| Anatole Kuragin | |
| Series: | War and Peace |
| Creator: | Leo Tolstoy |
| Full Name: | Anatole Vasilyevich Kuragin |
| Nickname: | Tolya, Toto |
| Gender: | Male |
| Prince | |
| Family: | Vasily Kuragin (father) Hélène Kuragina (sister) Hippolyte Kuragin (brother) |
| Spouse: | Unknown Polish Woman |
| Significant Other: | Hélène Kuragina Natasha Rostova Fyodor Dolokhov Marya Bolkonkskaya |
| Relatives: | Catiche Mamontova (cousin), Pierre Bezukhov (cousin and brother in law) |
| Religion: | Russian Orthodox |
| Nationality: | Russian |
Anatole Vasilyevich Kuragin (Russian: Анатолий (Анатоль) Васильевич Курагин) is a fictional character in Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace,[1] its various cinematic adaptations, and an operatic adaptation as well.[2]
Anatole is Hélène Kuragina's wild-living brother and a soldier, although he is rarely seen out of Russia in the book. It is rumoured that he has had an incestuous affair with his sister, and he tries to elope with Natasha Rostova despite being secretly married to a Polish woman during his time in the army. Later in the book, he gets his leg amputated at the Battle of Borodino, where he is treated next to Andrei Bolkonsky, Rostova's former betrothed.
While developing the novel, Tolstoy sketched a character named "Petr", "who passed through a complex evolution" and "was a precursor of both Pierre and Anatole Kuragin".[3] Anatoly Shostak served as the real life inspiration for the fictional Anatole.[4]
Esther Polianowsky Salaman writes that what "is so interesting about Anatole Kuragin are the many characteristics Tolstoy gives us about him all at once: something he seldom does".[5]
Anatole is played in the 1956 American film by Vittorio Gassman;[6] in the 1966-67 Soviet film, by Vasili Lanovoy;[7] in the 1972-73 BBC miniseries, by Colin Baker.[8] In the 2007 version, he is portrayed by German actor Ken Duken, and in the 2016 BBC series by Callum Turner. He was also portrayed by Lucas Steele in the musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.