The Lady with the Dog

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860, in Taganrog, on the south coast of Russia. His family life was difficult; his father was strict and over-bearing but his mother was a passionate story-teller, a subject Chekhov warmed to. As he later said, ‘our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother.’ At school Chekhov was distinctly average. At 16 his father mismanaged his finances and was declared bankrupt. His family fled to Moscow. Chekhov remained and eked out a living by various means, including writing and selling short sketches to newspapers, to finish his schooling. That completed and with a scholarship to Moscow University obtained, he rejoined his family. He was able to help support them by selling satirical sketches and vignettes of Russian lifestyles and gradually obtained further commissions. In 1884 he qualified as a physician and, although it earned him little, he often treated the poor for free; he was fond of saying, ‘Medicine is my lawful wi