Fyokla Nikitichna Tolstaya (; born 27 February 1971), also known as Fekla Tolstoy, is a Russian journalist, cultural figure, and TV and radio presenter. She is the great-great-granddaughter of the author

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

Biography

Fyokla Tolstaya was born Anna Nikitichna Tolstaya on 27 February 1971 in Moscow. She holds a degree in

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

from the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

and trained as a director at the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS). She began a career in journalism in the late 1990s, working as a magazine critic, newspaper columnist, and host on the radio stations

Echo of Moscow Echo of Moscow () was a 24/7 commercial Russian radio station based in Moscow. It broadcast in many Russian cities, some of the former Soviet republics (through partnerships with local radio stations), and via the Internet. From 1996 its editor- ...

and

Radio Mayak Radio Mayak () is a radio broadcasting company in Russia, owned by VGTRK. Mayak is the Russian word for "lighthouse" or "beacon". As well as Radio Mayak proper (which broadcasts news, talk shows, and popular music), the company is also responsi ...

Media and cultural work

Tolstaya was the host of several popular Russian television programmes, including ''People's Artist'', based on the British reality television series ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

.'' She is the longtime host of a morning talk show called "The Observer" on Russia's main dedicated culture channel ( TV Kultura). She hosted the Russian documentary series "Great Dynasties" (2005–2006) and was the author and host of a documentary series called "The Tolstoys" about the history of the

Tolstoy family The House of Tolstoy, or Tolstoi (), is a family of Russian gentry that acceded to the Russian nobility, high aristocracy of the Russian Empire. The name ''Tolstoy'' is itself derived from the Russian adjective ( ). They are the descendants of ...

(2011). In 2022, she authored and hosted a documentary series called "Museums Without Borders" that explores contemporary museum practices in different regions of Russia. Tolstaya also appeared as an actress in the films ' (1984), ''The Old Alphabet'' (1987) and ''To Be Victor Pelevin. Sorry, Who?'' (2020). In 2008, she was a finalist in the Russian

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

competition , where she performed alongside

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

-winning skater Artur Dmitriev.

Leo Tolstoy's heritage

Tolstaya has been head of development at the Leo Tolstoy State Museum in Moscow since 2012. She led several projects in the

digitisation Digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dicti ...

of culture, including a

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

project called "All of Tolstoy in One Click" to digitise Tolstoy's entire body of work – spanning novels, diaries, letters, childhood memories, and religious and philosophical tracts – and make it fully available online. The free website launched in 2013. Tolstaya also worked with

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

to create a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

called "Live Pages" that presents classical literary texts in an interactive online format. Tolstaya has coordinated several large-scale online reading marathons dedicated to Tolstoy and other authors of classical literature. In 2014 she organised a 36-hour reading marathon of ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'' in partnership with Google. The live broadcast, which streamed on Google+ and YouTube, went viral and entered the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

as the largest audience for a live-streamed reading marathon. In 2015, Tolstaya organised an online public reading marathon of ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

''. The four-day event had more than 1,300 participants, including Polish film director

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

and a Russian

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

who contributed a reading from the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

. Tolstaya is active in the field of

digital humanities Digital humanities (DH) is an area of scholarly activity at the intersection of computing or Information technology, digital technologies and the disciplines of the humanities. It includes the systematic use of digital resources in the humanitie ...

and co-authored a project called Textograf, a web-based app for the digitisation of manuscripts, among other projects.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tolstaya, Fyokla Living people 1971 births Mass media people from Moscow 21st-century Russian women journalists 21st-century Russian journalists Russian women television presenters Russian radio personalities Russian television directors Fyokla Echo of Moscow radio presenters Moscow State University alumni Russian Academy of Theatre Arts alumni Academic staff of the Russian State University for the Humanities Soviet child actresses