How did Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s family background differ from that of Leo Tolstoy?

Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy came from significantly different social backgrounds, a distinction Dostoyevsky frequently emphasized regarding its influence on their respective literary works.1

• Social Status: Leo Tolstoy was born into the landed gentry as the scion of prominent aristocrats. In contrast, Dostoyevsky was not born into the nobility; his father was a retired military surgeon who worked at a hospital for the poor. While his father eventually earned the rank of a nobleman in 1828, Dostoyevsky’s upbringing lacked the established, stable traditions of the landed gentry.123
• Literary Focus: Dostoyevsky noted that writers from the nobility, such as Tolstoy, often depicted the family life of their own class, which was shaped by stable traditions and "beautiful forms". Conversely, Dostoyevsky focused his writing on "accidental families" and the lives of "the insulted and the humiliated," reflecting his own different social standing.1
• Religious Influence: Dostoyevsky’s lifelong religious devotion was rooted in the old-fashioned piety of his family, which he contrasted with the fashionable skepticism often found among the nobility.1