Many literature lovers know the name of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, the great Russian writer, while the name of Alexander Chekhov, his older brother, is not so widely known. Although he also wrote prose, journalism, memoirs and was a highly educated person.
Therefore, for those who have an interest in our history, literature and the life of prominent people, it will be very interesting to study another representative of that time and the glorious Chekhov family, many of whom became famous.
Biography
Alexander was born in 1855 in the city of Taganrog in a middle-class family. Since childhood, Sasha was smart - he graduated from the Taganrog men's gymnasium with a silver medal.
And this is despite everything that happened to him. The fact is that little Sasha was a difficult child with an overly independent and even self-willed character. Immediately after him, his brother Nikolai was born, who was sickly, and Evgenia Yakovlevna, Sasha's mother, devoted a lot of time to him. And when she became pregnant again, she gave her eldest son to the family of her younger sister. The boy lived not far from the parental home, but still felt unnecessary and abandoned. Soon my mother went on a long pilgrimage, and he became very lonely. And, nevertheless, he received a fairly decent primary education in the family of Fedosya Yakovlevna, the younger sister of his mother.
About this period of his life, Alexander Pavlovich later wrote a story in which he described how he and his brother Anton spent their summer holidays. They had to work all day in daddy's shop, thereby preventing his case from completely disappearing. They sold the goods, while their peers simply relaxed and indulged in all sorts of fun. The father believed that it was much more useful for their life experience than an empty pastime. However, there was one circumstance that spoiled the boys' lives: they did not like the business that their father was engaged in, and they simply hated his shop. Therefore, all their vacations were spent in a struggle between "I do not want" and "I must", and then their mood was not the most rosy.
Alexander had a talent for languages, and when he was getting higher education at Moscow University, he already knew six languages, although he studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. And even then he began to write the first notes, humorous ones, so they were published in the magazines "Spectator", "Alarm clock" and others. And gradually he introduced his younger brother Anton to the world of metropolitan journalism.
And he himself, after graduating from university in 1882, went to Taganrog and got a job at customs, which surprised the whole family a lot. Everyone was expecting something more significant from him than a customs officer.
At this point, he saw the abuse of officials and wrote a note about it in the newspaper. Naturally, he was immediately fired. After that, he worked in similar places in St. Petersburg, then in Novorossiysk, but did not get along anywhere, because he was an honest person and did not tolerate theft and bribery.
Writing career
By 1986, his younger brother Anton had already settled in the world of writers and was able to provide Alexander with patronage: he helped him get a job in the newspaper "Novoye Vremya". So a new character appeared in the world of journalism, or rather a few, because Chekhov wrote under several pseudonyms, including under the names "Agafopod", "Aloe" and "A. Sedoy".
It was Alexander who became the prototype of Misail Poloznev in his brother Anton's story "My Life". He also boldly challenged his circle and the society in which he lived. Apparently, due to the discrepancy between the understanding of life and idealistic ideas about it, Alexander gradually became addicted to alcohol.
He wanted to do something significant, and instead had to take care of his family, who without him would simply starve to death. When the Chekhovs' father fled from Taganrog so that creditors would not harass him, Alexander took over his responsibilities.
He wanted to be a writer, but realized that he could not reach great heights here. And he didn’t want to be “middle peasant,” so he gave up this dream and worked as a journalist. Although the letters he wrote to his brother are distinguished by a very well-aimed and figurative language, which speaks of his undoubted talent.
When his younger brother Anton died in 1904, Alexander was shocked and heartbroken - they had a very warm relationship. He began writing stories in which he described his childhood and friendship with his brother. He also wrote a lot about the fight against alcoholism, the treatment of the mentally ill and other problems of society. This also shows his concern for people.
Alexander Pavlovich Chekhov passed away in 1913 and was buried at the Volkovo cemetery in St. Petersburg.
Personal life
Alexander Chekhov married for the first time in 1881 to Anna Sokolnikova, a woman of free views. She was much older than her husband, three children accompanied her at the wedding, and in addition, the church forbade her to marry. However, this did not bother her in the least.
In this marriage, they had sons Nikolai and Anton and daughter Mosya. All of them were considered illegitimate because the parents' marriage was not sanctified by the church.
Seven years later, Anna died, and Alexander married the governess of his children, Natalya Ipatieva. This woman, too, was burdened with a family that had to be taken care of: she had a sick mother and a sister, whom her husband abandoned with her children. Chekhov also took this burden on his shoulders.
Despite this, he was an energetic, lively and sociable person. As contemporaries recalled, he loved everyone and everyone loved him - children, animals, acquaintances and not very familiar ones. He was a very extravagant person for his time: he practiced vegetarianism, tried to photograph, loved cycling, raised exotic chickens, and built hospitals for alcoholics.
The second wife bore him a son, Mikhail, who adored his father for his broad erudition in various fields of knowledge: he could ask any question about literature, medicine or philosophy, and he received an exhaustive answer to everything. In adulthood, Mikhail left for the United States and became an actor and director there, and quite famous.
