Names of Great People Associated with the History of the Estate
Mikhail and Dmitry, sons of Mikhail Khrisanfovich Obolyaninov, graduated from Moscow University (in Moscow, they got to know Leo Tolstoy, who had been a neighbor of the Olsufyevs in Khamovniki). Their daughter, Elizaveta, attended the highest women's courses in Moscow and studied abroad. The Olsufyevs, living on their estate and observing the lives of the peasants, sought to improve their condition. In the 1860s, the Olsufyevs gave their peasants land without redemption payments, and in 1906, Mikhail Olsufyev transferred all the property to the peasants, except for the estate itself and the rights to the forest.
Mikhail Adamovich Olsufyev (1860-1918) spent 30 years educating children from poor peasant families, preparing them for enrollment in educational institutions, and even paying for their education.
During this time, Obolyanovo became a center for those who prioritized their spiritual needs. Among such people were well-known artists, writers, and scientists. Leo Tolstoy frequently visited Obolyanovo (the estate had a remarkable library that the writer used for his work on the novel "Resurrection," the story "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," and the tale "The Master and the Worker"). Other visitors included the mathematician M.I. Kovalevsky, chemist D.I. Mendeleev, and artists N.N. Ge and P.I. Neradovsky.
In Obolyanovo, Leo Tolstoy spent a lot of time outdoors, often walking, riding horses, skiing, chopping wood, and talking with the peasants. Utilizing the excellent library of the Olsufyevs, he devoted a considerable amount of time to reading and even selected "what is suitable for publication." The writer's extensive internal work in Obolyanovo is evident in his numerous diary entries, which recorded his reflections on social issues, falsehood and violence, philosophical and artistic dilemmas, and the high duty of a writer. "Here, we enjoy, most importantly, the silence... I write diligently," the writer informed his wife on February 27, 1896. "I go for walks and revel in the quiet and freedom from human demands."
After 1917, at various times, the estate house housed a volost council, an orphanage, a school, and a library, overseen by the local writer S.P. Pod'yachev. In 1934, after his death, the village of Nikolskoye-Obolyaninovo was renamed Pod'yachevo.