The Russian writer Anton Chekhov, who was born in 1860 and died in 1904,
has made an enormous contribution to modern literature. His success was a
remarkable achievement, and came despite the fact that Chekhov's family lived
in severe poverty for much of his childhood.
Chekhov's works have had a great influence on 20th century literature in many
ways, particularly in terms of emotional expression, plot and narrative
structure, and character developments. Even today, more than a hundred years
after his death, Chekhov's stories are extremely popular all over the world and
major new productions of his plays are frequently mounted, to great success.