Anton Chekhov

Biography

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was the grandson of a serf who bought his family's freedom — a biographical fact that maps directly onto Lopakhin's ancestry. He trained as a doctor, practiced medicine among the rural poor, and wrote stories and plays that redefined both forms. He was dying of tuberculosis when he wrote The Cherry Orchard, and he knew it. He died six months after the premiere, at forty-four. He insisted the play was a comedy. Stanislavsky staged it as a tragedy. They argued about it until Chekhov could no longer argue.

Anton Chekhov at a glance