Anton Chekhov was born inTaganrog, which is a city inRussia. His father, Pavel, was the owner of a grocery store. His mother, Yevgeniya, sometimes told Anton stories about her childhood.
In 1876, Chekhov's father wentbankrupt. From then on, Chekhov's family was very poor. Anton Chekhov had to pay for his own education. He paid for it bytutoring (teaching) other students, catchingbirds and selling them, and writing short stories for newspapers. When he had extra money, he sent it to his family. While he was at school, he read many books by famous authors, for exampleMiguel de Cervantes andArthur Schopenhauer.
In 1879, Chekhov went toMoscow University.
While he was at Moscow University, Chekhov wrote many short stories to pay for his schooling and to help his family. In 1886, one of the most famous newspapers in Russia,New Times, asked him to write stories for them. Soon, his stories started to get famous, and other writers read his work and liked it. He wrote a book of stories calledAt Dusk that won the Pushkin Prize, an award for good writing.
In 1887, Chekhov wrote a play calledIvanov. Chekhov did not like the play, butcritics loved it.
In 1890, Chekhov went toSakhalin Island, apenal colony (prison). He talked to many prisoners and found out that they were treated very badly. The prisoners were often beaten. There were also children there. He was angry, and wrote about it in a book calledThe Island Of Sakhalin and in a short story calledThe Murder.
In 1892, he bought a house and some land nearMoscow called Melikhovo. While he was there, he helped the people who lived nearby. He brought them food and clothing, and medicine when they were sick. Since he was trained as a doctor, he knew how to take care of them.
While at Melikhovo, he started to write a play calledThe Seagull. When it was first performed, it went very badly, and the audience did not like it. Later, it was performed at another theater, the Moscow Art Theater, where the performances went better. Soon after this, he had another play performed, calledUncle Vanya. He later wrote two more great plays:Three Sisters andThe Cherry Orchard. All four plays are still often performed today.
In 1897, he became sick. Doctors told him that he hadtuberculosis, a lung disease, and that he should change his life to be healthier. He moved toYalta and bought a house there. In 1901 he married a woman namedOlga Knipper. At Yalta, he wrote some of his most famous stories, including a story calledThe Lady With The Dog.
By 1904, Chekhov was very sick. He died on the 15th of July inGermany. Thousands of people were very sad when he died. He was buried inNovodevichy Cemetery.
