1910-11-20 — Leo Tolstoy was a Russian aristocrat, novelist, and moral philosopher (b. 9 September 1828 in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia; d. 20 November 1910 in Astapovo, Russia). He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. His War and Peace (1869), Anna Karenina (1878), and Resurrection (1899), are often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction and three of the greatest novels ever written. [Wikipedia]
As a child he accepted and assimilated all the principles and dogma of the Orthodox Church. Even though he did not understand them he accepted them blindly. Tormented by the fact that he could not reconcile the beliefs of the religion of his fathers with reason, he became a nihilist as a young adult but never abandoned his search for God and true religion.
In his book, The True LIfe published in 1878, in a chapter entitled The Gospel in Brief, he openly attacked the church and demonstrated that it was the main obstacle preventing man from practicing the ideals of Christ's teachings. Through his investigations of other religions, of Buddha, of Lao-Tse, Zoroaster and Muhammad, he concluded that all of the major religions had deviated from the original teaching of their Founders.
On 5 September 1894 he received a notebook sent to him by his Turkish Translator Olga Sergeyevna Lebedova which contained a translation of an article about the Bábí Faith. His reply to her indicated that he had already heard of it but there is no evidence of when or from where. In 1852 two newspapers, La Revue de Genève (4 November) and the Journal de Genève had given accounts of the martyrdom of the Báb, perhaps he had seen these articles. He asked her for additional information.
In April 1898 he was visited by three people well-known in European literary circles. These three writers noted his interest in the Bábí Faith and sent him a book on the subject. [LTBF18]
By 1901 he was excommunicated and so in the same year he published A reply to the Synod's Edict of Excommunication and to Letters Concerning it that was a succinct expression of his religious ideas. [LTBF11]
Gabriel Sacy, a Frenchman of Syrian origin, living in Cairo, who had been born a Jew, converted to Islam, then to Christianity and then embraced the Bahá'í Faith, wrote to him 13 May 1901 to share his beliefs. This would have been the first time that Tolstoy heard of the Bahá'í Faith from a believer. At this time he considered that the Bábí Faith was a religious movement limited to the East, an attitude prevalent at the time. [LFBF22-23]
Tolstoy was in Gaspra in the Crimea recovering after a serious illness when on 27 May 1902 he was approached by a merchant named Kasím Basiravov, a Bahá'í who had decided to contact him. This was the first time that he had met with a believer. [LFBF26]
A few months later, on 14 September, he was visited by a Persian merchant named Mirza Azizu'lláh Jadhdháb Khurasáni. He left a full account of the five days he spent with Tolstoy. They discussed the fulfillment of prophecy, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the principles of the Faith, the administration, the example of Bahá'í life functioning in Isahqábád, and the station of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from whom he brought this message, "Act that your name may leave a good memory in the world of religion." Tolstoy asked for more writings and Mirza Azizu'lláh offered to contact Mirza Alí-Akbar Nakhjavani in Bákú who was capable of corresponding with him in Russian. [LTBF26-31; EB185-190]
The nineteenth century saw a flowering of anarchist thought broadly characterized by a “rejection of the familiar norms and structures, especially the political ones, of their age” and a belief that humanity ought to live free of government structures and in accord with nature. His writings were the basis for what has been called Christian socialism. In her work among the poor, Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper came in contact with John Kenworthy, an influential person in this area and someone who had visited Tolstoy twice. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to her in 1901 with advice for Mr. Kenworthy on how to approach Tolstoy. [BCBI226; LTBF53]
The drama “Báb” by Isabella Grinevskaya was published in May, 1903, and was mounted in one of the principal theaters in St. Petersburg in January, 1904. It was this drama that brought to Count Leo Tolstoy a knowledge of the Bahá’í teachings. He read the book and at once wrote to Mrs. Grinevskaya expressing his appreciation for her great drama and his sympathy with the Bahá’í Movement. The letter was subsequently printed in the Russian press. [BW6p707].
See as well Count Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Movement by Martha Root in Bahá'í World Vol 5 p642.
See Lev Tolstoi and the Bábí and Bahá’í Faiths A Bibliography by William P. Collins and Jan T. Jasion first published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 3, number 3 (1991). The authors state that Tolstoy corresponded with the following Bahá'ís: Hippolyte Dreyfus, Izabella Grinevskaia, Dr. Yúnis Khán-i-Afrúkhtih, ‘A1i-Akbar Nakhjavání, Gabriel Sacy, and Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá mentioned Tolstoy in correspondence to Nakhjavání, Sacy, Thornburgh-Cropper, Dreyfus, and Laura Clifford-Barney.
On 4 April 1904 Hippolyte Dreyfus sent Tolstoy his newly published French translation of the Kitáb-i-Iqán (Le Livre de Certitude). He replied to Dreyfus that the book "put him off Bahá'u'lláh's teachings". It contradicted his belief that Abraham, Moses, Christ, Mohammad had all been ordinary men and not divine Messenger. Notwithstanding this, he continued to recommend the study of the Faith to his correspondents, nor did he stop investigating the Faith himself. [LTBF33-34]
By December of 1908 Tolstoy's opinion of the Bahá'í Faith had somewhat evolved, he said, in part, "Baháism...is one of the highest and purest of religious teachings." He had a particular respect for the Bahá'í Faith because of its acceptance of all of the former religions, but did not appear to have grasped the concept of progressive revelation. Within a year's time he had a clearer idea about the three central figures of the Faith and their functions and roles. [LTBF40, 43, 52]
There is no evidence of any communication from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Tolstoy, however he did refer to his work in many tablets and offered advice to those who wanted to meet or correspond with him. Mirza 'Alí-Akbar Nakhjavani, a resident of Baku, wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá for such council. He advised him to treat him with the utmost courtesy and fair-mindedness and suggested he give him a copy of a letter He had addressed to the believers in the East and the West that had been translated into Russian. (This tablet can be found in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá #225 p283-295; Tablet of the Two Calls; Russian translation here) Tolstoy replied to Nakhjavani's correspondence on 22 September 1909 stating that he had the intention of writing a book about the Bahá'í Faith but It appeared that he had some reservations that prevented him from complete acceptance of the Faith. In all likelihood he could not accept the idea of a manifestation from God. The promised book was not finished at the time of his passing. [LTBF49-50, 55; ABBAS88-89]
Tolstoy died on 20 November 1910 at the age of 82. Two thousand people attended his funeral. Three choirs sang. There were no eulogies, as per the family's request, although 100 students had asked to speak. According to some sources, Tolstoy spent the last hours of his life preaching love, non-violence, and Georgism. A 2009 film about Tolstoy's final year, The Last Station based on the 1990 novel by Jay Parini, was made by director Michael Hoffman with Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as Sofya Tolstoya. Both performers were nominated for Oscars for their roles. [Wikipedia]
The Tolstoy bibliography.
The book Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Faith was written by Luigi Standard and translated from Russian, Persian and French to English by Jeremy Fox. It was published by George Ronald in 1985.
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