Leo Tolstoy

Full Name: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Profession: Novelist

Nationality:

Biography: Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer, particularly renowned for their novels (War and Peace, Anna Karenina) and short stories (The Death of Ivan Ilyich).

Tolstoy's work was largely realistic, thought after a moral and spiritual crisis in his 50s he also began to write explicitly on social and religious themes—starting with his Confession and culminating in The Gospel in Brief.

This shift in Tolstoy's writing reflected the movement of convictions. From this point he was an ardent pacifist and Christian anarchist. This vein of his thought was influential in major political figures, particularly the nonviolent resistance of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

As Tolstoy neared the end of his life his interest broadened to economic and social theory also. He advocated for the principles put forward by Henry George, together known as Georgism.

It is said that the eighty-two year old Tolstoy spent his last hours speaking passionately on social matters to passengers aboard a train before ultimately succumbing to pneumonia at Astapov Railway Station.

Born: September 9, 1828
Birthplace: Yasnaya Polyana, Russia
Star Sign: Virgo

Died: November 20, 1910 (aged 82)
Cause of Death: Pneumonia