Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer, widely considered one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, 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. Chekhov was a physician by profession, famously stating, "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress." He began writing stories to earn money, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations that influenced the evolution of the modern short story. Chekhov captured life in the Russia of his time using a deceptively simple technique devoid of obtrusive literary devices, and he is regarded as the outstanding representative of the late 19th-century Russian realist school.