Anton Chekhov (January 29, 1860 – July 15, 1904) was a Russian writer, physician, and playwright, widely regarded as one of the greatest masters of the short story and one of the most influential dramatists in world literature.
He was born in Taganrog, southern Russia, the third of six children in his family. Chekhov grew up in a strict and deeply religious household. His grandfather had been a serf who earned his family's freedom by saving enough money to buy it. His father was a grocer whose business eventually failed, forcing him to declare bankruptcy. To escape his creditors, he fled to Moscow, where Chekhov's mother and siblings soon joined him. Anton remained alone in Taganrog for two more years to complete his secondary education, supporting himself by tutoring younger students and working in a warehouse.
In 1879, he moved to Moscow and reunited with his family. He enrolled in the Medical Faculty of Moscow University, graduating as a physician in 1884. Even during his student years, he was writing humorous sketches and short stories to help support his impoverished family. His first collection of stories was published in 1884, and from then on he successfully combined medicine with literature. As he famously remarked, **"Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress."** Through both professions, he sought to heal—one the body, the other the human spirit.
In 1886, Chekhov published his first significant literary works, and in 1888 he received the prestigious Pushkin Prize for the collection *At Dusk*. During the following years, he wrote many of his finest short stories, including *Ward No. 6* and *The Lady with the Dog*. In 1892, he settled with his parents and sister at his estate in Melikhovo, where he practiced medicine and devoted himself tirelessly to combating the cholera epidemic that struck central Russia. He provided free medical care to the poor and served twenty-six villages and seven factories, earning the gratitude and admiration of the local people, who regarded him as a guardian angel. He also traveled extensively across Europe between 1891 and 1894.
Chekhov's collaboration with the Moscow Art Theatre transformed modern drama. His masterpieces—*The Seagull* (1896), *Uncle Vanya* (1899), *Three Sisters* (1901), and *The Cherry Orchard* (1904)—revolutionized the theatre through their subtle psychological realism, understated dialogue, and profound exploration of ordinary human lives.
In 1901, he married the actress Olga Knipper, one of the leading performers of the Moscow Art Theatre. By then, however, his health had been seriously weakened by tuberculosis, a disease he had suffered from for many years. Seeking treatment, he traveled to Badenweiler, Germany. In the early hours of **July 15, 1904**, he awoke, quietly said in German, **"Ich sterbe" ("I am dying")**, drank a glass of champagne, and died peacefully at the age of forty-four.
