Through Tolstoy, a Small Town's Literary Revival.

(From The Moscow Times)

The uyezdny gorod, or district town, with its diverse yet tightknit community and uneventful small-town life, provided the perfect setting for many a classic of Russian literature and drama.

Once busy trading junctions, today many of these provincial centers are in danger of disintegration as historical buildings crumble and residents leave for bigger cities.

In an effort to preserve one such small town, Krapivna -- the inspiration for many of Leo Tolstoy's characters -- as a historic and literary landmark, the Leo Tolstoy Heritage Foundation, in conjunction with the Russian Cultural Foundation and the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate, is raising funds to restore the town to how it was when the famous author was an educational pioneer in the district.

Krapivna, a Tula district town of 2,000 people first mentioned in historical records in 1371, lies 30 kilometers southwest of the Tolstoy estate in Yasnaya Polyana. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Krapivna was a fortress town, and by Count Tolstoy's day it was prospering, made famous for its factories, fairs, crafts, philanthropic and educational traditions.

"We'd like to use Krapivna as an example of how these unique places can be revived," said Vladimir Tolstoy, a direct descendant of the world-famous author, and the director of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum.

Tolstoy, 42, took charge at his great-great-grandfather's estate in 1994, after working as a journalist and later as an expert at the Culture Ministry. Only two descendants of Leo Tolstoy had previously run the estate museum, and the current director is the first Tolstoy since World War II to perform the duty of "guardianship of family legacy, among other things."