Leo Tolstoy was a renowned Russian author known for works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He was born in 1828 in Russia and studied law but left university without graduating. After a period in the army, he began writing and his first published works were autobiographical novels about his childhood and youth. Later in life, Tolstoy underwent a spiritual crisis and developed his own unconventional religious and philosophical beliefs, becoming a pacifist who influenced others like Gandhi. He is considered one of the greatest authors of all time for his realistic portrayals of people and society. Tolstoy died in 1910 at the age of 82 while traveling to a monastery.