145 years ago, one of the most valuable and significant works of world literature saw the light of day – Tolstoy's novel “Anna Karenina”, a work that has special significance for Serbia and the Serbian people.
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Yasnaya Polyana, September 9, 1828 – Astapovo, November 20, 1910) is one of the greatest Russian and world writers. Through his magnificent novels, he described the Russian society of his time, simultaneously painting a fantastic picture of human characters and human nature, thus becoming part of the corpus of world classics of timeless value. In addition to his timeless literary legacy, Tolstoy was also known for his pedagogical work, which had a significant impact on later pedagogical concepts. In 1859, he opened the first school in Russia for the children of peasants and serfs in his house in Yasnaya Polyana. Tolstoy devoted his entire literary and pedagogical work to unravelling the difficult social situation in Russia and efforts to show that the solution to the problem lies exclusively in a peaceful path and through pedagogic and educational work.
Serbia and the novel "Anna Karenina" are linked by history – on August 20, 1876, Nikolay Raevsky, the future prototype of the character of Count Vronsky, was killed in a battle against the Turks. In 1903, the church of the Holy Trinity was built at the place where the Russian hero was killed in the village of Gornji Adrovac, which today the Serbian people call the Russian Church or the Church of Count Vronsky.
The issue of commemorative postage stamps marking an important historical and literary event, the first publication of the novel “Anna Karenina”, especially emphasizes the bond between the Serbian and Russian people expressed through the characters and events of this monumental work of world literature.
