo Tolstoy. Britannica gives the Russian name in full as Lev Nikolayevich, Graf (count) Tolstoy, and dates his birth to August 28 (September 9, New Style), 1828, at Yasnaya Polyana, in Tula province, then in the Russian Empire. Encyclopedia.com independently records the same name, with the patronymic also transliterated as Nikolaevich, and the same Old Style and New Style dates.

Real name and early life

Independent reference works support the documented original name Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Britannica identifies the family estate at Yasnaya Polyana as the birthplace and says he is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest novelists. Encyclopedia.com independently places the birth at Yasnaya Polyana, the family estate in Tula province, and identifies his parents as Nikolay Ilyich Tolstoy, a retired army officer and landowner, and Maria Nikolaevna (Volkonskaya) Tolstaya. Encyclopedia.com also says he was the youngest of four sons, that his mother died when he was two, and that a relative then took charge of the children. Britannica independently says he was educated at home by tutors before entering the University of Kazan in 1844, later transferred to the law faculty, and left the university in 1847.

Career highlights

Britannica says he accompanied his brother to the Caucasus in 1851, joined the Russian army in 1852, and served as an officer in the Crimean War until 1856, and that his first published work, Childhood, appeared in 1852. The same account dates the major novels War and Peace to 1865–69 and Anna Karenina to 1875–77, and names The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) among his shorter works. Encyclopedia.com independently records the marriage to Sofia Andreevna Behrs in 1862 and treats War and Peace and Anna Karenina as central books. Britannica also notes the later religious writings and the influence of his doctrine of nonresistance to evil on Mahatma Gandhi.

Death

Britannica dates the death to November 7 (November 20, New Style), 1910, at Astapovo, in Ryazan province. Encyclopedia.com independently dates the death of pneumonia to November 20 (Gregorian; November 7, Julian), 1910, at the railway station of Astapovo, Ryazan Province, and says he was buried at Yasnaya Polyana.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Leo Tolstoy, Lev Tolstoy, or Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy are looking for the same Russian writer. Britannica and Encyclopedia.com support the form used in the title; both also note the surname spelling Tolstoi.