Tolstoy's House
From the world’s famous playwright (previous image) to its famous writer ........
My decades ago visit to Tolstoy’s Moscow home was a pilgrimage. It didn’t go smoothly. Wet snow was falling and the afternoon darkening. 'Dom Tolstova, Ulitsa Lva Tolstova pazhalusta' - that to the taxi driver – what could be clearer? But we were not going south across the river, we were in the wrong district, where was he heading? Then he proudly pulled up at an 'Alexei' Tolstoy’s house. Alexei was apparently a distant Tolstoy relative exploiting the famous name and an associate of Stalin. Nyet! Nyet!
The snow thickened, the sky darkened another stop. Aided by the hindrance of my non-Cyrillic street map and - better - directions from a policeman, he eventually got there. Well not quite! Snow had blocked the road so it was a final trudge on foot through its wetness. No problem – everyone should suffer on a pilgrimage!
Count Lev Tolstoy bought his Moscow home in 1882, years after writing War and Peace (1867). Countess Sonya nagged him into it. It was necessary for their children’s education as his ancestral estate, Yasnaya Polyana, was 200 km from Moscow and isolated. Etc. Etc..
However, she was not pleased with his choice! The large brown painted wooden house had no running water. It was in a (then) unfashionable industrial district with the mixed smells of a nearby perfume distillery and a brewery. A stocking factory no doubt contributed its noise for each morning the family was awakened by factory whistles. The master was already long up chopping wood, fetching water and being the peasant.
Still, the Countess enjoyed Moscow society. She held frequent soirees where she entertained Russia’s artistic elite. The cantankerous Count was less enthusiastic. There is a cobbler's bench at the top of the stairs outside his study – a hobby of his. There is a probably apocryphal story that he would indulge in the noisy hammering of shoe making during her gatherings.
The images on that darkening snowy day are rescued from ancient print film. Once inside his house, I had an overwhelming feeling of deja vu – it was all so homely and familiar - perhaps from reading his works for so long.
It got too dark to grab a precious photograph of his study on my 100 ISO film. The house had no electricity as it was left as it was after his death. Instead the inset image of Tolstoy in that study at the very same desk is a painting of 1884 by Nikolai Ge in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Tolstoy's House
From the world’s famous playwright (previous image) to its famous writer ........
My decades ago visit to Tolstoy’s Moscow home was a pilgrimage. It didn’t go smoothly. Wet snow was falling and the afternoon darkening. 'Dom Tolstova, Ulitsa Lva Tolstova pazhalusta' - that to the taxi driver – what could be clearer? But we were not going south across the river, we were in the wrong district, where was he heading? Then he proudly pulled up at an 'Alexei' Tolstoy’s house. Alexei was apparently a distant Tolstoy relative exploiting the famous name and an associate of Stalin. Nyet! Nyet!
The snow thickened, the sky darkened another stop. Aided by the hindrance of my non-Cyrillic street map and - better - directions from a policeman, he eventually got there. Well not quite! Snow had blocked the road so it was a final trudge on foot through its wetness. No problem – everyone should suffer on a pilgrimage!
Count Lev Tolstoy bought his Moscow home in 1882, years after writing War and Peace (1867). Countess Sonya nagged him into it. It was necessary for their children’s education as his ancestral estate, Yasnaya Polyana, was 200 km from Moscow and isolated. Etc. Etc..
However, she was not pleased with his choice! The large brown painted wooden house had no running water. It was in a (then) unfashionable industrial district with the mixed smells of a nearby perfume distillery and a brewery. A stocking factory no doubt contributed its noise for each morning the family was awakened by factory whistles. The master was already long up chopping wood, fetching water and being the peasant.
Still, the Countess enjoyed Moscow society. She held frequent soirees where she entertained Russia’s artistic elite. The cantankerous Count was less enthusiastic. There is a cobbler's bench at the top of the stairs outside his study – a hobby of his. There is a probably apocryphal story that he would indulge in the noisy hammering of shoe making during her gatherings.
The images on that darkening snowy day are rescued from ancient print film. Once inside his house, I had an overwhelming feeling of deja vu – it was all so homely and familiar - perhaps from reading his works for so long.
It got too dark to grab a precious photograph of his study on my 100 ISO film. The house had no electricity as it was left as it was after his death. Instead the inset image of Tolstoy in that study at the very same desk is a painting of 1884 by Nikolai Ge in the Tretyakov Gallery.