Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 247, Anton Chekov, Russia's Primate.

Last time we covered the sad final days of the children of the last hour of Russia necklace

the second. Today we will talk about the life of Russia's playwright, Anton Chekov.

Anton Pavlovich Chekov was born on January 29th, 1860, in the town of Taginrog, a port on

the Sea of Azov and southern Russia. He was the third of six surviving children. His father,

Pavlovich Chekov was the son of a former surf in his wife. His father was a highly religious

man, but also a very abusive one. Anton's father's abusiveness would mold some of his writings

to show the hypocrisy between religion and bad behavior. Thankfully, his mother Evgenia was

a good person and a fantastic storyteller. She would entertain the children with tales of her

travels with her clothed merchant father all over Russia. As Anton put it, quote,

our talents, we got from our father, but our soul from our mother. As he recalled his childhood,

quote, when my brothers and I used to stand in the middle of the church and sing the trio,

my prayer be exalted with the Archangel's voice, everyone looked at us with emotion and

envied our parents. But we, at that moment, felt like little convicts. Later in life,

when he discovered that his brother, Alexander, was abusing his children and wife,

Anton had managed him, saying, quote, let me ask you to recall that it was despotism and lying that

ruined your mother's youth. despotism and lying so mutilated our childhood that it's sickening

and frightening to think about it. Remember the horror and disgust we felt in those times,

when father threw a tantrum at dinner over too much salt in the soup and called mother a fool.

Check-off would attend the Greek school in Taginrog and the Taginrog gymnasium, which has since

been renamed the Chekhov gymnasium, where he was held back for a year at 15 for failing an

examination in ancient Greek. By age 16, Chekhov's father had declared bankruptcy as he overextended

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