Early years Valentin Bulgakov was the son of an official of the city of Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk). He received his early education at the Tomsk grammar school. At an early age, Valentin Bulgakov became a regular correspondent for a local newspaper. In 1904, a supplement to "Siberian Life" published his best-known early article "F. Dostoevsky in the Kuznetsk". The article contained new material on the wedding of
Fyodor Dostoyevsky with Maria Dmitrievna Isayeva held in Kuznetsk in 1857. In 1906 he finished high school with honors.
Secretary to Leo Tolstoy Bulgakov became a student of history and philology of
Moscow University (1906–1910). In 1907, Bulgakov became acquainted with Leo Tolstoy. He became a sincere follower of
Tolstoyanism and its life principles such as pacifism, vegetarianism, non-participation in political activities and a high level of social activity based on Christian principles. In 1910 he dropped out of university and became the personal secretary of Leo Tolstoy. He was a personal witness to the lives of the Tolstoy family at Yasnaya Polyana during the last period of the writer's life. On 28 October 1910, he managed to prevent a suicide attempt of Tolstoy's wife
Sophia Tolstaya following the departure of Tolstoy. During this period he became gradually estranged from
Vladimir Chertkov, one of the most prominent Tolstoyans. After the death of Leo Tolstoy, Bulgakov remained for several years in Yasnaya Polyana and worked on his notes which were published in 1911 under the title "The last year of Leo Tolstoy" and "The conception of life by Leo Tolstoy in his letters to his secretary". Both books were soon translated into several languages. He began the laborious task of describing the library of Tolstoy. He took an active part in publishing the works of Leo Tolstoy and the organization of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. In 1917 he published "Christian ethics", an authoritative account of the religious and ethical teaching of Tolstoy.
World War I The first reaction of the Tolstoyan Movement to the outbreak of
World War I was the appeal "Wake up, all people are brothers!" composed by Bulgakov on 28 September 1914. Our enemies are—not the Germans, and - not Russians or Frenchmen. The common enemy of us all, no matter what nationality to which we belong—is the beast within us. Nowhere is this truth so clearly confirmed, as now, when, intoxicated, and excessively proud of their false science, their foreign culture and their civilization of the machine, people of the 20th century have suddenly realized the true stage of its development: this step is no higher than that which our ancestors were at in the days of
Attila and
Genghis Khan. It is infinitely sad to know that two thousand years of
Christianity have passed almost without a trace upon the people. In October, Bulgakov continued circulating the appeal, collecting signatures and posting copies which were confiscated by the
Okhrana. On 28 October Bulgakov was arrested together with 27 signatories of the appeal. In November–December 1915, most defendants were released from custody on bail. A trial took place on 1 April 1916 and the defendants were acquitted. Pavel Ivanovich Biryukov received in 1914 the text of the appeal and subsequently published it in the Swiss magazine
Demain ("Tomorrow"), edited by Henri Guilbaud.
Museum In 1916, Bulgakov took the position of keeper of the Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow (the first keeper, Pavel Ivanovich Biryukov, had left for Switzerland). After the
October Revolution, many Tolstoyans opposed dialogue with the Bolsheviks and were opposed to the nationalization of the Tolstoy Museum. Bulgakov and A. Thick insisted, however, on coming to an agreement with the Soviet government. Later Bulgakov, Tolstoy and the artist ND Bartram, founder of the Museum of Toys, were able to secure against numerous applicants a mansion in 11 Prechistenka, Moscow which became the location for the Tolstoy museum. Bulgakov also put great efforts into creating a "steel room" for the Archives of Tolstoy. On 5 April 1920, Lenin signed a decree for the nationalization of the House of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow. The Literary Museum in Prechistenka and the Museum-Estate "Khamovniki" were combined into a single museum with Bulgakov as its director. Bulgakov retained this position until his expulsion by the Soviet regime in 1923.
Pomgol As a result of the
Russian Civil War, alleged crop failure and the first implementation of
war communism (which involved the violent seizure by the government of food from peasants) the country experienced a famine in 1921. There were tens of thousands of starving peasants and many cases of
cannibalism. On 21 July 1921 a preliminary meeting of the
All-Union Public Committee for the Relief of Starving (Pomgol Public Committee, Всероссийский общественный комитет помощи голодающим) was held and a decree was signed by the
Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union on the establishment of the committee, as well as its role. The committee was given the sign of the
Red Cross. The Committee initially included 63 people, including, Bulgakov, famous cultural figures, economist
Alexander Chayanov, the president of the Academy of Sciences
Alexander Petrovich Karpinsky and representatives of Russian religious denominations. Negotiations for help began with overseas organizations, including the
American Relief Administration and polar explorer
Fridtjof Nansen, the head of the executive committee of "International Aid to Russia." The negotiations culminated in agreements on the supply of food. After six weeks the Soviet
Politburo passed a resolution for the elimination of the committee. Most of its members, including Bulgakov, were arrested. Simultaneously, the press began attacking them. However, experienced in confronting the authorities Bulgakov made sure that on 18 September 1921 the newspaper "Communist Labor" ran a refutation of the false accusations and published an excerpt from his letter to the editor. Along with the majority of the members of Pomgol, Bulgakov was released and then exiled from the
Soviet Union in February 1923.
Emigration He went into exile in
Prague,
Czechoslovakia. He conducted extensive lecturing activities in Europe in which he promoted creativity, Tolstoyism and the
non-violent struggle against
British colonialism, led by
Mahatma Gandhi. He joined the international anti-war organization "
War Resisters' International," and soon became one of the members of its board. In 1932 he initiated that the community of
Doukhobor, which at the end of the 19th century had emigrated from Russia to Canada, was accepted by the organization. In the period from 1924 to 1928 he was the chairman of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Czechoslovakia. He supported
Marina Tsvetaeva during her exile in Prague. He corresponded with prominent cultural and intellectual figures such as
Romain Rolland,
Rabindranath Tagore,
Albert Einstein and
Nicholas Roerich. In 1934, Bulgakov founded the Russian cultural-historical museum near the
Prague Castle. The museum gathered a rich collection of Russian art, that had been scattered in many countries around the world including paintings, antiquities, manuscripts and books. He was one of the editors of the Union of Russian Writers' book "The Ark". With A. Yupatovym he prepared the handbook "Russian art abroad" (1938, Prague). In the 1930s, he prepared a fundamental
Glossary of Russian émigré writers (which was not published during the author's lifetime). When at the beginning of the
Second World War the German
Wehrmacht marched into Prague, Bulgakov was arrested on suspicion of being a communist and later sent to an internment camp in
Weißenburg in Bayern (
Bavaria) called "ILAG XIII Wülzburg". During his incarceration at the camp from 1941 to 1945 he wrote his memoirs of Tolstoy and his family.
Back in the USSR In 1948, Bulgakov applied for Soviet citizenship and returned to the USSR. He settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where for almost 20 years he was the keeper of the house-museum of Leo Tolstoy. In 1958 he was admitted to the
Union of Soviet Writers. He wrote a series of essays in the book "Meetings with Artists," "On Tolstoy. Memories and Stories", and a still unpublished memoir, "How Life is Lived." Valentin Bulgakov died in Yasnaya Polyana at the age of 80. He was buried in the village of Kochaki near the family burial of Tolstoys. == Legacy ==