Sophia Tolstaya | |
|---|---|
Софья Толстая | |
 | |
| Born | Sophia Andreyevna Behrs (1844-08-22)22 August 1844 |
| Died | 4 November 1919(1919-11-04) (aged 75) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Other names | Sophia Tolstoy, Sonya Tolstoy, Sofia Tolstoy |
| Occupation(s) | Diarist, copyist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 13 |
CountessSophia Andreyevna Tolstaya (Russian:Со́фья Андре́евна Толста́я,née Behrs (Берс); 3 September [O.S. 22 August] 1844 – 4 November 1919), sometimes anglicised asSofia Tolstoy,Sophia Tolstoy andSonya Tolstoy, was a Russiandiarist, and the wife of writer CountLeo Tolstoy.
Sophia Behrs was one of three daughters of aBaltic-German, Andrey EvstafievichBehrs (1808–1868), Imperial court physician, and his Russian wife, Liubov AlexandrovnaIslavinа (1826–1886). Her maternal great-grandfather, CountPyotr Zavadovsky, was the first Minister of education in Russia's history. Sophia had been acquainted with her future husband,Leo Tolstoy, from childhood; he was 16 years her senior and had befriended her mother when he was a boy.[1] On 17 September 1862, when Sophia was 18 years old, the couple became formally engaged after Tolstoy gave Sophia a written proposal of marriage,[2] marrying a week later in Moscow. At the time of their marriage, Leo Tolstoy was well known as a novelist following the publication ofThe Cossacks. On the eve of their wedding, Tolstoy gave Sophia his diaries that detailed his sexual relations with female servants.[3] (InAnna Karenina, 34-year-old Konstantin Levin, a semi-autobiographical character, behaves similarly, asking his 19-year-old fiancée Kitty to read his diaries and learn of his past transgressions.) The diaries included the fact that Tolstoy had fathered a child by a woman who remained on theYasnaya Polyana estate.
Tolstaya was pregnant 16 times; three of her pregnancies ended in miscarriages.[4] The Tolstoys had 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood.[5] With the growing interest of her husband in spiritual matters, Tolstaya took over the running of the family estate.[6] Sophia acted ascopyist ofWar and Peace, copying and editing the manuscript seven times from beginning to end at home at night by candlelight after the children and servants had gone to bed, using an inkwell pen and sometimes requiring a magnifying glass to read her husband's notes.[7]
In 1887, Tolstaya regained interest in the relatively new art of photography, which she had learned at age 16.[8] She took over 1,000 photographs that documented her life and the decline of theRussian Empire.[9] She was adiarist and recorded her life with Leo Tolstoy in a series of diaries which were published in English translation in the 1980s.[7] Tolstaya wrote her memoirs as well, which she titledMy Life.[10]
The marriage of Tolstaya andLeo Tolstoy is considered one of the famously unhappy marriages of literary history.[11] Their children took sides in the marital discord. Their daughterAlexandra supported her father, whereas their sonLeo Junior favoured his mother.[3] Tolstaya struggled with her husband's increasing devotion to spiritual matters and his neglect of their family life. The couple argued over Tolstoy's desire to give away all his private property.[12] In 1910, at the age of 82, Leo Tolstoy abruptly left Sophia, accompanied by their daughter Alexandra and his doctor, Dushan Makovicki (Dušan Makovický). Leo left out of anger after he overheard Sophia searching his study for his will, which she was concerned he wanted to change.[13] He died 10 days later in the hamlet of Astapavo.[4] Sophia was kept away from him (as depicted in the filmThe Last Station).[8] Following the death of her husband, Sophia continued to live in Yasnaya Polyana and survived theRussian Revolution in relative peace. She died on 4 November 1919.[14]
In 1889, Leo Tolstoy published his bookThe Kreutzer Sonata.[3] The book advocated for sexual abstinence. Its narrator murders his wife in a fit of jealousy.[15] Although quickly banned from publication by censorship, the novel had been assumed in the Russian society to be describing the unhappy marriage of Leo Tolstoy and Tolstaya, which greatly offended Tolstaya.[16]Tolstaya wrote two novellas as a response toThe Kreutzer Sonata, which both remained unpublished until 2000. The two novellas areWhose Fault? [de] written between 1891 and 1894 andSong Without Words written in 1898.[3] In both, the character of the husband is portrayed as a man insensitive to the needs of his wife.Despite her objections toThe Kreutzer Sonata, Tolstaya helped lift the ban on the publication of the novel. She obtained an audience withTsar Alexander III in 1891, who accepted that the novel be included in a broader publication of Leo Tolstoy's books.[3]
She was portrayed byHelen Mirren in the 2009The Last Station, based on the 1990 biographical novel of the same name byJay Parini,[17] and Leo Tolstoy was portrayed byChristopher Plummer. Both actors were nominated forAcademy Awards in their respective categories. Her life was also serialised in August 2010 byBBC's Radio 4 with the titleA Simple Life.[18]In 2022, Tolstaya was the main character of the filmA Couple byFrederick Wiseman.[11] French actressNathalie Boutefeu is cast as Tolstaya in the film, which consists of monologues based on Tolstaya's diaries.
Many of Tolstaya's works were published postmortem, long after being written. This is because Tolstaya was critical of Leo Tolstoy in her writing and the Russian authorities did not want the status of the famous author tarnished.[19] Some of her literary work was published more than a century after she wrote them.[15]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)Leo Tolstoy invites an aristocratic Christian disciple to stay. Is pregnant Sofya right not to trust him? Stars Ian McDiarmid.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
