Writing has an amazing quality: it is not just a collection of information, data about historical and personal relationships, something more. The reader is transported to that time, begins to understand and justify many things, to remember the relationship between the characters.
The works touch the soul, the inner world. However, there are authors who understand the difficult questions of the fairness of the assessment of creativity or activity. This is what literary historians do. These include Ivan Nikitich Tolstoy.
Searching for a vocation
He was born in a famous creative family in Leningrad in 1958, January 21. Father - the son of the famous writer A. N. Tolstoy, mother - the daughter of the poet M. L. Lozinsky. The head of the family was a famous physicist, professor. Brother Mikhail also decided to study science. The sisters, Tatyana and Natalya, became writers.
In 1975 Ivan Nikitich graduated from high school and became a student at the medical institute. Education turned out to be wrong. Medicine did not attract the student at all. The wife, seeing the mood of her husband, advised him to study philology.
Then Ivan Nikitich entered the university at the philological faculty. At the same time, he worked as a tour guide in the Pushkin Hills. After graduation, the graduate taught Russian language and literature at school. He studied archives, wrote articles.
Passion for emigre literature was more and more captivated by the novice writer. However, it did not work out with publications on this topic. The first successes appeared in 1987. Tolstoy already taught at the Humanities and Polytechnic universities. He became the editor of Zvezda, a proofreader for Russkaya Mysl.
Since 1994, Ivan Nikitich began to teach special courses on Nabokov at the university. His specialization as a writer-historian chose emigre history and literature, as well as the period of the Cold War. In 1992, the publicist headed the publishing house Toviy Grzhebin as editor-in-chief.
Works by emigrant authors and works about their life abroad were published. The author specializes in the history and literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Favourite buisness
Since 1994 Ivan Nikitich became the editor-in-chief of Experiments. The journal has published more than five hundred of his reviews, reviews and articles. The writer created the books “The Washed Novel of Zhivago”, “Italics of the Epoch”.
In 1988 he started working for Radio Liberty as a journalist. Since the end of 1994, the writer has become a full-time employee. In 1995 he moved to Prague. The author chose all themes and directions himself. Ivan Nikitich tells great stories. His narration is bright, imaginative and lively. However, the writer is also a master of finding interesting subjects. In his opinion, working with archives is an exciting activity. You can find incredible things that explain a lot in emigrant life.
When context is presented, the historical picture is clearer. This is what the historian is doing. Tolstoy studies materials from the past in order to lead readers to the current day. The author does not have to invent anything. All his works are based on real facts.
The merit of the author is their unification into a single whole, history. When juxtaposed, an interesting narrative is created. The only difficulty, in Tolstoy's opinion, is to make the historical story more entertaining. Then you can not just listen, but listen with enthusiasm. Then it is easy for everyone to understand why this event happened, what is the connection between the facts that happened.
A unique researcher is able to find amazing information for readers and listeners. Ivan Nikitich became the host of several programs. Among them are "Myths and Reputations". Significant projects The historian created the author's cycle “Radio Liberty. Half a century on the air. " He hosts the programs “Historical Travels of Ivan Tolstoy” and “Keepers of the Inheritance” on the Kultura channel.
The programs reveal amazing stories about works, events, people. His programs told about little-known historical characters. For example, the program about Roman Gul, a French novelist of Russian origin, shows the story of a selfless mother who did everything to take her son away from the shocks of the revolution. The final of the program is especially shocking. It turns out that the mother hid not only the illness from her son, but also her own care. Gul received encouraging letters after her death.
The writer told about the poet, the author of a poem by Filaret Chernov, the Moscow professor Sergei Melgunov, the naval warrant officer Boris Bierkelund and the politician Vasily Shulgin. He managed to collect bit by bit information about the author of the song “Swept you with snow, Russia”.
Present tense work
The researcher tried to translate his TV shows on paper, but he quickly realized that the fascination was lost. The writer himself is not interested in repeating the material again. He prefers improvisation. The story itself is thought out in advance. Anything can be the reason for it, from an accidentally noticed photo to a question asked by someone.
And it is much easier to tell something to Tolstoy himself than to listen to the stories of others. He himself draws the attention of the audience to the details that are interesting in his opinion, pays a lot of attention to the psychology of the heroes. His plots are distinguished by the thoughtfulness of the drama. World culture in his programs is retold anew, but only from an interesting perspective.
As a person, an expert on Russian culture and a brilliant storyteller is incredibly erudite. With his travels in time and literature, he is simply mesmerizing. He created seven books, two of which are dedicated to the work of Boris Pasternak, his novel Doctor Zhivago.
Held several documentary and photographic exhibitions. He is the father of two children, a daughter and a son. Became a grandfather. Since autumn 20018 he has been compiling and editing the historical and cultural almanac "Connaisseur". The edition is published in Russian in Prague.
