Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy

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This article is about the science fiction and historical novelist. For the similarly named dramatist, see Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy. For other members of the Tolstoy family, see Tolstoy.
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi.
Born Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi
January 10, 1883(1883-01-10)
Pugachyov, Saratov Oblast (then Nikolaevsk)
Died February 23, 1945 (aged 62)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Occupation Novelist, Poet, Journalist, Short story writer
Nationality Russian
Writing period 1907-1945
Genres Science fiction, Historical fiction
Influences

Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi (Russian: Алексей Николаевич Толстой) (January 10, 1883 (December 29, 1882 (O.S.)) - February 23, 1945), nicknamed the Comrade Count, was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels.

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[edit] Early life

He was born in Nikolaevsk (now Pugachyov, Saratov Oblast) in 1883 into an impoverished branch of the Counts Tolstoi. His father was a retired hussar and landowner, Count Nikolay Alexandrovich Tolstoi, and his mother was a children's writer Alexandra Leonievna Bostrom (born Turgeneva, also known as Alexandra Tolstoi). Aleksei was the fourth child in the Tolstoi's family. When his mother was two months pregnant, she fled the family with her lover, Aleksei Apollonovich Bostrom. In accordance with the divorce law of the time, the guilty party (Alexandra) was forbidden to remarry, and the only way for her to keep her newborn son was to register him as a son of Bostrom. Thus, until the age of thirteen, Aleksei had lived under the name of Aleksei Bostrom and had not suspected that Aleksei Bostrom Sr. was not his biological parent. In 1896 both Tolstoi and Bostrom families went into bureaucratic pains to re-register Aleksei as count Tolstoi. Still, he considered Aleksei Bostrom his true father and had hardly ever seen Nikolai Tolstoi and his older siblings.

In 1900 Nikolai Tolstoi died, having left Aleksei with 30,000 rubles and a famous family name. Later, he assumed a rather humorous attitude towards the Tolstoi's heritage. He was known for filling the walls of his apartment with darkened portraits and telling newcomers tales about his Tolstoi ancestors; then he would explain to his friends that all the portraits were purchased at random from a nearby secondhand store and that the stories were complete fiction.

[edit] Literary career

Tolstoi's early short stories were panned by Alexander Blok and other leading critics of the time for their excessive naturalism, wanton eroticism, and general lack of taste in the manner of Mikhail Artsybashev. Some pornographic stories published under Tolstoy's name in the early 1900s were purportedly penned by him; however, most critics remain sceptical as to whether Tolstoi is the real author.

Aleksei Tolstoi left Russia in 1917 during the Bolshevik October Revolution and emigrated first to Germany and later to France. In 1923, he repatriated and accepted the Soviet regime, having become one of its most popular writers. He became a staunch supporter of the Communist Party to the end, writing stories eulogizing Stalin and collaborating with Maxim Gorky on the infamous account of their trip to the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

He published two lengthy historical novels, Peter the First (1929-45), in which he sought to liken Peter's policies to those of Stalin, and The Road to Calvary (1922-41) tracking the period from 1914 to 1919 including the Russian Civil War. He also wrote several plays.

A 1927 Soviet poster advertising the 1924 movie Aelita: Queen of Mars, based on the novel by Aleksey Tolstoy.
A 1927 Soviet poster advertising the 1924 movie Aelita: Queen of Mars, based on the novel by Aleksey Tolstoy.

Aleksei Tolstoi is usually credited with having produced some of the earliest science fiction in the Russian language. His novels Aelita (1923) about a journey to Mars and The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (1927) have gained immense public popularity, the former having spawned an pioneering sci-fi movie in 1924. Besides Aelita (1924), several other movies released in the USSR are based on Tolstoi's novels.

Tolstoi also penned several books for children, starting with Nikita's Childhood, a memorable account of his early years (the book is sometimes mistakenly believed to be about his son, Nikita; in truth, however, he only used the name because it was his favorite - and he would later give it to his eldest son). Most notably, in 1936, he created an adaptation of the famous Italian fairy tale about Pinocchio entitled the Adventures of Buratino or The Golden Key, whose main character, Buratino, quickly became hugely popular among the Soviet populace.

Tolstoi became a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1939. Writer Tatyana Tolstaya is his granddaughter.

[edit] Legacy

A minor planet 3771 Alexejtolstoj, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1974 is named after him. [1]

[edit] Selected Works

  • Lirika, a poetry collection (1907)
  • The Ordeal (1918)
  • Nikita's Childhood (1921)
  • The Road to Calvary, a trilogy (1921-40, Stalin Prize in 1943)
  • Aelita (1923)
  • The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (aka The Garin Death Ray) (1926)
  • Peter I (1929-34, Stalin Prize in 1941)
  • A Week in Turenevo (published posthumously, 1958)
  • Count Cagliostro (supernatural short story)
  • The Family of the Vourdalak (Sem'ya Vurdalaka) - Inspired the episode "The Wurdalack" in Mario Bava´s movie "Black Sabbath", featuring Boris Karloff.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, 5th, New York: Springer Verlag, p. 319. ISBN 3540002383. 
  • Tolstoy, Nikolai (1983). The Tolstoys. Twenty-four generations of Russian history. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-10979-5. 

[edit] External links