Nikolay Strakhov as a mediator between Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky

The article attempts to overcome one of the persistent scholarly clichés concerning the relationship between Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolay Strakhov. The latter is traditionally considered a mediator between the two great writers and at the same time the one who disrupted their meeting in March 1878. The author believes that this meeting could hardly have taken place in this particular year, regardless of Strakhov’s intentions, and suggests paying attention to the fundamental differences in Tolstoy’s and Dostoevsky’s philosophical positions on the Eastern question.