Page 77 - Blue Feather Book 2

aboUt the aUthor. ANTON ChEkhOv
“The artist must be, not the judge of his characters and of what they say,
but merely a dispassionate observer." Anton Chekhov
ANTON CHEKHOv was born on January 29, 1860 in Taganrog, Russia. He is considered by many one of Russia's greatest writers. He was a short-story writer, playwright and a doctor.
He attended a school for Greek boys and later Taganrog Gymnasium wich was later renamed Chekhov Gymnasium, though in 1975, it became a literary museum.
It’s been said that his mother was a great story teller and there is where Chekhov’s love for story telling began.
Sadly, Chekhov’s childhood was not a happy
one "When I think back on my childhood”, Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." One of the reasons for
this was his father’s abusive nature.
A very difficult time was when his father lost his business due to bankruptcy. It was especially hard on his mother who he said was physically and emotionally broken.
By this time he had to support himself while he studied medicine and help his family, which is the reason he first began writing.
He wrote hundreds of short stories. Chekhov could relate to every day middle class problems and often enough wrote about them. He has been a
74 The Blue Feather Literature First Course