Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright, short-story writer and practising physician whose work reshaped modern drama and exerted a profound influence on the development of the short story. Born in 1860 in Taganrog and active during the final decades of the Russian Empire, he became one of the central figures of early modernism in world literature. His plays and stories are widely regarded as masterpieces for their subtlety, psychological depth and innovative narrative form.

Early Life and Education

Chekhov was born on 29 January 1860 (Old Style 17 January) in the port city of Taganrog, situated on the Sea of Azov. He was the third of six surviving children in a family marked by both hardship and strong artistic influences. His father, Pavel Yegorovich Chekhov, a former serf who became a tradesman and parish-choir director, was known for his strict and sometimes violent discipline. By contrast, Chekhov’s mother Yevgeniya Morozova captivated her children with stories drawn from travels across Russia, a gift that strongly shaped Chekhov’s narrative sensibilities.
Chekhov’s education began in the Greek School and continued at the Taganrog Gymnasium, where he was once held back for failing Ancient Greek. His childhood, which he later described as overshadowed by “suffering”, was deeply affected by his father’s bankruptcy in 1876. Pavel fled to Moscow to avoid imprisonment, leaving young Anton behind to finish school, board with acquaintances and financially support the family through tutoring, selling birds and writing short satirical pieces for newspapers.
During these years Chekhov developed a passion for theatre. Regular attendance at the Taganrog Theatre introduced him to Italian opera, vaudeville and Russian comedy, and nurtured the dramatic instincts that later informed his major plays. He also read extensively, absorbing the works of Cervantes, Turgenev, Goncharov and Schopenhauer.
In 1879 he joined his family in Moscow and entered the medical faculty of what is now the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. He qualified as a physician in 1884, later remarking that “medicine is my lawful wife, and literature my mistress”, reflecting a lifelong dedication to both professions.

Early Career and Literary Development

To support his family and pay university fees, Chekhov wrote prolifically for humorous journals under pseudonyms such as Antosha Chekhonte. By the early 1880s he had become a popular writer of sketches and vignettes of urban life noted for their sharp satire and occasional cruelty. His style gradually evolved, influenced by critics who urged him to focus on artistic quality rather than sheer productivity.
Tuberculosis symptoms emerged in the mid-1880s, though Chekhov concealed the illness from family and friends. His breakthrough came in 1886 when he began contributing to the St Petersburg newspaper Novoye Vremya, edited by Aleksey Suvorin. Suvorin became a close friend, though their relationship cooled during the Dreyfus Affair, when Chekhov objected to the paper’s antisemitic campaign.
Critical recognition followed quickly. Writers such as Dmitry Grigorovich praised his extraordinary talent, encouraging him to refine his craft. Although he initially dismissed his own work as “written mechanically”, surviving manuscripts reveal rigorous revision. By the late 1880s he had become one of Russia’s most respected short-story writers.

Major Works for the Theatre

Chekhov’s plays revolutionised modern drama by replacing traditional plot-driven action with an emphasis on mood, psychological nuance and the unspoken tensions of daily life. His dramaturgy foregrounds subtle emotional currents and seemingly ordinary events, creating a “submerged life” beneath the surface of dialogue.
The Seagull premiered poorly in 1896, prompting Chekhov to vow abandonment of the theatre. Its 1898 revival by Konstantin Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre transformed its reception, establishing Chekhov as a foundational modern dramatist. The same company later staged Uncle Vanya and premiered Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, the latter completed shortly before his death.
These four major plays demand a strong ensemble cast, as their impact depends on the interplay of multiple characters rather than a single hero. Their atmospheric, often melancholic tone and their themes of unfulfilled desire, change and social decline made them defining works of early modernist theatre.

Evolution of the Short Story

Chekhov’s short fiction exerted international influence and helped shape the modern short story. He broke with classical narrative conventions, employing open endings, subdued plots and psychological realism. His insistence that the writer’s task is to “ask questions, not answer them” distinguished his work from moralistic tradition.
His stories examine a broad range of human experiences—bureaucratic pettiness, medical practice, rural poverty, romantic frustration, moral ambiguity—with compassion tempered by irony. Their structural innovations influenced later writers across Europe and America.

Professional Life as a Physician

Chekhov practised medicine throughout his literary career, often treating the poor without charge. He worked during epidemics, undertook medical surveys and viewed scientific training as crucial to his disciplined observational style. His clinical background informed the emotional detachment and precision of his prose.
In the late 1880s and early 1890s he participated in public health initiatives, including a strenuous journey to the penal colony on Sakhalin Island to investigate conditions there. His report, based on detailed interviews and statistics, reflected both humanitarian concern and scientific method.

Personal Life and Later Years

Chekhov achieved financial stability through his writing, enabling him to purchase a country estate at Melikhovo in 1892. There he wrote some of his finest stories, oversaw improvements in local infrastructure and treated villagers medically. His health deteriorated during the 1890s as tuberculosis progressed.
He married the actress Olga Knipper, a leading performer at the Moscow Art Theatre, in 1901. Their relationship was affectionate but often long-distance due to his failing health and her theatrical commitments. Chekhov spent his final years in Yalta for the milder climate but continued to travel to Moscow and St Petersburg when possible.
He died on 15 July 1904 in Badenweiler, Germany, aged 44. His funeral in Moscow drew large crowds and affirmed his status as a major literary figure.

Legacy

Chekhov is regarded as one of the greatest short-story writers and a founding figure of modern drama. His influence spans literature, theatre and cinematic narrative, inspiring generations of writers through his minimalist technique, psychological insight and refusal to offer easy resolutions.
With Ibsen and Strindberg, he shaped the transition from nineteenth-century theatrical conventions to a new dramatic form centred on realism, subtext and ensemble performance. His short stories, meanwhile, remain models of narrative economy and emotional depth.