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163 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2026
About the author
Sofia Tolstaya
22 books43 followersSophia Andreyevna Tolstaya (née Behrs) (Russian: Со́фья Андре́евна Толста́я, sometimes Anglicised as Sophia Tolstoy), was the wife of Russian novelist and thinker Leo Tolstoy. Sophia was one of 3 daughters of physician Andrey Behrs, and Liubov Alexandrovna Behrs.
Sophia was first introduced to Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when she was 18 years old. At 34, Tolstoy was 16 years her senior. On 17 September, 1862 the couple became formally engaged, marrying a week later in Moscow. At the time of their marriage, Leo Tolstoy was already well-known as a novelist after the publication of The Cossacks.
On the eve of their marriage, Tolstoy gave Sophia his diaries detailing his sexual relations with female serfs. In Anna Karenina, 34 year old Constantine Levin, a semi-autobiographical character behaves similarly, asking his 19 year old fiancée Kitty to read his diaries and learn of his past transgressions.
The Tolstoys had 13 children, only 8 of which survived childhood. Tolstaya tried to convince her husband to use birth control but he refused. Fortunately, the family was prosperous, owing to Tolstoy's efficient management of his estates and to the sales of his works, making it possible to provide adequately for the increasing family.
Tolstoya was a devoted help to her husband in his literary work. She acted as copyist of War and Peace, copying the manuscript seven times from beginning to end.
In 1887, Tolstoya took up the relatively new art of photography. She took over a thousand photographs that documented her life, including with Tolstoy, and the decline of pre-Soviet Tsarist Russia.
She was also a diarist and documented her life with Leo Tolstoy in a series of diaries which have been published in English translation.
After many years of an increasingly troubled marriage - the couple argued over Tolstoy's desire to give away all his private property - Leo left Sophia abruptly in 1910, aged 81, with his doctor, Duchan Makovicki, and daughter Alexandra Tolstaya. Tolstoy died 10 days later in a railway station, whilst Sophia was kept away from him.
Following the death of her husband, Sophia continued to live in Yasnaya Polyana and survived the Russian Revolution in relative peace. She died in 1919.
Sophia was first introduced to Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when she was 18 years old. At 34, Tolstoy was 16 years her senior. On 17 September, 1862 the couple became formally engaged, marrying a week later in Moscow. At the time of their marriage, Leo Tolstoy was already well-known as a novelist after the publication of The Cossacks.
On the eve of their marriage, Tolstoy gave Sophia his diaries detailing his sexual relations with female serfs. In Anna Karenina, 34 year old Constantine Levin, a semi-autobiographical character behaves similarly, asking his 19 year old fiancée Kitty to read his diaries and learn of his past transgressions.
The Tolstoys had 13 children, only 8 of which survived childhood. Tolstaya tried to convince her husband to use birth control but he refused. Fortunately, the family was prosperous, owing to Tolstoy's efficient management of his estates and to the sales of his works, making it possible to provide adequately for the increasing family.
Tolstoya was a devoted help to her husband in his literary work. She acted as copyist of War and Peace, copying the manuscript seven times from beginning to end.
In 1887, Tolstoya took up the relatively new art of photography. She took over a thousand photographs that documented her life, including with Tolstoy, and the decline of pre-Soviet Tsarist Russia.
She was also a diarist and documented her life with Leo Tolstoy in a series of diaries which have been published in English translation.
After many years of an increasingly troubled marriage - the couple argued over Tolstoy's desire to give away all his private property - Leo left Sophia abruptly in 1910, aged 81, with his doctor, Duchan Makovicki, and daughter Alexandra Tolstaya. Tolstoy died 10 days later in a railway station, whilst Sophia was kept away from him.
Following the death of her husband, Sophia continued to live in Yasnaya Polyana and survived the Russian Revolution in relative peace. She died in 1919.
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June 3, 2026
Kratak roman, ili dulja pripovijest, iz pera Sofije Tolstoj, koju svijet uglavnom poznaje kao suprugu slavnog Lava Nikolajeviča. Djelo je nastalo kao odgovor na Tolstojevu poznatiju novelu "Kreutzerova sonata", u kojoj na, njemu svojstveno, prilično radikalan način analizira bračne i muško-ženske odnose.
Sofijina junakinja Ana svojevrstan je autoričin alter ego - kao vrlo mlada djevojka udaje se za dvaput starijeg kneza Prozorskog i vrlo brzo uviđa da on od nje očekuje gotovo isključivu podložnost, bez interesa za njezin duševni život, a ni za djecu koja se rađaju jedno za drugim. Baš kao i Tolstojev Pozdnišev, knez Prozorski ženu kinji patološkom ljubomorom, dok je ona sama razapeta između želje da ugodi mužu i da i sama bude voljena kao cjelovito ljudsko biće.
Djelo Sofije Tolstoj izuzetno je zanimljivo iz više aspekata. Prvo, zbog svojeg stila i kvalitete pisanja, ono može komotno stajati uz bok sličnim djelima njezinog slavnijeg (i bez sumnje genijalnog) supruga. Drugo, to je vjerojatno prvo djelo onog vremena koje otvoreno govori o ženskoj perspektivi tadašnjih običaja ruskog plemstva - udaji mladih kćeri za puno starije muževe (takve situacije su vrlo česte u djelima ruskih realista). Ako Sofija Tolstoj i nije preteča feminističkih autorica, svojim je djelom otvorila novu mogućnost čitanja djela ruskih (i to muških) klasika. Treće, ovako napisano djelo ukazuje na njezin velik talent - koji je očito ostao potpuno podređen talentu njezina supruga.
„Zar se samo od toga sastoji naš ženski poziv“, mislila je Ana, „da od služenja tijelom dojenčetu prelazimo na služenje tijelom mužu? I tako naizmjenično, zauvijek! A gdje je tu moj život? Gdje sam ja? Ona prava ja, koja je nekad stremila nečem uzvišenom, služenju Bogu i idealima? Umorna, izmučena, ja propadam. Vlastitog života, ni zemaljskog ni duhovnog, nemam.“
Sofijina junakinja Ana svojevrstan je autoričin alter ego - kao vrlo mlada djevojka udaje se za dvaput starijeg kneza Prozorskog i vrlo brzo uviđa da on od nje očekuje gotovo isključivu podložnost, bez interesa za njezin duševni život, a ni za djecu koja se rađaju jedno za drugim. Baš kao i Tolstojev Pozdnišev, knez Prozorski ženu kinji patološkom ljubomorom, dok je ona sama razapeta između želje da ugodi mužu i da i sama bude voljena kao cjelovito ljudsko biće.
Djelo Sofije Tolstoj izuzetno je zanimljivo iz više aspekata. Prvo, zbog svojeg stila i kvalitete pisanja, ono može komotno stajati uz bok sličnim djelima njezinog slavnijeg (i bez sumnje genijalnog) supruga. Drugo, to je vjerojatno prvo djelo onog vremena koje otvoreno govori o ženskoj perspektivi tadašnjih običaja ruskog plemstva - udaji mladih kćeri za puno starije muževe (takve situacije su vrlo česte u djelima ruskih realista). Ako Sofija Tolstoj i nije preteča feminističkih autorica, svojim je djelom otvorila novu mogućnost čitanja djela ruskih (i to muških) klasika. Treće, ovako napisano djelo ukazuje na njezin velik talent - koji je očito ostao potpuno podređen talentu njezina supruga.
„Zar se samo od toga sastoji naš ženski poziv“, mislila je Ana, „da od služenja tijelom dojenčetu prelazimo na služenje tijelom mužu? I tako naizmjenično, zauvijek! A gdje je tu moj život? Gdje sam ja? Ona prava ja, koja je nekad stremila nečem uzvišenom, služenju Bogu i idealima? Umorna, izmučena, ja propadam. Vlastitog života, ni zemaljskog ni duhovnog, nemam.“
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