A great number of people have left their memories of meetings with Anton Chekhov. In a new biography titled ‘Chekhov in Life’ (Kolibri publications, 2024), author Igor Sukhikh suggests looking at the personality of the great writer in the genre of documentary montage, having collected hundreds of quotations from Chekhov's contemporaries. Below, we have selected a few of the most vivid ones.
1. About his appearance "Positive, sober, healthy, he reminded me of Turgenev's Bazarov. 〈.
..〉 A subtle, inexorable, purely Russian analysis prevailed in his eyes over his entire facial expression.
An enemy of sentiment and pompous hobbies, he seemed to hold himself in the mouthpiece of cold irony and enjoyed feeling the ringlet of courage." - Artist Ilya Repin 2. About home life "None of even his closest people saw him casually dressed; neither did he like the different domestic liberties like slippers, robes and jackets.
At eight or nine o'clock, he could already be found walking around the office or at his desk, as always impeccably elegant and modestly dressed." - Writer Alexander Kuprin 3. About sincerity "I’ll tell you straight, I’ve met people no less sincere than Chekhov, but I don’t remember people with such a degree of simplicity, alien to any affectation.
This was not feigned, as with many other cases, but the requirement of the soul, for which any falsity was excruciating." - Critic Mikhail Menshikov 4. About laughter "His eyes were beautiful when he laughed - som.
