Anton Chekhov

After being in romantic relationships with a couple of women, he finally tied the nuptials with Olga Knipper in 1901. The marriage resulted from an agreement according to which they would be married but would live differently, he in Yalta and she in Moscow.

In 1902, Olga suffered from a miscarriage. Though some claim that the conception may have occurred when Chekhov and Olga were apart, Russian scholars have refuted the same.

Throughout his life, he suffered from tuberculosis which worsened by the time his end approached. In 1897, he suffered from a major haemorrhage of the lungs.

Anton Chekhov was the third of the six children born to Pavel Yegorovich and Yevgeniya Chekhov in Taganrog in southern Russia. His father was a devout orthodox Christian and director of the parish choir. He ran a grocery store, while his mother was a story-teller.

He attained much of his preliminary education from a school that was essentially for Greek boys, before enrolling at the Taganrog Gymnasium. As a child, he contributed as a singer in his father’s choir as well as the Greek Orthodox Monastery.

In 1876, Due to his father’s bankruptcy, the family shifted to Moscow but Anton stayed on as he was pursuing his education. He took up odd jobs to support a living and finance his studies. He engaged in reading and writing extensively.

Completing his studies in 1879, he moved to Moscow to join his family. Therein, he gained admission at the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University

He essentially took to writing to support the family and his studies. He started off by writing humorous short stories about the contemporary Russian life and soon earned a reputation for himself. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms.

In 1882, he started writing for Oskolki, which was one of the leading publishers of that time. Two years henceforth, he qualified as a physician and started practicing.

Despite medical practice being his main profession, he did not make much money from it. Thus, he continued with his passion for writing. It was in 1886 that he was invited to write for Novoye Vremya (New Times), owned and edited by the business magnate Alexey Suvorin.

His writings impressed eminent Russian writers and readers. It was following the advice of Dmitry Grigorovich that he slowed down his speed and concentrated on coming up with quality work with artistic allure. In 1887, his work, ‘At Dusk’ won him the coveted Pushkin Prize.

Exhausted from his work and depleting health, he took a trip to Ukraine. The beauty of the place inspired and mesmerized him so much so that he penned a novella or short story on it titled, ‘The Steppe’. The work was much appreciated and earned a publication in a literary journal.

This great Russian writer was the author of the plays, ‘The Cherry Orchard’, ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘Uncle Vanya’, the latter of which was awarded the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award.