Selected Stories

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was the son of a small shopkeeper and the grandson of a serf. After finishing school in his native town, Chekhov went to Moscow, where he entered the University to study medicine and started publishing tales, anecdotes, jokes, and articles. By the time he took his medical degree, writing had become his main interest and occupation. His literary reputation grew with the publication of the book Motley Stories (1886). In 1888, he was awarded the Pushkin Prize for the collection In the Twilight. This and the publication of the long story ”The Steppe” marked the beginning of Chekhov’s recognition as one of Russia’s leading writers. The first production of his famous play The Sea Gull (1896) was a miserable failure. But in 1898, the play was revived at the Moscow Art Theater and proved a resounding success, as did the theater’s productions of The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. Chekhov married the actress Olga Knipper just three years before he died of tuberculosis.

George Pahomov, who emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Unon at an early age, holds a Ph.D. in Russian Language and Literature from New York University and is a professor in the Russian Department of Bryn Mawr College. The author of two books and numerous articles on Russian literature, he served as principal editor of the five-volume translation of The Nikonian Chronicle.