The Last Station: Preaching in the Final Hours

In his last days, Tolstoy spoke and wrote about dying. Renouncing his aristocratic lifestyle, he left home one winter night.

After a day's train journey south, Tolstoy reached Astapovo railway station (Russia). Tolstoy fell ill (pneumonia) at the Astapovo station and died here on November 7, 1910. Tolstoy died in 1910, aged 82. Later, the station was renamed Lev Tolstoy in 1918. The police tried to limit access to his funeral procession, but thousands of peasants lined the streets.

According to some sources, Tolstoy spent the last hours preaching love, non-violence, and Georgism to fellow passengers on the train.

Based on Christ's teachings, Tolstoy derived the philosophy "Non-resistance during conflict". This idea in Tolstoy's book "The Kingdom of God Is Within You" directly influenced Mahatma Gandhi and therefore also nonviolent resistance movements to this day.