Background
Valentin Fyodorovich Bulgakov was born on November 25, 1886, in Kuznetsk (Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Russian Federation). He was the son of an official in Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk).
1910
Valentin Bulgakov, and Leo Tolstoy
Tomsk grammar school
Moscow University
Valentin Fyodorovich Bulgakov was born on November 25, 1886, in Kuznetsk (Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Russian Federation). He was the son of an official in Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk).
Valentin Fyodorovich received his early education at the Tomsk grammar school. At an early age, he became a regular correspondent for a local newspaper. In 1906 he finished high school with honors.
Valentin Fyodorovich became a student of history and philology of Moscow University (now Moscow State University) (1906-1910).
In 1907, Valentin Fyodorovich became acquainted with Leo Tolstoy. He 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.
In 1910 Valentin Fyodorovich dropped out of University and became the personal secretary of Leo Tolstoy. He was a personal witness to the lives of the Tolstoy family at Yasnaya Polyana during the last period of the writer's life. On 28 October 1910, he managed to prevent a suicide attempt of Tolstoy's wife Sophia Tolstaya following the departure of Tolstoy.
After the death of Leo Tolstoy, Valentin Fyodorovich remained for several years in Yasnaya Polyana and worked on his notes which were published in 1911 under the title The last year of Leo Tolstoy and The conception of life by Leo Tolstoy in his letters to his secretary. Both books were soon translated into several languages. He began the laborious task of describing the library of Tolstoy. He took an active part in publishing the works of Leo Tolstoy and the organization of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow. In 1917 Valentin Fyodorovich published Christian ethics, an authoritative account of the religious and ethical teaching of Tolstoy.
In 1916, Valentin Fyodorovich took the position of keeper of the Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow. On 5 April 1920, Lenin signed a decree for the nationalization of the House of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow. The Literary Museum in Prechistenka and the Museum-Estate "Khamovniki" were combined into a single museum with Valentin Fyodorovich as its director. Bulgakov retained this position until his expulsion by the Soviet regime in 1923.
Valentin Fyodorovich went into exile in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He conducted extensive lecturing activities in Europe in which he promoted creativity, Tolstoyism, and the non-violent struggle against British colonialism, led by Mahatma Gandhi.
In 1934, Valentin Fyodorovich founded the Russian cultural-historical museum near the Prague Castle. He was one of the editors of the Union of Russian Writers' book The Ark. With A. Yupatovym he prepared the handbook Russian art abroad (1938, Prague). In the 1930s, he prepared a fundamental Glossary of Russian émigré writers (which was not published during the author's lifetime).
When at the beginning of the Second World War the German Wehrmacht marched into Prague, Valentin Fyodorovich was arrested on suspicion of being a communist and later sent to a Bavarian concentration camp in Weißenburg in Bayern. During his incarceration at the camp from 1941 to 1945, he wrote his memoirs of Tolstoy and his family.
In 1948, Valentin Fyodorovich applied for Soviet citizenship and returned to the USSR. He settled in Yasnaya Polyana, where for almost 20 years he was the keeper of the house-museum of Leo Tolstoy. In 1958 he was admitted to the Union of Soviet Writers. He wrote a series of essays in the book Meetings with Artists, On Tolstoy. Memories and Stories, and a still unpublished memoir, How Life is Lived.
Valentin Bulgakov died in Yasnaya Polyana at the age of 80. He was buried in the village of Kochaki near the family burial of Tolstoys.
(Russian edition)
Valentin Fyodorovich joined the international anti-war organization War Resisters' International, and soon became one of the members of its board. In 1932 he initiated that the community of Doukhobor, which at the end of the 19th century had emigrated from Russia to Canada, was accepted by the organization.
In the period from 1924 to 1928, he was the chairman of the Union of Russian Writers and Journalists in Czechoslovakia. He supported Marina Tsvetaeva during her exile in Prague.