Leo Tolstoy

There were two basic reasons for the quarrels. One was Tolstoy’s diaries. Tolstoy had himself encouraged Sofia to read them many years before, but he changed his mind after the utopian ideal of merging his own being with that of his wife collapsed. In the cramped confines of the house at Yasnaya Polyana, however, there were few opportunities to hide the papers. He started to keep secret diaries for himself alone, hiding them under the upholstery of the armchairs. He passed some manuscripts to Chertkov, but backed down after this provoked a series of rows with Sofia. It is to Sofia’s credit, however, that after her husband’s death, when she had the diaries at her full disposal, she crossed out only five words, three of which scholars are still unable to read.

Copyright was an even more divisive issue. Tolstoy’s decision to transfer his works to the public domain was legally valid only until his death; after that the rights would automatically revert to Sofia as his legal heir. Some of his sons threatened to start legal proceedings against him to invalidate his decisions on the basis that he was suffering from a mental disability. Given Tolstoy’s precarious status as a quasi-excommunicate outlaw, this was not a hollow threat. On the other side, Chertkov was pressing the old man to settle the question of copyright once and for all. Finally Tolstoy gave in and drew up a will, certified by a lawyer, in which he bequeathed the beneficial rights to all his works to his daughter Alexandra, a passionate Tolstoyan and Chertkov’s most trusted friend in the family. Chertkov was appointed as his literary executor. Unable to face the tumult this would cause with Sofia and other members of his family, Tolstoy signed the document secretly in the forest.

His reasons for doing this were self-evident and justifiable. Chertkov’s devotion, competence and efficiency had been tested many times. Tolstoy’s will was also beneficial for future generations of readers and scholars. Under the Bolshevik regime, Chertkov, protected by official reverence towards his mentor, managed to launch an academic edition of Tolstoy’s complete works and to organize a team of researchers able to sustain and complete this ninety-volume chef-d’oeuvre of academic publishing after his death in 1936.

Nevertheless, on a personal level, Tolstoy’s decision violated at least three important tenets of his self-professed faith. He had signed a legal document, authorizing the state, with its laws, courts and executive powers, to intervene in his family affairs. He had done this secretly, making it necessary for Alexandra to lie to her mother. Tolstoy had also always argued against thinking about the future, which is beyond our control, and advised focusing one’s moral duty on the present. His favourite slogan was, ‘Do whatever you must, come what may.’ Now he had failed to apply this precept.

Neither Leo nor Alexandra was any good at dissembling. When confronted by Sofia’s direct questions, they both had to resort to hopeless ambiguities. As Tolstoy had always predicted, the truth came out, justifying Sofia’s suspicions and accusations. From her point of view, by conspiring with Chertkov behind her back he had proved himself to be hypocritical, secretive and scheming. She threatened to murder Chertkov and – repeatedly – to commit suicide. She was reading her husband’s diaries and believed he was doing the same with hers. As a consequence, mentions of suicide in her diaries were often accompanied by assertions that she actually possessed the means to kill herself.

Tolstoy tried to pacify her with concessions on issues that were not existentially important for his soul. In 1909, contrary to his usual aversion to giving public speeches, he agreed to go to the peace congress in Sweden, possibly looking for an excuse to get away from home. Sofia, frightened that he would not come back, started to object vehemently and, after several clashes, he backed down. In the summer of 1910 she managed to extract from him a promise to stop seeing Chertkov. Suspicious that he would break his word during one of his walks, she spied on him from a cave in the forest. Leo’s strategy was self-defeating. Sofia interpreted his concessions as a sign that she could achieve more by pressing harder. Tolstoy knew this, but confessed that the moments when he gave in brought him pure and unadulterated joy, while standing firm, or worse, allowing himself to react angrily, made him suffer and feel ashamed of himself.