Talk:Anton Chekhov

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He was Ukrainian by ethnicity BTW

Just saying in case anyone is interested. Mr Fantastic Knowledge (talk) 16:45, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

In case anyone is interested, the claim above this reply isn't supported by reliable sources making it an original research. Summer ^talk 22:01, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

Чехов як українець. Template:Webarchive

• [1] В листі до Д. В. Григоровича Чехов згадує про своє українське походження: «Правда, в моих жилах течет ленивая хохлацкая кровь»
• [2] В листі до Л. А. Сулержицького Чехов відносить себе до «хохлів»: «Очень рад, что Вы стали Думать иначе о нас, хохлах»
• [3] В листі до Августина Врзала Чехов дає короткі автобіографічні данні, згадуючи, що: «Дед мой был малоросс, крепостной; до освобождения крестьян»
• [4] У своєму листі до О. С. Суворина Чехов підкреслює свою любов до криниць-журавлів та побілених хат, пояснюючи це своєю «хохлацкой кровью»
• [5]У листі до Суворина Чехов пише про свою «хохлацкую логику»

188.163.104.39 (talk) 14:11, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

This already appears on the page in section "Childhood". Perhaps something could be added, but one would need a couple of strong secondary RS to place this to proper context. My very best wishes (talk) 15:58, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

1. He was not an ethnic Ukrainian, all of his ancestors on his mother's side were Russian, on his father's side, only his grandmother was Ukrainian.

2. A quote from the article in your link: "Ukraine is dear and close to my heart. I love its literature, music and beautiful song, full of magical melody. I love the Ukrainian people, who gave the world such a titan as Taras Shevchenko",

- this is a fake quote that first appeared in 1941 in the newspaper "Soviet Ukraine" in an article by A. Shemetov. The original of this letter has not been found.

http://chehov-lit.ru/chehov/letters/1901-1902/letter-3547.htm - this is the only letter from Chekhov to Krymsky.

He also could not say that he had "Ukrainian blood", in his texts the word Ukrainian was almost never encountered, mostly either "khokhol" or "maloros".

3. The fact that he jokingly calls himself "khokhol" in his letters, referring to his laziness - does not mean that he considered himself Ukrainian. If you draw conclusions from his letters, then there is also his letter where he criticizes a Ukrainian writer, and unflatteringly speaks about "khokhls". http://chehov-lit.ru/chehov/letters/1892-1894/letter-1365.htm. There are also his letters in which he misses Russia http://chehov-lit.ru/chehov/letters/1904/letter-4459.htm. He writes "our Russian life is much more talented"

http://chehov-lit.ru/chehov/letters/1900-1901/letter-3006.htm

He also worked to have a monument to Peter the Great erected in his hometown of Taganrog - http://chehov-lit.ru/chehov/letters/1897-1898/letter-2292.htm

Obviously, he was patriotically inclined towards Russia. He was Russian, wrote in Russian and about Russians. Krist krist krist (talk) 09:31, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Mix of explanatory footnotes & ref footnotes is very messy; I plan to fix as per WP:CITEVAR

I found a very awkward & unworkable mix of explanatory footnotes treated as ref tags & what is essentially parenthetical referencing without the parentheses mixed in. The latter should really be shortened footnotes, but you cannot put Template:Tl wishing ref tags. However, you can put Template:Tl with the explanatory footnote template, Template:Tl.

I am going to convert the ref tags that are really explanatory footnotes to Template:Tl & Template:Tl as per WP:CITEVAR:

• Template:Tq
• Template:Tq

Peaceray (talk) 05:09, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

Just saw Template:Tl which should handle quotes. Peaceray (talk) 20:07, 27 October 2023 (UTC)

A revert

This edit [6]:

1. is not a proper summary of the body of the page (see section Anton_Chekhov#Legacy);
2. is supported by a single ref to an opinion by Daniel Burt (author), but it is included without an explicit attribution and as a statement of fact in WP voice
3. is an unnecessary duplication of content in next phrases of the lead explaining why he was a great writer.

I have reverted your recent edit per WP:BRD. Please self-revert and get WP:CONSENSUS for including this new claim to the lead. Thanks. My very best wishes (talk) 17:17, 17 May 2024 (UTC)

Childhood

In this edit, it was added that the Ukrainian language was spoken in his home (later changed to "likely present"). The sources provided are not great and contradicts other sources. For example, Chekhov: A Biographical and Critical Study by Ronald Hingley says this: "Taganrog did not come within the boundaries of the Ukrainian-speaking part of Russia. As a boy Anton spoke reasonably pure Russian, with a small admixture of provincialisms..." (p. 18). I also looked at Understanding Chekhov by Donald Rayfield and there is no mention of any Ukrainian being spoken (or notable Ukrainian ancestry). In regards to Taganrog's population, the book says: "An entrept for the wheat and wool trade, it had a brash, rich colonial class of Greeks and Italians and its Russian inhabitants were economically, if not politically, colonials, with all the vibrancy, the resentments and tensions of the colonised... Taganrog also had a Jewish population, which is why Jewish identity and anti-semitism is an important topic in much of Chekhov's work" (p. 3).

In this edit, Template:Tq was changed to Template:Tq. No source was provided. The only mention of Ukrainian ancestry mentioned that I could find was in Anton Chekhov: A Life by Rayfield, who says Chekhov's paternal grandmother was a Ukrainian. The book simply says: "All the loud laughter and singing, the fury and joy that Chekhov associated with Ukrainians, had been beaten out of her". As a result, I have undone these changes. It may be possible to briefly mention his paternal grandmother (citing Rayfield), but I would prefer to see what other sources say about this. Mellk (talk) 04:41, 30 April 2025 (UTC)