Count, Countess Tolstoy: Grosse Pointe's Russian Nobility

This is a little snippet on the life and times of the Tolstoy’s of Grosse Pointe.  But before I begin the story, there are some idiosyncrasies that need to be addressed.

Tolstoi or Tolstoy?

The name has been spelled both ways, and up until about 24 hours ago I didn’t know why. Panic stricken, I emailed a colleague, Dr. Geoffrey Cocks, professor of history at Albion College, and inquired as to why there were two spellings of the name.   

It turns out both spellings are correct. In an email reply, Cocks stated, “The old English transliteration generally used "y," but more recently "i" has become the norm.  Either is permissible.”

Given a green-light to make my own call, I decided on Tolstoy with a “y,” and although many of my sources spelled Tolstoy with an “i,” I have changed the spelling of the name in all instances to be consistent and avoid confusion.  

The Table of Ranks

Cyril Tolstoy was a Russian Count and descendent of the famous author, Leo Tolstoy, who penned, among other notable works, War and Peace and Anna Karenina.

In both Cyril Tolstoy’s obituary, as well as other brief documents about his life, authors broadly proclaim that the title of Count was ‘given’ or ‘granted’ to the Tolstoy family.  This is true, but the story behind their ennobling is a little more complicated. A short trip back in time to Imperial Russia is required.

First things first: Tsar Peter I of Russia, also known as Peter the Great, did not arbitrarily ennoble individuals who did him favors at court.  If you have an image of Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing King Henry VIII from the popular Showtime series The Tudors knighting courtiers in your head then you should erase it. Be careful not confuse the early 16th century British system of title giving with the system that Peter drew up himself in the early 18th century. 

Peter the Great had high expectations of his servants. He required military service of the Russian nobility, and only ever granted titles that were earned through extensive service to the state.

According to Hugh Seton-Watson’s definitive text on Russian history, The Russian Empire, 1801-1917, “Peter the Great drastically reorganized the military and civil organization of the Russian state.”  Continuing, “Peter laid down that nobility must serve the state.  In 1722 this principle was systematized by the Table of Ranks, which provided that attainment of certain ranks in the hierarchy should confer noble status.  In the army, this was achieved by reaching commissioned rank (oberfitserskii chin).”

The first mention of a Tolstoy given the title of count happened two years after Peter the Great instituted the Table of Ranks, and the title was given to Peter Tolstoy.

According to Pavel Biryukov who wrote, Leo Tolstoy: His Life and Work Volume I, “The affair of the Tsarevich brought Peter into favor with the Empress Catherine, and on the day of her coronation, May 7, 1724, he was made a Count. After the death of Peter I, Tolstoy … enjoyed much favor during her reign.” 

According to Birukov, however, Peter Tolstoy fell out of favor, and despite being aged, he was stripped of the title by Peter II.  “It was not till May 26, 1760, when the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was already on the throne, that the descendants of Peter Andreyevich were restored to the rank of counts in the person of Peter's grandson, Andrey Ivanovich, the grandfather of Lev Tolstoy.”

So to be clear, the title of  count was granted to the family by Peter I, then taken back by Peter II, then reinstated by Empress Elizabeth, a name your author has decided sounds very nice, indeed.

Russian nobility comes to Grosse Pointe

As mentioned earlier, Tolstoy is a familiar name to most, made famous primarily by the author Leo Tolstoy, and Count Cyril Tolstoy being a descendent of the famous author.  

He was born in 1892 in the imperial summer palace, Tsarsokoye Selo, located roughly 15 miles south of St. Petersburg.  According to Vivian M. Baulch, in an article published in the Detroit News, Tolstoy was “born into a life of privilege.”  I’ve never been sure precisely what that phrase means, but if being born in a summer palace and being a count from birth is the litmus test of privilege, then I am inclined to agree with her assessment.

Despite being born into privilege, coming from a long line of Counts, and being a descendent of a famous author, Cyril was a hard working servant in Imperial Russia.  His obituary in the Grosse Pointe News published June 11,1959 details his early career, “He was an officer in the horse guards of the Russian Imperial Army until he Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.  He then joined the Cossacks to fight against the Bolsheviks. He became a liaison officer with the British Expeditionary forces in Russia and was evacuated, with them, to turkey at the end of the revolution.”

According to the Oakland Tribune, Count Tolstoy served "on the Austrian, German, and Romanian fronts during World War I" and while in exile in Turkey, "because he could speak French without an accent, he became secretary to the French consul in Ragusa."

The early timeline of Cyril’s life in the United States, According to Baulch, is as follows: “When the Bolsheviks prevailed, Tolstoy fled to the U.S., where he married a Seattle heiress and then, in 1927, divorced her. His marriage to Gwendolyn Currie Seyburn, a Grosse Pointe divorcee, brought him to Detroit during the Depression.” 

Before becoming Countess Tolstoy, Mrs. Gwendolyn Currie Seyburn was a Grosse Pointe socialite and divorcee.  She had met the Count at a party in Paris hosted by mutual friends.  Their engagement was quite the talk of the town.  Imagine the gossip:  Two divorcees, one an old-world Russian of noble blood whose lineage could be traced to the early 1300s, and the other a wealthy social darling.  I’m sure Pointers had a field day with the news of their engagement—rumors of which made the society page of The New York Times.

The marriage took place on June 16th, 1929,  According to the announcement in The New York Times, the headline read, "Count Cyril Tolstoy Weds Mrs. Seyburn"  They were married in Christ the Saviour, a Russian Orthodox Church in Manhattan on East 121st Street.

Settling down in Grosse Pointe

After their marriage and a several years in Paris, Count and Countess Tolstoy settled down at 180 Lewiston, Grosse Pointe Farms.  In an article that ran Apr. 9, 1950 in the Oakland Tribune, the author was careful to compare the Count's new home and activities saying, "he spends his time fishing, hunting, and gardening on their small Michigan estate, quite different from his 50,000 acre ancestral estate on the Volga River."

While in Michigan, the Tolstoy's were active in philanthropies. One of the more notable causes that Countess Tolstoy was involved in, according to the Grosse Pointe Review from April 17, 1947, was the American Aid to France fundraising campaign.  The Countess worked alongside Mrs. (Catherine) Wendell W. Anderson of 211 Vendome to host an exhibition of French fashions.  The proceeds of the sale went towards the larger goal of raising in excess of $125,000 which would establish and operate a Health and Rehabilitation Center in Rouen, France. 

According to the Grosse Pointe Review, as member of the Special Events Committee, Countess Tolstoy was in charge of decorating the recreation room of 211 Vendome for the event.  It was not reported as to whether or not she did a good job, nor was it mentioned in the article just how much money was raised by selling French fashions towards the goal of establishing a Health and Rehabilitation center in Rouen.

The New York Public Library has an extensive collection of records and manuscripts from the American Aid to France fundraising committee, 1944-1949.  Unfortunately, this collection has not been digitalized, and one most make a special request to see these documents. 

If there are any Pointers currently residing in Manhattan, click here and you can see what it takes to gain access to the six boxes of documents from the American Aid to France that are just begging to be read and reviewed.  

The Count on The Cold War, life after Russia

As previously mentioned, on a special trip to visit family in California, Count Tolstoy was interviewed by the Oakland Tribune.   Tolstoy was quoted as saying, "the people don't know a darn thing about what's going on.  That's the reason for the Iron curtain.  If the Russians knew the truth, the Communists wouldn't be able to survive."  The Count believed that "only another revolution, like the one which ended the Romanoff Dynasty, can overthrow the Communists from their entrenched positions in the political, economic and social structure of Russian life."

Tolstoy went to say that he believed that the Russians were not ready for democracy, and that because of his involvement fighting the Bolshevists he could never return to his home.  Tolstoy was quoted as saying, "they'd hang me if I ever showed up in Russia."  and that a return to his homeland would "seal his death warrant."

But Tolstoy was not unhappy about this predicament, further saying that he was perfectly happy in America and "proudly pointed out the fact that he became an American citizen in 1939."  If there are any European Pointer's who have waffled on the citizenship question who are reading this column--what a terrific role model you now have, and from the nobility, no less!

As for the title?  Tolstoy renounced the title 'count' when he became a citizen of the United States, but went on to note that "the title persists among acquiantances."  And still persists to this day among Pointers.

If you want to read more about other descendants of the author Leo Tolstoy, there was an article written about his legacy and family published recently—on Nov. 20, 2010—on the 100 year anniversary of the author’s death.