Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi (1883-1945) was a russian novelist, playwright, historian, and short story writer, a former nobleman who immigrated to western Europe after the Bolshevik Revolution. Tolstoi returned to Russia in 1923, where he became a supporter of the Communist Party and honoured artist receiving three Stalin Prizes.Nikita's Childhood (1922), a lyrical story of a childhood in a Russian village that incorporates autobiographical elements.