[Chekhov as a doctor]

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was not only a writer, but also a doctor. One might think that he was primarily concerned with writing, but he also dedicated himself fully to being a doctor. When he had to give up his practice in 1897 upon urgent medical advice, he experienced it as a great loss. As a medic he often felt unsure and believed that he failed in his duties. This did not change the fact that many patients called upon him for assistance. They were probably also fond of him because of his genuine interest in their living conditions and because of his compassion. In terms of his scientific activities, his attempt to have his visit in 1890 to the Russian penal colony Sakhalin recognised as a dissertation failed. In many ways, Chekhov was a hard-working idealist, but one without illusions. Doctors appear as the main character or one of the main characters in 25 of Chekhov's hundreds of stories as well as in various plays. Although Chekhov undoubtedly will have incorporated his own experiences into his works, he did not give a picture of his own medical activities in the doctors he portrayed. A large number of the doctors he describes are depressed, nervous or irritable. Others are naïve and clumsy, while others still are skeptic, cynical or disillusioned. In some of the descriptions the image of Chekhov as a doctor may be observed.