Sophia was was first introduced to Leo Tolstoy in 1862, when she was 18 years old. At 34, Tolstoy was 16 years her senior. At the time of their marriage, Leo Tolstoy was already well-known as a novelist. The Tolstoys had 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood. Tolstaya was a devoted help to her husband in his literary work. She acted as copyist of War and Peace, copying the manuscript six times from beginning to end. She took over a thousand photographs that documented her life, including with Tolstoy, and the decline of pre-Soviet Tsarist Russia. After many years of an increasingly troubled marriage - the couple argued over Tolstoy"s desire to give away all his private property - Leo left Sophia abruptly in 1910, aged 82. Tolstoy died 10 days later in a railway station, whilst Sophia was kept away from him. Following the death of her husband, Sophia continued to live in Yasnaya Polyana and survived the Russian Revolution in relative peace. She died in 1919.