Literay Fact Literay Fact 2541-8297 2542-2421 IWL RAS https://www.doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2016-1-2-291-300 Articles “…a Man of Great Talent but Mean-spirited”: Elizaveta Salias de Tournemire on Leo Tolstoy Evgenia Stroganova editor@litfact.ru 2016 Elizaveta Salias De Tournemire Leo Tolstoy relationship epistolary comments writer’s talent negative personal attitude Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The purpose of this paper is the analysis of literary critical including unknown ones epistolary comments of Elizaveta Sailas De Tournemire (E. Tur) on Leo Tolstoy. It shows that the authoress highly appreciated Tolstoy’s pencraft and talent for writing, but had a bias against him as a person. In the letters of Elizaveta Salias De Tournemire there is an evidence of her acquiantance with the writer which had not been known before. 1. Goldenveizer A.B. Vblizi Tolstogo (Zapisi za pyatnadtsat’ let). [Near Tolstoy (fifteen years of records)]. Moscow; Petrograd: Tsentral’noe tov-vo “Kooperativnoe izd-vo” Publ., 1923. Vol. II. 396 p. (In Russ.) 2. Delo Sukhovo-Kobylina [Sukhovo-Kobylin Case]. Sost., podgot. teksta V.M. Seleznev, E.O. Selezneva. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie Publ., 2002. 544 p. (In Russ.) 3. Dnevnik Alekseia Sergeevicha Suvorina. [Alexey Sergeyevich Suvorin’s Diary]. Eds. N. Roskina, D. Reifild, O. Makarova. L.: The Garnett Press; Moscow: Izd-vo Nezavisimaia gazeta Publ., 2000. 670 p. (In Russ.) 4. Salias E.A. “Sem’ arestov (Iz vospominanii)” [Seven arrests (From the memoirs)]. Istoricheskii vestnik [Historical bulletin], 1898, t. LXXI, no 1, pp. 88–120, no 2, pp. 485–513, no 3, pp. 828–856. (In Russ.) 5. Stroganova E.N. “‘Chto-to strannoe so mnoiu. Zachem rodilas’? Zachem liubila? Zachem zhivu?’. K biografii E. Salias de Turnemir” [“Something strange to me. What was I born for? Why did I love? What do I live for?”.”. For biographies E. Salias de Tournemire]. Voprosy literatury [Questions of literature], 2015, no 2, pp. 217–244. (In Russ.) 6. Tolstoi L.N. Poln. sobr. soch.: v 90 t. [Complete Works: in 90 vols.]. Moscow, GIZ, GIKhL Publ., 1928–1959. (In Russ.) 7. Tur Evgeniia. “Kazaki. Kavkazskaia povest’ 1852 g. gr. L.N. Tolstogo” [Cossacks. Caucasian novel 1852 Count LN Tolstoy]. Otechestvennye zapiski [Notes of the Fatherland], 1863, no 6, pp. 242–279. (In Russ.) 8. Iazykov D. “Literaturnaya deiatel’nost’ grafini E.V. Sal’ias (Evgenii Tur). Pis’mo k redaktoram” [Literary activity of Countess E.V. Salyas (Eugenia Tour). Letters to the Editor]. Istoricheskii vestnik [Historical bulletin], 1892, t. XLVIII, no 5, pp. 485–493. (In Russ.)