Anton Chekhov

　　Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Jan 29, 1860 - Jul 15, 1904) was a Russian physician and supreme short story writer andplaywright. He was the third of six children. His father was a grocer, painter and religious fanatic with amercurial temperament who "thrashed" his children and was likely emotionally abusive to his wife. Chekhov, like Dickens, was no stranger to financial hardship and in 1875 his father tookthe family and fled to Moscow to escape creditors. Chekhov stayed behind for three more years to finish school. Hepaid for his tuition by catching and selling goldfinches and dispensing private tutoring lessons, and selling shortsketches to the newspaper. He sent any money he could spare money to his family in Moscow. Chekhov is considered anexemplar author in the genre of Realism. A child-family separation theme playsout in several of Chekhov's stories including Vanka, The Steppe, and Sleepy.

　　In 1879 Chekhov was admitted tomedical school and he joined his family in Moscow. He assumed financial responsibility for the family and whileattending classes at Moscow State University, he wrote and sold a large number of humorous stories and vignettes ofcontemporary Russian life. He published more than four hundred short stories, sketches and vignettes by the age oftwenty-six.

　　"Medicine is my lawful wife and literature my mistress; when I get tired of one, I spend the night with theother."

　　Some consider Chekhov to be the founder of the modern short story and his influence is observed in a diverse group ofwriters including Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, William Somerset Maugham, Raymond Carver and John Cheever. Most ofthe English-speaking world knows him as a playwright, particularly for The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

　　Some popular starting points forshort story readers include: Ward No. 6, The Darling and Gusev, The Hunstman and The Lady with the Little Dog. A Dreary Story is also an excellent work. Due toit's length I have classified it here as a book. It's also well known under the alternative title A Boring Story which is the title listed in theshort story section as a convenience to readers searching under that name. Anton Chekhov himself was personally fondof his short story, The Student.

　　In 1897 Chekhov was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He purchased land in Yalta in 1898 after his father's death and hada villa built. He moved into the villa in 1899 with his mother and sister. This was a very prolific period for thegreat writer and he produced some of his most famous work during this period. Amongst those works is a trilogyfeaturing Ivan Ivanovitch, a veterinary surgeon and his schoolmaster friend, Burkin. The two are on a small trekkingand shooting holiday. Chekhov overlays three stories that are amongst his most famous short stories in a trilogysometimes referred to as "The Little Trilogy". The three short stories, in order, are: The Man in a Case, Gooseberries, and About Love. It was also during this period in Yalta thathe produced Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

　　Witty to the end, Chekhov's lastwords were, "I haven't had champagne for a long time." His words were a satirical reference to a specific etiquettepracticed in German medicine at the time; when it was determined that there was no hope for a patient's recovery, itwas customary for the doctor to offer the patient a glass of champagne.

　　We feature two volumes of Anton Chekhov's great short stories in our Favorite Short Stories Collection. You may also enjoy reminiscences aboutChekhov by Maxim Gorky and AleksandrKuprin.

　　Chekhov is featured in our collection of favorite Russian Writers

　　Enjoy American Literature's Anton Chekhov imagesat Pinterest.