Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 to a ruling class family in Russia. His mother was the daughter of Price Volkonsky. His parents died when he was young. He attended Kazan University but quit to study on his own. Tolstoy tried various occupations before becoming a writer. He spent five years in the military and fought against the Turks, British and French. He married Sonya Behrs who had twelve pregnancies. He died on October 7, 1910.