"The Kreutzer Sonata" is Leo Tolstoy's novel, published in 1890 and immediately censored by the tsarist authorities. The book proclaims the ideal of abstinence and describes in the first person anger of jealousy. The name of the story gave number 9 Sonata for Violin and Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer.
Because of to the unusual and scandalous for the time nature of the work publication "Kreutzer Sonata" in a magazine or as a separate publication was banned by the censor. Only after Sophia Tolstaya, the writer's wife, received a personal audience with Alexander III, the tsar, though reluctantly, allowed the publication of the story in the 13th volume of the collected works of Tolstoy. However being censored only increased the appeal of the story, which began to be distributed and read in private homes long before the publication.
In 1890, the US banned the delivery of the newspapers, in which the story was published.
