Tatyana Sukhotina-Tolstaya
Encyclopedia
Tatyana Lvovna Sukhotina-Tolstaya (or Tatiana Sukhotin-Tolstoy; , born Tatyana Lvovna Tolstaya (October 4, 1864 - September 21, 1950), was the oldest daughter of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy
.
Tatyana (known in her family as Tanya) grew up close to both her mother and father. She early demonstrated a love of painting, and in 1881 she entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
, where her teachers were Vasily Perov
, Illarion Pryanishnikov
, and Leonid Pasternak
; she also studied with Nikolai Ge
.
Devoted to her father and his ideals, she had rejected a number of suitors, but in 1897 she fell seriously in love with Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin, who was in his fifties and married, with six children.
guberniya
, about 30 km (19 mi) east of Orel
), and on November 19, 1905 she gave birth to her only child, a daughter also called Tatyana (Tanya).
From 1914 to 1921 she lived in Yasnaya Polyana
, where from 1917 to 1923 she was guardian of the museum; from 1923 to 1925 she was director of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. In 1925, together with her daughter, she emigrated to Paris
, where she was hostess to Bunin, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Alexandre Benois
, and other members of the Russian exile community. From Paris she moved to Italy
, where she spent her final years.
In her diary (Dec. 13, 1932) she wrote: "I have lived an incredibly and undeservedly happy and interesting life. And successful."
Her diary (maintained from October 1878 until 1932) was published in English (The Tolstoy Home: Diaries of Tatiana Sukhotin-Tolstoy, tr. Alec Brown, London: Harvill Press; New York: Columbia University Press, 1951) and French (Tatiana Tolstoi, Journal, tr. André Maurois, Paris: Plon, 1953), but in Russian (aside from excerpts in Novy Mir
in 1973) not until Т. Л. Сухотина-Толстая, Воспоминания [Memoirs], Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1976.
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
.
Tatyana (known in her family as Tanya) grew up close to both her mother and father. She early demonstrated a love of painting, and in 1881 she entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture was one of the largest educational institutions in Russia. The school was formed by the 1865 merger of a private art college, established in Moscow in 1832, and the Palace School of Architecture, established in 1749 by Dmitry Ukhtomsky. By...
, where her teachers were Vasily Perov
Vasily Perov
Vasily Grigorevich Perov ; 2 January 1834 – 10 June 1882) was a Russian painter and one of the founding members of Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist painters....
, Illarion Pryanishnikov
Illarion Pryanishnikov
Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov was a Russian painter, one of the founders of the Peredvizhniki artistic cooperative.Illarion Pryanishnikov was born in the village of Timashovo in a family of merchants...
, and Leonid Pasternak
Leonid Pasternak
Leonid Osipovich Pasternak was a Russian post-impressionist painter. He was the father of the poet and novelist Boris Pasternak.-Biography:...
; she also studied with Nikolai Ge
Nikolai Ge
Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge was a Russian realist painter famous for his works on historical and religious motifs.-Early life and education:...
.
Devoted to her father and his ideals, she had rejected a number of suitors, but in 1897 she fell seriously in love with Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin, who was in his fifties and married, with six children.
Tanya carried on a kind of platonic romance with him, met him secretly, suffered from the falseness of the situation but could not bring herself to break it off. "I am ashamed when I think of Sukhotin's wife and children," she wrote, "although he assured me that I am depriving them of nothing and although I know his wife stopped loving him long ago. And also, "Papa is the great rival of all lovers and none has been able to vanquish him yet. But this love of mine is competing more strongly than any other has done so far."Sukhotin's wife died later that year, and on October 9, Tanya announced her desire to marry Sukhotin to her father, who responded with a fiercely uncompromising rejection ("But why a pure girl should want to get mixed up in such a business is beyond me"). Tanya gave in for the time being, but finally insisted, and on November 14, 1899 the couple were married, with Tolstoy sobbing as he led his daughter to the church. They lived on Sukhotin's estate, Kochety ("The Roosters," in Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, about 30 km (19 mi) east of Orel
Oryol
Oryol or Orel is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow...
), and on November 19, 1905 she gave birth to her only child, a daughter also called Tatyana (Tanya).
From 1914 to 1921 she lived in Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana was the home of the writer Leo Tolstoy, where he was born, wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and is buried. Tolstoy called Yasnaya Polyana his "inaccessible literary stronghold". It is located southwest of Tula, Russia and from Moscow.In 1921, the estate formally became his...
, where from 1917 to 1923 she was guardian of the museum; from 1923 to 1925 she was director of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. In 1925, together with her daughter, she emigrated to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where she was hostess to Bunin, Chaliapin, Stravinsky, Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Benois
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois , an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva , an art movement and magazine...
, and other members of the Russian exile community. From Paris she moved to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where she spent her final years.
In her diary (Dec. 13, 1932) she wrote: "I have lived an incredibly and undeservedly happy and interesting life. And successful."
Her diary (maintained from October 1878 until 1932) was published in English (The Tolstoy Home: Diaries of Tatiana Sukhotin-Tolstoy, tr. Alec Brown, London: Harvill Press; New York: Columbia University Press, 1951) and French (Tatiana Tolstoi, Journal, tr. André Maurois, Paris: Plon, 1953), but in Russian (aside from excerpts in Novy Mir
Novy Mir
Novy Mir is a Russian language literary magazine that has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet literary magazine Mir Bozhy , which was published from 1892 to 1906, and its follow-up, Sovremenny Mir , which was published 1906-1917...
in 1973) not until Т. Л. Сухотина-Толстая, Воспоминания [Memoirs], Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1976.
External links
- Short biography (in Russian)
- Dnevnik (Diary, in Russian)