Leo Tolstoy is known throughout the world as a great writer. Some people know that he also conducted active social activities. Tolstoy was engaged in pedagogy, considering it his civic duty to make a feasible contribution to the education of the people. The pedagogical activity of Lev Nikolaevich lasted (intermittently) for almost 60 years.
Tolstoy's first steps in pedagogy
In 1849, Lev Nikolayevich, who was then only 20 years old, began to teach peasant children to read and write in his family estate Yasnaya Polyana. But soon Tolstoy was forced to stop these studies due to his military service. He resumed teaching work in 1859, already being a famous writer and participant in the famous defense of Sevastopol. Lev Nikolaevich opened a school for peasant children in Yasnaya Polyana, and also actively facilitated the opening of several more schools in nearby villages. In the writer's own words, he then experienced a three-year passion for this affair.
Unfortunately, the progressive (at that time) methods of teaching Tolstoy, as well as his regular meetings with teachers and like-minded people, seemed suspicious to the local authorities. In 1862, gendarmes searched Tolstoy’s house in Yasnaya Polyana, looking for evidence of seditious activity. Lev Nikolaevich was extremely offended by this and in protest ceased to engage in pedagogy.
