The Tolstoy family were among the prominent philanthropists and benefactors of their time. With the backing of Mikhail Mikhailovich an ambulance station was built in Odessa. Each generation were trustees of schools and schools for children from poor families. The counts made a huge contribution to the development of agriculture and viticulture in Southern Russia. After October 1917, the life of the last Count Tolstoy turned tragic. Stripped of all property, the seriously ill Mikhail Tolstoy traveled to Geneva with his mother Helen G. were his life ended (August 30, 1927). His death cut short a branch of the famous Tolstoy family.
