ThoughtGallery.org > Book Launch, “Tolstoy’s On Life,” by Inessa Medzhibovskaya

Book Launch, “Tolstoy’s On Life,” by Inessa Medzhibovskaya

Come Join the Committee on Liberal Studies to celebrate the launch of Inessa Medzhibovskaya’s new book, Tolstoy’s On Life.

In this first book-length study of Tolstoy’s meditation on death, life, love, and happiness, Inessa Medzhibovskaya focuses on unknown documents and stories that illuminate the realities of Russian philosophical culture at the end of the long nineteenth century. Special attention is paid to Tolstoy’s involvement with the Moscow Psychological Society and its periodicals, to his friendship with its longtime Chairman Nikolai Grot, and to Tolstoy’s interactions with such outstanding figures of Russian thought as Nikolai Strakhov, Nikolai Fedorov, Lev Lopatin, and Vladimir Soloviev. What was Tolstoy’s relationship to Grot—the relation of a genius to a scribe, or a mentor to a disciple? What did it mean to be elected a distinguished member of the Moscow Psychological Society? Who were the other members? What was the nature of the critical exchanges around On Life between Tolstoy, his family and friends, and other Russian thinkers, scientists, and artists?  Bookending the volume is an extensive historical appendix. Here the reader will find documents published in English for the first time.

Inessa Medzhibovskaya’s previous books include Tolstoy and the Religious Culture of His Time; Tolstoy, On Life: A Critical Edition; Tolstoy and His Problems: View from the Twenty-First Century; and A Critical Guide to Tolstoy’s On Life.

More information about the book here.











When: Wed., Oct. 30, 2019 at 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Where: The New School
66 W. 12th St.
212-229-5108
Price: Free
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Come Join the Committee on Liberal Studies to celebrate the launch of Inessa Medzhibovskaya’s new book, Tolstoy’s On Life.

In this first book-length study of Tolstoy’s meditation on death, life, love, and happiness, Inessa Medzhibovskaya focuses on unknown documents and stories that illuminate the realities of Russian philosophical culture at the end of the long nineteenth century. Special attention is paid to Tolstoy’s involvement with the Moscow Psychological Society and its periodicals, to his friendship with its longtime Chairman Nikolai Grot, and to Tolstoy’s interactions with such outstanding figures of Russian thought as Nikolai Strakhov, Nikolai Fedorov, Lev Lopatin, and Vladimir Soloviev. What was Tolstoy’s relationship to Grot—the relation of a genius to a scribe, or a mentor to a disciple? What did it mean to be elected a distinguished member of the Moscow Psychological Society? Who were the other members? What was the nature of the critical exchanges around On Life between Tolstoy, his family and friends, and other Russian thinkers, scientists, and artists?  Bookending the volume is an extensive historical appendix. Here the reader will find documents published in English for the first time.

Inessa Medzhibovskaya’s previous books include Tolstoy and the Religious Culture of His Time; Tolstoy, On Life: A Critical Edition; Tolstoy and His Problems: View from the Twenty-First Century; and A Critical Guide to Tolstoy’s On Life.

More information about the book here.

Buy tickets/get more info now