Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy (Russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Толсто́й; 17 February 1782 – 5 November 1846), also known as "the American", was a Russian nobleman from the well-known Tolstoy family. Possessed of an unusual temper, he became famous for his gambling, his passion for duels, and his supposed voyage to North America, from which he earned his nickname. He was acquainted with many famous authors of his period and served as a prototype for some of the characters in their works.
Life
Childhood and youth Tolstoy was one of seven children of Count Ivan Andreyevich Tolstoy (1747–1811) and his wife Anna Fyodorovna, who came from the Maikov family. Fyodor Tolstoy's place of birth is not known for certain; most likely he was born on the ancestral estate of the Tolstoys near Kologriv. Despite their high rank, the Tolstoys were at that time relatively poor, the result of a conflict with the authorities in the eighteenth century in which several members of the family were exiled or deprived of property. In order to ensure worthy careers for their sons, it was common in the Tolstoy family to send them to military schools. Thus, Fyodor Tolstoy, along with both his brothers, were educated at the Naval Cadet Corps in Saint Petersburg.
While still a boy Tolstoy possessed, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, an uncommon physical strength, endurance, and dexterity, which fulfilled the necessary prerequisites for a successful military career. At the same time, he already had an unpredictable, even cruel personality. In the cadet corps he mastered shooting and fencing, which made him an extremely dangerous opponent in duels. Upon finishing school Tolstoy went into service not in the navy, but in the elite Preobrazhensky regiment, perhaps owing to the assistance of influential relatives. His comrades at that time, among others, the future literary critic Faddei Bulgarin, described Tolstoy as an excellent shooter and a brave fighter. According to their memoirs, he had an energetic and passionate personality, but while fighting he was cool and resolute. His "wild" character, along with his taste for women and card games, gave him frequent cause for arguments with his comrades and higher officers that often ended in a violation of discipline. Moreover, Tolstoy was very rancorous and vengeful towards those who happened to anger him. Among the nobility of early nineteenth-century Russia, excessive bravery and a deliberate search for dangerous adventures was widespread and highly valued, not only on the front, but also in daily life. As a result, duels remained very popular during this period and often arose out of the smallest arguments. This societal influence, as well as the individual traits of Tolstoy's character, explains his enthusiasm for duels. In 1799, at the age of 17, he fought his first duel with an officer who had reprimanded him for a violation of discipline. The details of this duel are unknown. There are also no reliable witnesses as to Tolstoy's punishment; several memoirs allege that he was demoted to the rank of a soldier, but other sources contradict this information.
World tour In 1803 Tolstoy went on a circumnavigation of the world as a member of the sloop Nadezhda ("Hope"), captained by Adam Johann von Krusenstern. This was the first circumnavigation of the world made by a ship under a Russian flag. How Tolstoy, who did not serve in the navy, came to be aboard the ship is unknown. Marya Kamenskaya, the daughter of his cousin, the subsequently famous artist Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, writes in her memoirs that Tolstoy in this way cleverly avoided punishment in the Preobrazhensky regiment. According to Kamenskaya, he posed as his cousin and namesake, who was on the crew of the ship but who did not wish to sail because he suffered from seasickness.
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