Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) Taganrog, Russia bancrupcy inferiority complex dysfunctional family medical school prolific writing Chekhov was born in the thriving Russian seaport town of Taganrog. His grandfather was a serf and eventually saved money to purchase freedom, but Chekhov struggled his whole life against feelings of subservience and inferiority based on his family’s background. His father owned a grimy grocery store and forced his children to work there but later defected to Moscow, where everyone but Anton moved and lived in abject poverty. Chekhov won a scholarship to study medicine at Moscow University (1879), where he moved and took financial responsibility for his highly dysfunctional family, mainly by publishing stories. He eventually bought an estate, built schools, roads, and bridges, and provided free health education and medical care to the poor in his district. The image is a photograph of Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy at Yalta (1900).

Russia, 19th Century industrialization Tsar Alexander II Russian Revolution, 1905 Bolsheviks Revolution, 1917 Huge social inequalities, fast-paced economic change and political instability characterized Russia at the end of the nineteenth century. Rapid industrialization, a century later than most of Europe, created a dramatic rise in the production of goods, and the population doubled to 100 million in just 40 years (1860–1900). Tsar Alexander II officially abolished serfdom in 1861, diminishing the influence of landowners, while business sectors grew and employed urbanized workers. The shift in wealth and power created crisis, with new wealthy and educated elites expressing anger at the autocratic tsarist regime. Alexander II and other officials were assassinated by anarchists in 1881. Chekhov died just before the Russian Revolution of 1905, and twelve years later, the Bolshevik-led revolution would establish a communist state. The image is a drawing of Alexander II’s assassination (1881).by Gustav Broling.

Sakhalin Chekhov committed to write a report about Sakhalin, a penal colony off the coast of Siberia known for its appalling conditions. Chekhov took notes on the brutal conditions, offering his medical services to sick prisoners, and returned to lobby for prison reform, especially for the island’s children, in 1894. These penal colonies (katorga, or prison farms) required hard labor and were built in remote areas of Siberia. The image is a photograph showing Russian prisoners awaiting inspection before going to work (1908–1913).