Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. He was the son of an important family connected to the Tsars and became an orphan at the age of nine, raised by relatives and educated by tutors. In 1841, he moved to Kazan, where he studied Oriental languages and Law, but dissatisfied with formal education, he left before completing his degree.
In 1847, he inherited vast estates, becoming known as "Count Tolstoy." He was initially enthusiastic about luxury but sought to provide the best conditions for his employees, grappling with the contradictions of two worlds.
In 1851, Tolstoy enlisted in the army and fought in the Crimean War between Russians and Turks. He began his literary career, writing the autobiography "Childhood" (1852), serialized in the journal "The Contemporary" in St. Petersburg. He followed with "Boyhood" (1854).
In 1855, after Russia's defeat, Tolstoy returned to St. Petersburg and then to his family estate. He married Sophia Andreievna. In 1856, he wrote "Sevastopol Sketches" and in 1857, "Youth," completing his autobiographical trilogy. Life in court disappointed him, managing his estates did not satisfy him, and military life repulsed him.
Leo Tolstoy wrote his two greatest novels, "War and Peace" (1869) and "Anna Karenina" (1877). During this time, he experienced a spiritual crisis, questioning the society he lived in, rejecting the authority of the Orthodox Church, and was excommunicated in 1901.