# Anton Chekhov ![[50 Resources/51 Attachments/51.03 Public/2026-05-04 Anton Chekhov.jpg|400]] Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (January 29, 1860 – July 15, 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics—The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard—and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Born in Taganrog to a merchant family, Chekhov was also a physician by profession. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and literature is my mistress." He began writing stories while studying medicine at Moscow University to support his family financially, initially publishing humorous sketches and vignettes under pseudonyms like "Antosha Chekhonte." Chekhov's work is characterized by its subtle psychological realism and its focus on the internal lives of characters rather than dramatic external events. He made formal innovations that influenced the evolution of the modern short story and developed a distinctive "theatre of mood" that challenged conventional theatrical action. His technique included an almost clinical objectivity, and he made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them. Chekhov died in 1904 in Badenweiler, Germany, from tuberculosis at the age of 44. He received numerous honors during his lifetime, including the Pushkin Prize in 1888 "for the best literary production distinguished by high artistic worth." ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Anton Chekhov]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> <!-- SerializedQuery: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Anton Chekhov]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> - [[And now here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye]] - [[It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom]] - [[Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice]] - [[Only entropy comes easy]] - [[You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible]] <!-- SerializedQuery END --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #books AND [[Anton Chekhov]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC -->