Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy

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(1817 - 1875), writer of drama, fiction, and poetry; considered to be the most important nineteenth-century Russian historical dramatist.

A member of the Russian nobility, Alexei Tolstoy was expected to serve at court and in the diplomatic service, which prevented him from writing full time until relatively late in his life (1861). Nevertheless, he managed to produce a novel (Prince Serebryanny, 1862) and a dramatic trilogy (The Death of Ivan the Terrible, 1866; Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, 1868; Tsar Boris, 1870), both based on the time of Ivan the Terrible. Although, by the time Prince Serebryanny was published, the fad for historical novels had long passed, it nevertheless enjoyed some popularity. Due to censorship restrictions, only the first of the three plays was performed during the author's lifetime, but all three were produced numerous times during the Soviet period. For all these works, Tolstoy relied on Karamzin's History of the Russian State, from which he lifted passages verbatim for his own work.

Tolstoy's lyric poetry, most notably "Against the Current" (1867) and "John Damascene" (1858), were strongly influenced by German romanticism. He also wrote satirical verse. Collaborating with the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, he created the fictional writer Kozma Prutkov, a petty bureaucrat who parodied the poetry of the day and wrote banal aphorisms. Karamzin's History also served as the inspiration for Tolstoy's History of the Russian State from Gostomysl to Timashev, a parody of Russian history from its founding until 1868, which contained vicious characteristics of the Russian monarch. The manuscript circulated privately between 1868, when it was completed, and 1883, when it first appeared in print.

Bibliography

Bartlett, Rosamund. (1998). "Aleksei Konstantinovich Tolstoi 1817 - 1875." In Reference Guide to Russian Literature, ed. Neil Cornwell, 806 - 808. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

Dalton, Margaret. (1972). A. K. Tolstoy. New York: Twayne.

—ELIZABETH JONES HEMENWAY

Not to be confused with Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy.

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy by Karl Brullov
Born	September 5 [O.S. August 24] 1817 Saint Petersburg
Died	October 10 [O.S. September 28] 1875
Occupation	Poet • Novelist • Playwright
Nationality	Russian

Count Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (Russian: Алексе́й Константи́нович Толсто́й; September 5 [O.S. August 24] 1817 – October 10 [O.S. September 28] 1875) was a Russian poet, novelist and dramatist.

Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy was born in Saint Petersburg to the famed family of Count Tolstoy. He graduated from the University of Moscow in 1836. He spent most of his life at court, serving first as the Master of Ceremonies, later as Grand Master of Royal Hunting. He retired from service in 1861 to dedicate more time to writing poetry.

He wrote admirable ballads, a historical novel, some licentious verse, and satires published under the pen name of Kozma Prutkov. But his lasting contribution to the Russian literature was a trilogy of historical dramas, modelled after Pushkin's Boris Godunov.

Contents 1 Drama 2 Prose 3 References 4 External links

Drama

• Don Juan (1862)
• The Death of Ivan the Terrible (1864)
• Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich (1868)
• Tsar Boris (1870)^[1]

Prose

• Prince Serebrenni
• The Family of the Vourdalak (Sem'ya Vurdalaka) (1839)
• The Vampire (Upyr') (1841)

References

1. ^ The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, ed. Martin Banham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), p.1115. ISBN 0521434378.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy

• Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy. Poems (in Russian)
• Love’s Ebb and Flow - a poem by Tolstoy translated into English by Alice Stone Blackwell.
• Do You Remember the Evening - a poem by Tolstoy translated into English by Anton Bespalov and Rianne Stam.

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