This is one of the oldest literary museums in Russia; it was founded in 1911 in Moscow on the initiative of the Tolstoy Society. The wife and children of Leo Tolstoy, as well as prominent figures of Russian culture, including Bunin, Stanislavsky, Gorky, Repin, Pasternak and Nemirovich-Danchenko, took part in its creation.
The museum houses authentic items, manuscripts, portraits, photographs of the writer and his entourage. This is the world’s largest collection of objects related to Leo Tolstoy — it has about half a million exhibits.
The museum has five branches: the main literary exposition on Prechistenka, the Leo Tolstoy Estate Museum in Khamovniki, the Tolstoy Center on Pyatnitskaya, the Leo Tolstoy Memorial Museum “Astapovo” and the Tolstoy Cultural Center in Zheleznovodsk.
The museum hosts events for children: tours, theater classes and school balls. For the wider audience, the museum organizes philosophical seminars, talks and lectures dedicated to the works of Leo Tolstoy.
