Leo Tolstoi's descendants gather in Yasnaya Polyana

On August 1st, Leo Tolstoi's descendants will gather first in Moscow, then in Yasnaya Polyana (three hours drive from Moscow). They are to spend a week in his patrimony.

According to Yasnaya Polyana's owner Vladimir Tolstoi, foreign descendants of the great writer began arriving in Russia on Wednesday. Some 90 out of 230 Leo Tolstoi's descendants will come in Russia. Two years ago 80 people came to a similar gathering.

The meeting of the relatives is devoted to the 140th anniversary of marriage of Leo Tolstoi and his wife Sofia and the 150th anniversary of the writer's creative activity /his first story "Childhood" was published in Nekrasov's Sovremennik magazine in August 1852/.

Vladimir Tolstoi intends to propose relatives to create foreign departments of Leo Tolstoi's Legacy foundation. Yasnaya Polyana museum and Tolstoi's descendants are its founders. According to Vladimir Tolstoi, foreign descendants will join the board of founders to open departments of the foundation in their countries.