Уход Льва Толстого (1910) в оценке русской и польской прессы
Leo Tolstoy’s escape (1910) in the opinion of Russian and Polish press

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses reactions of Russian and Polish (first of all - Warsaw) press to thefamous Leo Tolstoy’s escape from Yasnaya Polyana in 1910. A comparison between publicationsshows that Polish newspapers wrote relatively much and regularly about the event, but interpretedit in a different way than the Russian ones. While the Russian press explained Tolstoy’s escapemostly in the context of his beliefs and views, the Polish one clarified the situation through thepersonality of the writer, as an act of an extraordinary person or a desperate step of a madman orof a pretender (such interpretation was also presented by the Russian conservative press). Thisfundamental difference in interpretation can be explained first of all by another status, whichTolstoy had between the Russian and Polish people - for the Poles he was mainly not, as inRussia, a moral authority, but an outstanding writer. Tolstoy’s world-view could also play animportant role, especially his religious views, and the significance of Catholicism for the Polishpeople as one of the most important elements of the national identity.

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