Saint against lion

The memoirs of the writer Ivan Zakharyin, a member of the State Council and former director of the Agricultural Bank branches, refer to a conversation that took place between Emperor Alexander III and Countess Alexandra Andreyevna Tolstaya, the aunt of the revered Leo Tolstoy, known as Alexandra – the lady-in-waiting and teacher of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. Alexandra was not famous at court only for her impeccable piety and her charitable efforts, but also for her exceptional intelligence, literary taste, and independent personality – a characteristic typical of the Tolstoy family in general. The emperor had an independent passage to the lady-in-waiting’s room through a suspended glass corridor in the air, connecting the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum, and he went to her for consultation regarding the possibility of publishing Tolstoy's "Kroytzer's Sonata," which had been banned by the Spiritual Oversight Authority. "I took the liberty of expressing my opinion positively and explained to His Majesty that all of Russia has read it and still reads it in fact, and therefore, allowing its publication would only reduce the scope of the audience that considers it a great hunter of every forbidden fruit." Women in Russia were often wiser than their husbands. The publication of "Kroytzer's Sonata" was permitted, but as part of the next volume of Tolstoy’s complete works. Then they began to talk about Leo Tolstoy’s extraordinary popularity in Russia. That was in 1891.