Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy

One of the world's greatest novelists, Leo Tolstoy, was born on this date in 1828 (according to the Julian calendar; his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar is September 9). In his two masterpieces, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878), Tolstoy vividly described Russian life, history and psychology. His novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1884) is considered one of Russia's greatest short stories. Born into an aristocratic family, in his later years Tolstoy adopted a radically anarchist-pacifist philosophy. His book The Kingdom of God is Within You was a major influence on Mohandas Gandhi and the nonviolent resistance movement.

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From our Archives: Today's Highlights, August 28, 2006