Tchaikovsky
www.tchaikovsky-research.net

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Антон Павлович Чехов) was a prominent Russian writer and dramatist, born on 17/29 January 1860 at Taganrog.

The son of Pavel Evgen'evich Chekhov, a shopkeeper and choirmaster, Anton moved with his family from Taganrog to Moscow in 1876. His early education was sporadic, but in 1879 he enrolled in the medical school at Moscow University, qualifying as a physician five years later. His writing interests progressed from writing articles for periodicals and newspapers, to publishing short stories, novels, and plays, of which The Seagull (1896), Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1904) are among the best known.

Tchaikovsky was introduced to Chekhov's work in April 1887, and was so impressed by the writer's talent that he sent him a letter (which unfortunately has not been preserved). He became personally acquainted with the writer during the autumn of 1887, at Modest Tchaikovsky's home in St. Petersburg, and the following year they met in Moscow. They planned to collaborate on an opera based on Lermontov's Béla, with Chekhov providing the libretto, but the two men's' travels meant that these plans were never realised.

Anton Chekhov died on 15 July 1904 at Badenweiter, Germany, aged 44.