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Anton Chekhov


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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the small seaport of Taganrog, Ukraine on January 17th in the year 1860. Today he is remembered as a playwright and one of the masters of the modern short story. He was the son of a grocer and the grandson of a serf who had bought his freedom, that and that his sons, 19 years earlier. Chekhov spent his early years under the shadow of his father's religious fanaticism while working long hours in his store.

Chekhov attended a school for Greek boys in his hometown from 1867-1868 and later he attended the local grammar school from 1868-1876 when his father went bankrupt and moved the family to Moscow. Chekhov, only 16 at the time, decided to remain in his hometown and supported himself by tutoring as he continued his schooling for 3 more years.

After he finished grammar school Chekhov enrolled in the Moscow University Medical School, where he would eventually become a doctor. Chekhov's medical and science experience is evident in much of his work as evidenced by the apathy many of his characters show towards tragic events.

While attending medical school Chekhov began to publish comic short stories and used the money to support himself and his family and by 1886 he had gained wide fame as a writer. Chekhov's works were published in various St. Petersburg papers, including Peterburskaia gazeta from 1885, and Novoe vremia from 1886. Chekhov also published 2 full-length novels during this time, one of which, "The Shooting Party," was translated into English in 1926.

Chekhov graduated from medical school in 1884 and he practiced medicine until 1892. While practicing medicine in 1886 he became a regular contributor to St. Petersburg daily Novoe vremya and it was during this time that he developed his style of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. The lack of critical social commentary in Chekhov's works netted him some detractors, but it gained him the praise of such authors as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov.

Chekhov was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1888. The next year he was elected a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. However after the failure of his play The Wood Demon (1889) he withdrew from literature for a while. Instead he turned back to medicine and science in his trip to the penal colony of Sakhalin, north of Siberia. While there he surveyed 10,000 convicts sentenced to life on the island as part of his doctoral research. After finished on the island he traveled all over, including to such places as South East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and the Middle East.

In 1892 Chekhov bought an estate in the country village of Melikhove and became a full time writer. It was during this time that he published some of his most memorable stories including 'Neighbors' (1892), 'Ward Number Six' (1892), 'The Black Monk' (1894), 'The Murder' (1895), and 'Ariadne' (1895). In 1897 he fell ill with tuberculosis moved to Yalta, while there he wrote his famous stories 'The Man in a Shell,' 'Gooseberries,' 'About Love,' 'Lady with the Dog,' and 'In the Ravine.'

In 1901 Chekhov finally married to an actress, Olga Knipper, who had performed in his plays. But their bliss would be short lived, Chekhov died on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany. He is buried in the cemetery of the Novodeviche Monastery in Moscow.

Though a celebrated figure by the Russian literary public at the time of his death, Chekhov remained rather unknown internationally until the years after World War I, when his works were translated into English. As a writer Chekhov was extremely fast, often producing a short story in an hour or less, overall during his career he authored several hundred stories. He didn't have as much success with his plays - the early ones were failures and it wasn't until The Seagull was revised in 1898 by Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre that he gained popularity as a playwright.


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Recent Forum Posts on Anton Chekhov

urgent need ! analysis of 6 short stories of Chekhov.

I need analysis or any comment or essay of these 6 stories : The order of st.Anne , Terror , Angel gooseberries ,His wife and A hard case.:confused:

Posted By Negar at Mon 2 Jun 2008, 4:00 PM in Chekhov, Anton || 0 Replies

Plays of Anton Chekhov

I have a question for a class which I am finding profoundly difficult to answer due to its obtuse nature and was wondering if anyone had insights on the topic of: How does Chekhov define "art"?

Posted By epictetus at Mon 21 Apr 2008, 9:21 AM in Chekhov, Anton || 0 Replies

"brevity is the sister of talent".

Hello, can anyone give me an example of how Chekhov works with the brevity of the short story form to full effect in order to communicate meaning in his stories? I have read some of his short stories, paying close attention to Gooseberries. Chekhov himself said, 'And in general there ought to be nothing unnecessary'... however I want to analyse gooseberries in light of this statement, but first of all need to understand what exactly Chekhov leaves out of this short story?? Can anyone help me understand the meaning Chekhov is trying to imply through the story? Thanks

Posted By _poptart_ at Mon 14 Apr 2008, 10:59 AM in Chekhov, Anton || 0 Replies

Name of the story?

I saw two plays of Chekhov based on his early stories. 1. A street smart guy try to seduce a woman through a series of letter saying his misfortune through her dumb husband. In the end, woman acquiesces but this man refuses. 2. The drowning.. a man who perform act of drowning for the fun. Could you send me a personal message or link in the case you know this?

Posted By Haroun at Fri 11 Apr 2008, 5:24 AM in Chekhov, Anton || 0 Replies

Rothschild's Fiddle

I just finnished reading Rothschild's Fiddle and I just have to say that I thought the ending of the story was truly exquisite. This is the very first thing I have read by Chekhov and I must say I was really quite impressed and moved. I shall definately continue to prusue this author further.

Posted By Dark Muse at Mon 24 Mar 2008, 7:35 PM in Chekhov, Anton || 4 Replies

Story Recomendations

I have just recenetly aquired a voulume of works by Chekhov and I have never read him before, so I was just wondering what are some of your faveorite stories, or what stories would you must recomend?

Posted By Dark Muse at Mon 24 Mar 2008, 12:18 PM in Chekhov, Anton || 4 Replies

Rothschild's Violin - online text?

Hi, I'm taking a short story course. I was excited when the prescribed text was a short story collection that I already owned-- but then gravely disappointed when I saw the evil, evil words "Second Edition" on the curriculum website. I went through the list of stories to read, and compared it to my own table of contents. I have most of the stories, but sure enough, there's a few in the "new" edition that weren't in mine. One of them is Rothschild's Violin. I've spent some time searching for a copy of the story online, but either come up with repositories of Chekhov's novels, or the opera. Could anyone point me in the direction of the short story? Thanks!

Posted By halcyon1234 at Wed 9 Jan 2008, 4:48 PM in Chekhov, Anton || 1 Reply

Where is this quote from?

Where is this quote from? "We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds." I'd really like to read more and understand it's context.

Posted By Snoo at Wed 9 Jan 2008, 7:37 AM in Chekhov, Anton || 3 Replies

Where to Find "The Calamity"??

hello-- Desperately searching for a copy of "The Calamity," supposedly published in 1886, around the time of "Agafya"-- but I cannot find it anywhere, even in the list of Garnett's 200+ "Complete" short stories. Does anyone have any idea where I might find this? In Russian, it is called "Neschast'e" if that is any help. Perhaps it went under another name? Thanks, Karen

Posted By kjlatta at Mon 24 Dec 2007, 1:06 AM in Chekhov, Anton || 1 Reply

The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov

I just recently purchased this book and I think it would make a wonderful addition to any Russian lit enthusiast's library. It can be found here: The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov. It is a good quality hardcover book (at ~330 pages). A very good deal at $6.98! However, because B&N publishes it, I'm not sure if you'll be able to find it on Amazon or anywhere else other than B&N. I just thought I might point that out. :)

Posted By Dori at Sat 1 Dec 2007, 9:21 PM in Chekhov, Anton || 0 Replies

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