Trivia

Uncle of Olga Tschechowa and Michael Chekhov.

"Chekhov's Gun" is a dramatic principle in which every element must be essential to the story, and irrelevant elements must be removed. When giving advice to fellow playwrights, Chekhov used the example that if a gun is shown in the first act, it must be fired by the end; otherwise it should not be there at all.

His drama, Uncle Vanya performed at the Donmar Warehouse, was awarded the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Revival of 2002.

As a physician Chekhov had diagnosed himself with tuberculosis as early as 1884, but he refused to seek treatment or curb his hectic lifestyle. It was not until March 1897, when he suffered a hemorrhage at a Moscow restaurant, that he reluctantly got medical attention. By then Chekhov's TB was advanced beyond cure, though by following doctor's orders he managed to live another seven years.

Was a confirmed bachelor until he met actress Olga Knipper-Chekhova in 1898, during rehearsals of his play "The Seagull". They married in 1901. By mutual (albeit unhappy) consent their marriage was marked by long separations, as Chekhov remained in Yalta for his health while Knipper continued her career with the Moscow Art Theater. They wrote each other many letters, which were later published.

On the advice of his doctors, Chekhov moved to the warmer climate of Yalta, Crimea, in 1899. He settled into a handsome new villa, nicknamed the "White Dacha", which he built with an advance from his publisher. Some of his greatest works were written there, including the short story "The Lady with the Dog" (1899) and the plays "Three Sisters" (1901) and "The Cherry Orchard" (1904). The White Dacha is now a house museum, preserved much as Chekhov left it.

Working on "The Cherry Orchard" in late 1903, Chekhov's strength was so depleted by illness he could only write a few lines per day. The play and his story "The Betrothed" (published in December 1903) were his last completed works.

In his prolific career (1880-1904) Chekhov produced over 500 short stories, 18 novellas, 14 plays, a murder mystery novel ("The Shooting Party", 1884), and one important non-fiction book, "Sakhalin Island" (1895).

In 1888 the Russian Academy awarded Chekhov the Pushkin Prize for his story collection "At Dusk" (1887). This firmly established him as a serious writer, after years of being known primarily as a humorist.

The 1896 premiere of "The Seagull" in St. Petersburg was a fiasco that caused Chekhov to swear he'd never write for the stage again. In 1898, Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko gambled on reviving the play with their new Moscow Art Theater troupe. It was a hit that made the reputations of both the MAT and of Chekhov as a playwright, and a landmark in the development of Stanislavski's acting methods. A seagull has served as the MAT's logo ever since.

As a med student in Moscow in the early 1880s, Chekhov supported himself and his family by writing stories, anecdotes and jokes for humor magazines. He often used the pen name Antosha Chekhonte. Chekhov would later say of this early work, "My God, I started out with such trash!".

Chekhov had a strict religious upbringing (Russian Orthodox) by his abusive father. In adulthood he turned away from religion and became an atheist. As a man and artist Chekhov's viewpoint was humanist, based on objective observation and empathy.

From 1892 to 1899 Chekhov lived on a country estate in Melikhovo, outside of Moscow. He built schools, roads, and a hospital for the local population, and his efforts as a medical professional largely spared the region from outbreaks of cholera. The plays "The Seagull" (1896), "Uncle Vanya" (1899), and many of his best short stories were written there. Chekhov's house at Melikhovo was demolished after the Soviets made the property a collective farm in 1927, though authorities later claimed it was destroyed by the invading German army during WWII. It has been reconstructed as a museum.

Aware that he would die prematurely, Chekhov oversaw the publication of his "Collected Works" in Russia from 1899 to 1901.

In 1890, Chekhov undertook a hazardous 6,000-mile journey from Moscow to the Russian Far East to document the penal colony on Sakhalin Island. He was there three months and gathered information by conducting a census of the colony's 10,000+ population. Chekhov serialized his findings from 1891 to 1893 and collected them in the book "Sakhalin Island" (1895).

Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Section 1. Chekhov lies next to his father, Pavel Yegorovich (died 1898), and his wife, actress Olga Knipper-Chekhova.

On his journey to Sakhalin in 1890, Chekhov visited the Siberian city of Tomsk. In letters home he described it as filthy, muddy, and filled with drunk, stupid people. His comments became notorious when they were published after his death. In 2004, the city of Tomsk got humorous revenge by unveiling a bronze caricature statue of the author on the banks of the Tom River. Created by Leonty Usov, it portrays a disheveled Chekhov with monstrous bare feet, apparently because his boots had gotten stuck in the Tomsk mud. Controversial at first, the satirical Chekhov Monument has become a local landmark and tourist attraction.