Leo Tolstoy and His Nagging Wife
The fame, popularity, money, property and genius is not a guarantee for a happy married life. As it was true in the case of Albert Einstein, it is true in case Leo Tolstoy, one of the world’s greatest writers.
He wrote masterpieces like War and Peace and Anna Karenina. War and Peace ranks amongst the first 5 greatest novels of all time. It deals with the condition of aristocratic society of Russia at the time of Napoleon’s attack.
Tolstoy’s early life was full of gambling, boozing and licentiousness though a struggle in his inner mind for shunning this life was always took place. He married Sophia Andreyevna Bers, a well educated rich woman. They had 13 children.
During, the later years of his life, his life took a complete turn and he became very religious. He relinquished all his possessions to the peasants. This was not acceptable to his wife who was not ready to part with the life of lavishness and fights between them started. His candor about his infidelities also added fuel to the fire.
His children, with the exception of the youngest daughter, Alexandra, sided with their mother. In 1910, at 83, Tolstoy left home with Alexandra without a specific destination. He caught a chill and died at the railroad station master’s house at Astapovo.
