1. Valentin Fyodorovich Bulgakov was the last secretary of Leo Tolstoy and his biographer.
24 Facts About Valentin Bulgakov
2.
Valentin Bulgakov served as the director of several literary museums and actively participated in Tolstoyan and pacifist initiatives.
3.
Valentin Bulgakov endured imprisonment under the Tsarist regime and internment in a Nazi concentration camp.
4.
Valentin Bulgakov was the son of an official of the city of Kuznetsk.
5.
At an early age, Valentin Bulgakov became a regular correspondent for a local newspaper.
6.
Valentin Bulgakov became a sincere follower of Tolstoyanism and its life principles such as pacifism, vegetarianism, non-participation in political activities and a high level of social activity based on Christian principles.
7.
Valentin Bulgakov was a personal witness to the lives of the Tolstoy family at Yasnaya Polyana during the last period of the writer's life.
8.
Valentin Bulgakov began the laborious task of describing the library of Tolstoy.
9.
Valentin Bulgakov took an active part in publishing the works of Leo Tolstoy and the organization of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow.
10.
In 1916, Valentin Bulgakov took the position of keeper of the Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow.
11.
Valentin Bulgakov put great efforts into creating a "steel room" for the Archives of Tolstoy.
12.
Valentin Bulgakov retained this position until his expulsion by the Soviet regime in 1923.
13.
However, experienced in confronting the authorities Valentin Bulgakov made sure that on 18 September 1921 the newspaper "Communist Labor" ran a refutation of the false accusations and published an excerpt from his letter to the editor.
14.
Valentin Bulgakov conducted extensive lecturing activities in Europe in which he promoted creativity, Tolstoyism and the non-violent struggle against British colonialism, led by Mahatma Gandhi.
15.
Valentin Bulgakov joined the international anti-war organization "War Resisters' International," and soon became one of the members of its board.
16.
Valentin Bulgakov supported Marina Tsvetaeva during her exile in Prague.
17.
Valentin Bulgakov corresponded with prominent cultural and intellectual figures such as Romain Rolland, Rabindranath Tagore, Albert Einstein and Nicholas Roerich.
18.
In 1934, Valentin Bulgakov founded the Russian cultural-historical museum near the Prague Castle.
19.
Valentin Bulgakov was one of the editors of the Union of Russian Writers' book "The Ark".
20.
In 1948, Valentin Bulgakov applied for Soviet citizenship and returned to the USSR.
21.
Valentin Bulgakov settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where for almost 20 years he was the keeper of the house-museum of Leo Tolstoy.
22.
Valentin Bulgakov died in Yasnaya Polyana at the age of 80.
23.
Valentin Bulgakov was buried in the village of Kochaki near the family burial of Tolstoys.
24.
Valentin Bulgakov is one of the main characters in The Last Station, a film about the last year in the life of Tolstoy.