Anton Chekhov

Russian playwright and short story writer, physician.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer, also a physician by profession.^[1] Chekhov once said, "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress".^[2] Chekhov's career produced four classic plays and his short stories are highly esteemed, leading to his widespread recognition as one of the greatest writers ever.^[1]

Quick Facts

Born

29 January 1860

Birthplace

Taganrog, Russia

Died

15 July 1904

Place of death

Badenweiler, Germany

Resting place

Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow

Occupation

Writer
physician
philanthropist

Education

First Moscow State Medical University

Years active

1876–1904

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Chekhov was born in Taganrog, a port city on the Sea of Azov, the third of six surviving children.^[3] In 1876, Pavel was declared bankrupt and fled to Moscow, leaving Chekhov behind to finish his education and sell the family's possessions.^[4][5] Chekhov qualified as a physician in 1884, treating the poor free of charge, though he made little money from it.^[5] He began writing humorous sketches under pseudonyms like "Antosha Chekhonte" to support his family and pay tuition.^[6]

In 1888, his collection At Dusk won the Pushkin Prize for high artistic worth.^[7] Chekhov undertook a journey to the penal colony on Sakhalin Island in 1890, interviewing thousands of convicts and settlers.^[8] He married actress Olga Knipper on 25 May 1901, though he lived largely in Yalta while she pursued her career in Moscow.^[9][10] Pavel Yegorovich Chekhov, the son of a former serf, operated a grocery store, was a devout Orthodox Christian who directed the parish choir, and was physically abusive to his children.^[11][12]

What the cited sources add

Boyd also notes that Chekhov abandoned the "event-plot" for a more casual, realistic form of storytelling.^[13] According to Boyd, Chekhov asserted in 1892 that "I have no religion now".^[13] The Taganrog city website records that Chekhov was christened at the Assumption Cathedral in Taganrog on February 10, 1860.^[14] The same source states that Chekhov spent 19 years, nearly half his life, in Taganrog.^[14]

Peter Kropotkin, an anarchist theorist, responded to doubts about Russia's poverty by saying "read only Chekhov's novels!".^[15] Vladimir Lenin believed reading Chekhov's short story "Ward No. 6" made him a revolutionary, according to Raymond Tallis.^[15]

References

Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Boyd, "A Chekhov lexicon", the Guardian, 3 July 2004; Steiner, "Observer review: The Undiscovered Chekov by Anton Chekov", the Guardian, 13 May 2001; Bloom 2002, p. 38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chekhov Garnett 2004, p. [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6408/pg6408-images.html#link2H_4_0042 Letter to Alexei Suvorin, 11 September 1888]; "Anton Chekhov - Wikiquote", en.wikiquote.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chekhov Garnett 2004, p. [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6408/pg6408-images.html#link2H_4_0042 Letter to Alexei Suvorin, 11 September 1888] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rayfield 1997, p. 31 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Malcolm 2004, p. 25 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wood 2000, p. 79 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Simmons 1970, p. 18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Malcolm 2004, p. 25; Simmons 1970, p. 18; Rayfield 1997, p. 31 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "I have a horror of weddings, the congratulations and the champagne, standing around, glass in hand with an endless grin on your face." Letter to Olga Knipper, ; Benedetti 1997, p. [https://archive.org/details/dearwriterdearac0000chek/page/124/mode/2up 125]; ; Harvey Pitcher in Chekhov's Leading Lady, quoted in .; "Chekhov had the temperament of a philanderer. Sexually, he preferred brothels or swift liaisons." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; There was certainly tension between the couple after the miscarriage, though , and , put this down to Chekhov's mother and sister blaming the miscarriage on Olg; Benedetti 1997, p. [https://archive.org/details/dearwriterdearac0000chek/page/124/mode/2up 125] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: : Egor Mikhailovich Chekhov and Efrosinia Emelianovna (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Payne 1991, p. XVII; Simmons 1970, p. 18; "taganrogcity.com Chekhov & Taganrog", www.taganrogcity.com; From the biographical sketch, adapted from a memoir by Chekhov's brother Mihail, which prefaces Constance Garnett's translation of Chekhov's letters, 1920. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Boyd, "A Chekhov lexicon", the Guardian, 3 July 2004. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
"taganrogcity.com Chekhov & Taganrog", www.taganrogcity.com. facts only, no text reused. taganrogcity.com
Wikipedia, "Anton Chekhov" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Peter Kropotkin, "The Constitutional Movement in Russia", revoltlib.com, 1 January 1905; Raymond Tallis, "In Defence of Wonder and Other Philosophical Reflections", Routledge, 3 September 2014; Edmund Wilson, "To The Finland Station", archive.org, 1940 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Anton Chekhov (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.