Abstract:

The article subjects to scientific verification sculptor S.D. Erzia’s story about his personal meeting with L.N. Tolstoy, perceived today as a true historical fact. It compares different versions of this story, presented in the records of the sculptor’s contemporaries, reveals the contradictions between them, as well as their inconsistency with documented facts. It is concluded that this story is S.D. Erzia’s autobiographical mythologem. It considers possible causes and sources of its origin in the artist creative consciousness.

Keywords: S.D. Erzia, L.N. Tolstoy, the history of the Russian culture of the XXth century