Leo Tolstoy

About Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, ranked #116 in historical importance by MIT’s Pantheon project, stands as one of the most profoundly influential writers globally. Spanning the years 1828 to 1910, his monumental works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina not only defined Russian realism but profoundly shaped modern literature and philosophical thought across numerous languages and cultures.

Despite this towering historical impact, Tolstoy’s modern internet attention is comparatively modest. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued 1.3 million views, placing him in an attention category that is +2x overattended relative to his historical importance rank of #116. This suggests his influence translates well to the digital sphere, unlike some figures whose HPI ranks soar far beyond their current view counts. For context, he garnered nearly as many views (2.0M) as the much lower-ranked writer, Franz Kafka (#123), but significantly fewer than Anne Frank (#396 importance, 2.6M views).

Looking closer at the momentum, his attention appears to be waning slightly, as indicated by an 18.2% year-over-year decrease in views and a -15% drop in attention between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his engagement level is slowly trending downward in the current digital ecosystem.