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Anton Chekhov, the hero of our time

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Anton Chekhov, the hero of our time

08.08.2018


Genius Russian 19th century writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov lived only 44 years. Within that short time, half of which he suffered from tuberculosis which eventually put him in the grave, the writer had not only created distinguished works (20 volumes of world-famous prose), but also managed to do tremendously many things.

He built four village schools, a bell tower, fire shed for peasants, the road to Lopasnya, overcoming rigid passive resistance of Zemstvo, contractors' scam and clueless peasants indifference.

He put up the monument to Peter the Great in the native Taganrog, convincing sculptor Mark Antokolsky to donate the statue to the city, arranging its casting and free delivery through the Port of Marseille.

He founded a public library in Taganrog, donating more than two thousands of his own books, and was constantly enlarging it during 14 years.

While living at Melikhovo as a doctor he was seeing more than one thousand sick peasants annually almost free of charge and provided medicine to each of them.

As a local doctor, during cholera outbreak he treated 25 villages alone, without any assistants.

He undertook a heroic journey to Sakhalin Island, made population census on his own there, wrote a book The Island of Sakhalin, proving by figures and facts that Tsar's hard labor camp (katorga) was "worthless bullying of powerless human individual by rich and well-fed."

He helped thousands people (content from the letters to Chekhov in complete works catalogue is worded so as: "Gratitude for the money received from Chekhov...", "Gratitude for assistance in getting a job...", "Gratitude for efforts in terms of the passport...", etc.

Planted about one thousand cherry trees in devastated Melikhovo; also planted spruces, maples, elms, pines, oaks, larches in bare areas of forest.

He planted sweet cherry trees, mulberry trees, palms, cypresses, lilacs, gooseberry, cherries and an amazing flower garden in burned-out dusty area in Crimea.

Chekhov wrote the following words in his notebook: "To save his soul a muslim digs a well. It would be good if each of us could leave behind a school, a well or something like that, so that life would not pass and end up with no trace."
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