Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860.

Although he died at the young age of 44 Chekhov is admired as one of the greatest writers of all time with a deserved place in the literary pantheon across his plays and short stories.

As a playwright he wrote four classics: ‘The Seagull’, ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’. All of these and many others receive regular revivals to this day. Chekhov is considered along with Ibsen and Stringberg one of the three seminal figures in ushering in early modernism.

As a short story writer, his initial motivation was as a means of obtaining a more regular income, but soon his ambitions grew and his innovations and legacy have bequeathed us many quite extraordinary works including ‘The Lady with the Little Dog’, ‘Death of a Statesman’, ‘Ward Number Six’, ‘A Hard Case’, and ‘My Life’ being just a few examples of his artistry.

In addition, he practiced as a medical doctor during most of his literary career. As he was fond of saying ‘Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.’

In March 1897, Chekhov was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He died on 15th July 1904 at Badenweiler in Germany.

Julius West

Books

Book translations