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easy to. see. you're watching r.t. the main stories we're covering for you the sound of time to make friends hopes for better russian ties as you know it seeks moscow's help on missile defense and afghanistan president getting set to join the summer term dishing out democracy at a price the u.s. taxpayers shelling out billions of dollars to fund a foreign influence. and even with near one hundred years after the death of one of the world's most celebrated authors thousands of people are still visiting tolstoy's state keeping the russian writer spirit along. and i always stay within

the toss to out a verse three hours i'll get over talks to the writers great grandson was also the director of the museum dedicated to him that's a few minutes from that stay with us. we'll. bring you the latest in science and technology from around the world. we've dumped a huge earth covered. hello again and welcome to spotlight. on r.t.e. i'm now going all vent today my guest in the studio is. this year the world will be

commemorating the hundred years since the death of a great russian writer and. war and peace is just a small part of the. post i was brave enough to question the moral and religious pillars which russia had been taking for granted of a century. that man behind the lines will learn we may learn something from his great great grandson. leo tolstoy has been praised for his thoughtful writing and versatile characters when he felt he had to say something and he had a lot to say tolstoy's philosophy was peaceful rebellion unusual for that time and not fully accepted even today this philosophy strongly influenced the pacifism of mahatma gandhi and martin luther king brought a curse from the russian orthodox church tolstoy is probably the only person who

enjoys and i'm questionable authority in the russian caucasus. thank you for joining our program we are very glad to have you here with us today but first of all what's taking place at yasnaya polyana this year this interior on a verse three of leo tolstoy is dead. no the main events are taking place in the village. a place where tolstoy died and i think that on this day. to be in a place where the great russian writer breeze. his last breath he was buried at just two days after he died so naturally we will spend the next two days i mean the twenty first on the twenty second of november a just. the large crowd is expected yes of all religious and philosophical conference is being held as part of the commemorations it will

move from moscow to a stop over and from there to two and just and afterwards back to moscow again there's a long list of participants but most visitors are just ordinary people who come to pay tribute to leo tolstoy these days. members of the public attend commemorations you know stop of or yes. absolutely. are special invitations needed. well there are many people there and there are measures of being taken. descendants are also there as usual. this year more than one hundred thirty tolstoy's descendants. to attend our traditional annual family reunion some of them have also come for the commemorative events. how many direct tolstoy descendants are there in the world today. if you mean the living ones the right about three hundred people and how many of them are in russia russia has just twenty descendants just twenty

the rest live abroad so yes how old is the oldest descendant. i think salman or maybe eighty eight years old who are they. and. who lives in the united states he's a descendant from the female line they are almost ninety years old unfortunately the last granddaughters of leo tolstoy software and the john have recently died and they lived in sweden and they were well over ninety so all of tolstoy's grandchildren are now dead. there are no grandchildren left as far as i know it was the wish of tolstoy's wife sophia to turn yasnaya polyana into public property. and you were running out of states what's the status of this estate today what's the status of the tolstoy family can your descendants inherit your director status

. not state and the government have appointed me the manager of the state and the museum's director so there's no family connection i have a contract so they can easily appoint another person to the post the russian culture minister concludes that. manager and may terminate my contract and appoint a person with any name to the post so the family name has got nothing to do with it however it turned out that family members used to run the state in the most troublesome years in its history. those youngest daughter alexandra was the state's director during the great patriotic war it was always granddaughter associate. who was also the wife of russian poet said. i am the third member of the tolstoy family who was asked to run the state. i was a cult figure and remains as such in literature and society. i used to be

a cult figure even in his lifetime. his own family's attitude to him. what was it like to share one roof with him. we had i think it's always hard for family members to leave with a genius because people bright outstanding. but in addition to that. story was a complex person. on the one hand he's family loved him very much but. nervous in relations with his family in the last years of his life. that was linked to the external influence of situation with his will and the problems which the writer faced in the last years of his life. left home and died at the railway station. his death was a few knowledge to the drama of his life. in other words.

you are saying that. and this year we are commemorating the three of his death. with himself his family and the outside world. no you know why the english phrase rest in peace can hardly be applied to tolstoy that he didn't die peacefully did he. well first of all tolstoy didn't go away to die he was a very strong eighty two year old man who could easily and independently jump on a horse and take long horseback rides and you could physically he was still very fit the fields the age of eighty two he no longer plowed i guess but nevertheless he didn't leave home to die it was just a coincidence. with you moni a while he was travelling by train. fact his death was even primitive.

left home because of the atmosphere that surrounded him on the last years of his life. prevented him from working normally around by the people we call today everywhere what do you mean by you don't mean there were journalists or photographers journalists and photographers where they really photographers photographers cameramen journalists numerous petitioners yes petitioners are a different thing they were also everywhere. a problem for famous people even at the time. as you've mentioned was a cult figure and superstar so to speak and each other. movements were carefully observed. he was in the center of attention and crowds of people surrounded him all the time but he wanted peace he wanted to think work and write peacefully and he searched for that piece outside his home. but he died shortly after he left his home. have been linked to yes so intimately that his departure turned out to be

fatal and final for him. had a very large family and i have always admired. almost as if every second person in russia bears the name tolstoy. did many bear the surname. exception from this big family and. perhaps you think. you were supposed to know him better than others he was a typical member of your family and all other members are like him to a certain degree. of course it would be strange to compare anyone to tell stories in terms of his talent. but some features of character such as disposition and passionate temperament are inherent to most members of the tolstoy family. i think that we family qualities and features to this or that

degree. you say that every other person is a tolstoy in russia the thing is that the tolstoy is a bright and down standing people who are well known because there are too many of them but because each family representative has a personality. then noticeable and that creates an impression that there are plenty of them. is it true that the tell stories are one big. boys who live on. distant relatives or do several families bear the surname. but i also think that tolstoy's. distant relatives somewhere in the depths of the centuries. tolstoy family is very old it has existed for hundreds of years the family tree originates from the thirteenth century. but there's documentary proof of that but naturally the family has many branches brothers sisters and more

distant relatives but some couples had many children some members of the tolstoy family received the title of count and pasta tong to their descendants. some tolstoy's were not counts but they had the same origins yes this is why an extensive family. does the surname tolstoy also originate from the thirteenth century. well the family tree originates from a certain interest who came to live in ancient russia together with his two sons. then one of his grandsons in the third or fourth generation was nicknamed. isn't it strange. is a russian word meaning first there were lots of people in russia at the time that only one family. well you know tossed it today means mass

event heavy while in the fourteenth century simply manned big and strong. even at that time members of the tolstoy family stude altus tall and strong people. yes sensodyne initial nickname as we could call it now became their real surname says vladimir tolstoy great grandson of. the great russian author spotlight we'll be back shortly after a break so stay with us we'll continue this in. and for your convenience are comfortable. will teach you to speak. just a few hours observing urgency and scaring to scorn. on

the monks. are included. with the wild. which brightened if you need sound from finest impressions. totty dot com.

welcome back to spotlight it's. just a reminder that my guest in the studio today is. the great grandson of. the russian famous author and russian writer great great great great. ok. mr tolstoy. leo tolstoy is wife last october both in russian and english why does it take one hundred years to finally have them published. i haven't read the memoirs myself yet i knew that the books almost dethrones tolstoy but i like most people in russia as a cult figure the book is said to portray him as a less magnificent figure than the public traditionally thinks of.

you know there are two different levels the everyday routine level and the scale of the personality as a whole. he's a magnificent figure but it's just think of the ninety volumes of his works his nobles are fascinating as for on the careening i think it is one of the greatest novels of the world literature. of war and peace. the work avant i think anna karenina is almost intact as a work of a writer and an artist. is certainly a massive large scale epic work but it is somewhat excessive in some places at least in my view. there isn't a single word to be added or taken out. like ulysses by joyce an absolutely perfect

piece of literature rather difficult to compare them i mean that both works look perfect yes in terms of a to stick and the static perfection and completeness and the qur'an and he's on parallels anyway why did it take one hundred years to publish the memoirs. point is that personal notes and diaries are always subjective. some time has to pass before they're published. and it is only natural that many people ask for their diaries to be published he said say fifty years after they die . each time has to pass before some things can no longer have a harmful impact on their children and grandchildren will have their own opinion of them. did you read those diaries prior to their publication yeah i read in my life do you think the timing of the publication was right or they should have been published earlier that. they could have been published earlier

just kind of a person he believes there is no need of making anything classified there was nothing in leo tolstoy is live that should have been concealed no secrets period not even family secrets that we should be as sincere and still still himself was i believe this is the best way to handle things well let's see if people in other countries people another continent still know who leo tolstoy is and was and whether they have read any of his books tolstoy yes i have. russian author writer. books like war and peace. yes anything else. they are told you know. my grandfather is from russia so. that's why i know a bit about it could be about how the name.

haven't you ever seen the new one. with all the fun. no i have not heard of that i have me on the plane you know what. we're in peace. noir never. and. up. here you ever seen a movie year very good movie the. author . tolstoy isn't here writer he wrote war and peace right. now i did i read it. on. their one piece.

that you know that's just. i don't have never read it. i read the cliff notes in college which is embarrassing yes now i have not tried it and tried it and i couldn't get through it so i read the cliff notes so an occurrence that i definitely read it and loved it loved it but i didn't put the name leo tolstoy with the name of the novel apologize but loved it read it. how can you comment on this is this a usual thing. is that any random sample has that you could approach someone in the street and suddenly run into a tolstoy expert the name is generally known though generally people heard it so things aren't done but for instance i bet the same last name so whenever i show my

id at the passport control they always say oh tolstoy war and peace or seen attacks a camera to hotel reception desk whenever i produce my id the majority of people immediately remember leo tolstoy. dickens in the same way the name dickens is known in russia but it doesn't mean that everyone reads him from cover to cover on the other hand it's unlikely that most russians could name more than two novels by dickens people know his name or. there are going back to leo tolstoy final day and his fame in the west. michael hoffman's last station just premiered in russia. it's about tolstoy's final days his final year. that's right did you like the film is it accurate in patrolling tolstoy period. two different questions give two different answers childlike the film it's accurate in terms of emotions

it's made with great love for tolstoy and his wife. helen mirren and christopher plummer played brilliantly and james mcavoy did a great job as tolstoy secretary. general it's a good film with great music. i believe the western audience took it well and hopefully the same will happen in russia. as for your second question about historical authenticity the film deliberately misses out a lot of points some episodes of his life. should be taken as fiction exactly it's not a documentary based on real events it certainly is to the filmmakers consult with you so they did from the very beginning so you have no hard feelings you knew what it would be like no hard feelings at all on the contrary we became friends with michael hoffman and the whole film crew and i participated in filming in germany is

the fact that the film. which marks the one hundredth anniversary of your great great grandfather's death was produced in a foreign country anyway. i believe we should be grateful that they made this film. if we can do is shrug our shoulders and disappoint this great didn't get likewise. in his own homeland let's note koehler look at what tolstoy his last years of life really were in a report by spotlights in the demeter. in those final years dos too wasn't turmoil over his legacy and his life his estate is now a popular tourist attraction but it's serenity's deceptive the great writer and thinker was never quite at peace with himself agonizing over mistakes made during he's tumultuous youth and trying to come up with the ideal way of living tolstoy's

later years were rebellion he challenged popular opinion by writing the critical as soon shakespeare where he doubted the playwrights literary merit he came up with his own vision of faith and christianity and attacked religious dogmas the price he had to pay was high and tolstoy was excommunicated from the russian orthodox church but that did not put off his supporters among those who admired tall stories who also was another great thinker of the time mahatma gandhi with whom tolstoy wasn't correspondence throughout the last year of these life the writer and who also for went further in challenging the foundations of society he rejected private property and renounced his ancestral claims to he's a state this radicalism was not understood by tolstoy's family as a result at the age of eighty two he felt ready to start a new life over nomadic cooper and left home this ultimate rebel and didn't last

long after just a few days tolstoy became seriously ill and eventually died. thousands showed up to pay respect to the dead writer whose legacy is much more than his novels weren't peace and on the qur'an and. things authors would never dare. have you ever thought about the following. story was as you said such a significant figure in his country. the less his ideas of not resisting violence nonviolent resistance. so how come these ideas became popular in india. and became an important part of the indian culture whereas in russia they were totally forgotten and seven years after tolstoy's death most cruel experiment based on violence was lost in the

country i mean the bolshevik revolution and. why did it happen. it's common knowledge that no man is a prophet in his homeland. indeed ideas became very popular in india mahatma gandhi used them to create. as the foundation for the entire system of government in india exactly and there were others we can say that tolstoy's ideas influenced martin luther king a lot. showed the path of peaceful nonviolent lifestyle. and proved. but this path is very difficult. unfortunately even in india it didn't last very long. any state is always built on some violent functions against individuals. and therefore.

therefore the food. ideas are inconvenient any form of government. you was inconvenient for the tzarist russia and he was equally inconvenient for the bolsheviks then you would have been you will never see any type of democracy or authoritarianism the only just doesn't conform to the standards of any form of government for more probably in space thank you perhaps this is what makes him so interesting but sure thank you very much for being with us and just to remind you that my guest today was of led to another tolstoy great grandson of. the famous russian author who died hundred years ago and that's it for now from all of us here if spotlight will be back and ferment they. can take.

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