Many of the Tolstoys devoted their spare time to literary pursuits. For instance, Count
Alexei Konstantinovich (1817–75) was a courtier but also one of the most popular Russian poets of his time. He wrote admirable
ballads, a historical novel, some licentious verse, and
satires published under the penname of
Kozma Prutkov. His lasting contribution to the Russian literature was a trilogy of historical dramas, modelled after
Pushkin's
Boris Godunov. 's portrait of
Leo Tolstoy (1873) Count
Lev Nikolaevich (1828–1910), more widely known abroad as
Leo Tolstoy, is acclaimed as one of the greatest novelists of all time. After he started his career in the military, he was first drawn to writing books when he served in
Chechenya, and already his first story,
Detstvo ("
Childhood"), was something quite unlike anything written before him. It was in his family estate
Yasnaya Polyana near
Tula that he created two novels,
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina, that are widely acclaimed as among the best novels ever written. Later he developed
a kind of non-traditional Christian philosophy, described in his work
The Kingdom of God is Within You which inspired
Rainer Maria Rilke and
Mohandas Gandhi, then a young lawyer, whose influence extended to
Martin Luther King Jr. and
James Bevel. Of Lev's thirteen children, most spent their life either promoting his teachings or denouncing them. His youngest daughter and secretary,
Alexandra Lvovna (1884–1979), had a particularly troubled life. Although she shared with her father the doctrine of
nonviolence, she felt it was her duty to take part in the events of
World War I. Count
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1883–1945) belonged to a different branch of the family. His early short stories, published in 1910s, were panned by critics for excessive
naturalism and wanton eroticism. After the
Revolution he briefly emigrated to Germany, but then changed his political views and returned to the
Soviet Union. His science fiction novels
Aelita (1923), about a journey to Mars, and
The Garin Death Ray (1927) are still popular with readers. In his later years he published two lengthy novels on historical subjects,
Peter the First (1929–45) and
The Road to Calvary (1922-41). As a staunch supporter of
Joseph Stalin, he became known as "Red Count" or "Comrade Count" and his works were acknowledged as classics of
Soviet literature. Most of his reputation declined with that of
Socialist Realism, but his children's tale character
Buratino retains his strong legacy with the younger audience of Russia and across the former Soviet space, appearing as popular reading, a movie, and a variety of derivative forms. His granddaughter
Tatyana Tolstaya (born May 3, 1951) is one of the foremost Russian short story writers. Another member of the family is Count
Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (born in 1935), a British historian and monarchist, and nominal head of the House of Tolstoy today. ==After the Russian Revolution==