"Khodynka: An Incident of the Coronation of Nicholas II" ("Ходынка") is an unfinished short story by Leo Tolstoy written in 1898. [1] It is about the Khodynka Tragedy, where 1,300 people were crushed to death in a stampede at the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896. It is loosely based on the story Khodynka: The story of one not trampled to death by V.F. Krasnov. [2] According to award-winning biographer Alexandra Popoff, Leo Tolstoy frequently talked with his wife, Sophia Tolstoy, about the tragedy and how it weighed on his heart. [3] According to Ronald Hingley, it was only published posthumously in 1912. [4]
The story focuses on the protagonist, Emelian, who arrives at the coronation to feast, but soon finds that he must flee the disaster. [5]
Nina Kosterina has compared in her Diary the work to Gorky's The Life of Klim Samgin. [6]