Anton Chekhov

Chekhov's four canonical full-length plays are "The Seagull" (1896), "Uncle Vanya" (1899), "Three Sisters" (1901), and "The Cherry Orchard" (1904). All four premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre under the direction of Constantin Stanislavski, with whom Chekhov had a famously contentious creative relationship.

Yes, Chekhov qualified as a physician in 1884 from Moscow University and practiced medicine throughout his life, often treating peasants without charge. He once described medicine as his "lawful wife" and literature as his "mistress," and his medical background deeply informed the clinical precision of his short stories.

"Chekhov's gun" is a dramatic principle attributed to Chekhov, who wrote that if a rifle is hanging on the wall in the first act, it absolutely must go off by the third. The idea emphasizes narrative economy—every detail in a story should serve a purpose—and has become a fundamental rule in screenwriting and fiction workshops.

Chekhov died of tuberculosis on July 15, 1904, at a spa in Badenweiler, Germany, where he had traveled seeking treatment. He had suffered from the disease for over two decades, first showing symptoms in the 1880s while working as both a doctor and a prolific short story writer.