Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in Taganrog, Russia in 1860. He studied medicine at Moscow University and qualified as a doctor in 1884. He was primarily a writer, initially contributing articles to magazines on the subject of theatre and later writing his own plays. His first full-length play was Ivanov, written in 1887 and translated into English in 1912. This was followed by Leshy / The Wood Demon (1889/1926), Chayka / The Seagull (1896/1912), Dyadya Vanya / Uncle Vanya (1896/1912), Tri Sestry / The Three Sisters (1901/1916), and Vishnyov Sad / The Cherry Orchard (1904/1908). He also wrote a number of one act plays and short stories. Chekhov died in 1904.
Patrick Miles studied at the University of Cambridge. He has specialised in the study of Chekhov and his fluency in the Russian language has led to the establishment of the Patrick Miles Translation Agency in Cambridge and his role as a Russian lector at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Patrick Miles' published work on Chekhov, including editions and translations, includes: Chekhov: the early stories 1883-88 (London: Murray, 1982); Chekhov on the British Stage 1909-1987: an essay in cultural exchange (Cambridge: Sam and Sam, 1987), Early Stories (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), Chekhov on the British Stage (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), and Mikhail Gromov: Chekhov scholar and critic (Nottingham: Astra, 2003).
From the guide to the Manuscript material in the Patrick Miles Chekhov Collection, 1880-1998, 1880-1998, (The University of Nottingham)
