Tolstoy signed a secret will in the woods to give his copyrights to the public

By 1910 Leo Tolstoy wanted his writings to belong to everyone. His wife Sofia, with whom he had 13 children, wanted the copyrights kept in the family. His disciple Vladimir Chertkov arranged a new will. On 22 July 1910 (Old Style), in the forest near Yasnaya Polyana, out of his wife's sight, Tolstoy signed it with three witnesses from Chertkov's circle, including the pianist Alexander Goldenweiser. It was the sixth will he had made. It left all literary rights to his daughter Alexandra, with a note that his works should be "published and reprinted by anyone who wants to." It also provided for buying the estate land from the family and transferring it to the peasants. His children Sergei and Tatiana were offended. Sofia searched his study for the will. On the night of 28 October 1910 Tolstoy left home with Alexandra and his doctor. He caught pneumonia on the train and died at Astapovo station ten days later. After the 1917 revolution the estate came under state protection in 1919 and became a state museum in June 1921, with Alexandra as first director. She was arrested five times, left the USSR in 1929 and died in New York State in 1979. German troops occupied the estate for 45 days in 1941. In 2026 the museum's director is Ekaterina Tolstaya; her husband Vladimir Tolstoy, a great-great-grandson, ran it from 1994 to 2012 and has been Putin's culture adviser since 2012.