He was the fourth of five children to his parents Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, a veteran of the Patriotic War of 1812, and Countess Mariya Tolstaya (Volkonskaya).
Isuna ti maikapat kadagiti lima nga annak ni Konde Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, maysa a beterano iti Patriotiko a Gubat iti 1812, ken ni Kondesa Mariya Tolstaya (Volkonskaya).