Samara literary – memorial Museum named after M. Gorky is the only literary museum in the city of Samara. The museum was opened on the 18-th of June 1941 in the house 126 on the street of Stepan Razin, where there was located a memorial flat of M. Gorky. In 1983 a branch was opened in Samara literary – memorial museum, Museum- estate of A. N. Tolstoy (Street of Frunze, 155).
The basis of exposition of the museum are the archives of A. N. Tolstoy and his mother – writer A. L. Tolstaya (Bostrom): letters, diaries, photographs, books, personal things. In the funds of museum, there is more than 10 thousand documents, materials and things connected with the life and works of A. N. Tolstoy and his family. The central place in the exposition is the memorial apartment, where he lived with the parents of the future author. Home furnishings of the halls takes visitors into the atmosphere of a provincial town of XIX – XX centuries. In addition, the museum has a large collection of manuscripts, documents and things related to the works of famous Russian writers, who lived on the territory of the Samara region (N. G. Garin – Mikhailovsky, S.G. Skitalets, A.A. Smirnov (Treplev) M . Gorky, A. Neverov, etc.). In addition to the exhibition and research activities, the museum has functioned as a literary center, which hosts the presentation in Samara literary journals, magazines, anthologies, scientific conferences, meetings with writers.
