Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was a
Russian writer who is regarded as one of the world's greatest novelists. He is best known for
War and Peace (1869) and
Anna Karenina (1877), often cited as pinnacles of
realist fiction. Born to an aristocratic family on 9 September [
O.S. 28 August] 1828, Tolstoy was orphaned when he was young. He studied at
Kazan University, but this was not a success, and he left university without completing his degree. During this time, he began to write and published his first novel,
Childhood, in 1852. Tolstoy later served at the
Siege of Sevastopol during the
Crimean War, and was appalled by the number of deaths and left at the conclusion of the war. He spent the remainder of his life writing whilst also marrying and starting a family. In the 1870s he converted to a form of fervent
Christian anarchism.
Photograph: F. W. Taylor; restoration: Yann