udc 821.161.1–2.09:177.72

Rajko Igić (Chicago)

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: Doctor-Writer 391 and Humanist

Овај чланак је је написан на основу ауторовог излагања на прослави стогодишњице смрти Антона Павловича Чехова (2004), Колби Колеџ, Вотервил, Мејн, САД. У чланку се говори о хуманизму Кључне речи: Чехова као писца–лекара и анализирају неке Chekhov, doctor-writer, Three одлике ликова лекара у његовим делима. Уз Sisters, Sakhalin Island, Dreyfus то, опширно је приказан лик Чебутикина из case, Gorki, Tolstoy,Dante. драме Три сестре.

o commemorate Chekhov’s centennial ers, literary and drama critics and reviewers, Tin 2004, the celebrations were organized historians, and other speakers. Film versions from Russia to Germany, France, and England, of Chekhov’s works shot( in 1975), all the way to the United States and Canada, (1965), Vanya and Forty Second and other countries. Recently, Colby College Street (1994), and (2002), (Waterville, Maine) organized and hosted as well as the plays The Seagull, an adapta- a festival dedicated to the famous Russian tion of the Light Box Theatre from Manhat- writer. On that occasion the North American tan, Three Sisters, an avant-garde perform- Chekhov Society arranged a one-day confer- ance by Wooster Company from Manhattan, ence titled “Chekhov Centenary Conference,” and I Take Your Hand in Mine…, a one-act for which over 30 papers were submitted by play based on the correspondence between professors of Russian literature, physicians, Chekhov and , written by Carol and other persons well versed in Chekhov’s Rocamora from New York were shown during life and work. It was followed by a two-day that festival. Such a rich program in America meeting, “Chekhov the Immigrant: Translat- comes as no surprise as Chekhov’s plays are ing a Cultural Icon,” which was attended by frequently performed here; in America only American translators of Chekhov’s works, writ- Shakespeare is performed more often than

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Chekhov. During the festival dedicated to lasted for 20 years. On July 15, 1904, Koch’s Chekhov, the author of this article presented bacillus ended his courageous battle against his paper Could Chekhovian Humanism Help the disease. At that time medicine had only us Today? It was written with the intention of modest treatments for this infectious disease, highlighting some qualities of Chekhov as a such as providing adequate nutrition and doctor-writer as well as a humanist. rest to increase the body’s defenses against the tubercle bacillus. (Streptomycin, the first effective antituberculous medication, was Doctor-Writer discovered during WWII, four decades after Chekhov’s death from the disease that had 392 In 1884 Anton Pavlovich Chekhov gradu- threatened humanity for thousands of years.) ated from medical school and started to Although Chekhov for some time doubted work as a physician in a suburban Moscow the diagnosis, the first haemoptysis that oc- hospital. Eight years later he purchased the curred in 1884 and the many subsequent rundown estate, 70 km south of episodes must have caused him tremendous Moscow, and he and his family lived there anxiety and emotional distress as premoni- for the next seven years. “He pursued his tions of early death. medical identity at the expense of his writing Because he sensed his early death, Chek- career–by providing free care to the country hov, like many other tubercular patients, be- folk near Melikhovo, by donating his services came tremendously active. He was a prolific to the government as a district physician, writer and a dedicated doctor. Chekhov and and by engaging regularly in public health several other doctor-writers, such as two initiatives.” There, Chekhov saw hundreds Serbian classic writers, Laza K. Lazarević of patients, made over 1 000 house calls, (1851–1891) and Jovan Jovanović–Zmaj fought against cholera and illiteracy. While (1833–1904), refuted Tolstoy’s assertion he practiced medicine and public health by that medicine stands in the doctor-writer’s day, he wrote by night masterpiece stories, way. However, some writers – like Bulga- like The Grasshopper and Ward №6, and two kov (1891–1940) – who were educated as plays, Чайка (The Seagull) and Дядя Ваня physicians gave up medicine for writing. (). He started his day at five in Chekhov clearly showed that the symbiosis the morning in his office where he exam- of the muse and Æesculapius may increase ined patients and performed minor surgical the writer’s capabilities. His explanation is procedures. Chekhov was an idealistic and as follows: “My medical studies have had hard-working doctor driven by his dedica- a serious effect on my writing. They have tion to serving patients in rural Russia where taught me how to classify my observations corruption and incompetence ruled at all and they have enriched my observations.” At levels. He did not charge his patients, and the height of Chekhov’s early literary suc- he frequently even bought for his patients cess, Alexei Suvorin, his friend and editor needed medications and gave them useful had urged the young writer to give up medi- non-medical advice and financial help. Thus, cine. “Medicine is a waste of your time and the called him врач-чудак, an unu- energy […] become more focused. You’ll sual doctor. never reach your potential unless you con- As a young physician, Chekhov started a centrate on writing.” In response, the writer personal battle with lung tuberculosis which wrote famous passage on integration of the

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arts of medicine and writing. “You advise Characters of Medical Doctors in me not to chase after two hares at once and Chekhov’s Works to forget about practicing medicine. Well, I don’t see what’s so impossible about chasing Although Chekhov’s life span was short, only two hares at once […] Medicine is my law- 44 years, he was in good company. Push- ful wedded wife and literature my mistress. kin, Lermontov, Mayakovsky, Blok, Yesenin, When one gets on my nerves, I spend the Lorca, Vallejo, Byron, Orwell, D. H. Law- night with the other. This may be somewhat rence, and many other writers also lived disorganized, but then again it’s not boring, short lives. And like these masters, he was and anyway, neither looses anything by my so innovative and prolific that his literary duplicity.” output secured him a place among the great- 393 The doctor-writer situation is possibly est men of letters. His works still strongly a source of the apparent contradiction that appeal to readers and theatre lovers all over may describe Chekhov. In his artist role he the world, and they deeply move our moral was so different from his doctor role. As a and psychological selves. Even Chekhov’s doctor, he was a man of action; he founded private life, especially in view of the latest schools and clinics for the peasants in the biographical details, provides an interesting Melikhovo region, donated books to librar- insight into the last years of the 19th century. ies, always was ready to help patients, and Sometimes this insight even inspires other pursued humanitarian causes. However, a works of art like the one written by Carol majority of the protagonists in his stories Rocamora or Aleksandar Novačić. Chekhov and plays ironically show weakness, passiv- was obviously not mistaken when he said to ity, and ineffectiveness. Chekhov gradually his friend Tatiána Shchépkina-Kupérnik that realized that scientific rationalism could not in seven years he would be forgotten, but give us the answers to some very important then he would be rediscovered, and would questions, such as what is the meaning of life, be long read. Like other great men, he left and he explored various individual events us a precious inheritance with a wide gamut, that present man as a victim in an absurd and we are trying to listen to him with apt world. Regarding the ideological shortcom- attention and to interpret his polyphonic ings of the characters in his writings, Chek- message. hov often joked. Thus, in 1888 he wrote to A large number of characters in his short Grigorovich: “I still lack a political, religious stories (Tolstoy compared Chekhov’s sto- and philosophical view. I change it every ries to the impressionists’ paintings) and month, and so I’ll have to limit myself to plays demonstrate that man’s life cannot al- descriptions of how my heroes love, marry, ways follow a preferred path. Besides, unlike give birth, die, and how they speak.” Despite the endless and eternal sky above the vast his self-depreciation, Chekhov unquestion- steppes, which so deeply impressed Chek- ably, thanks to his literary talent and his ap- hov, the writer reminds us that life is too proach to life, improved both the modern short, and the acknowledgment of this fact story and modern play, and it is hard to de- frequently leads us to isolation and disap- cide if he accomplished more as a dramatist pointment. Unfulfilled wishes also have the or story teller. same effect, and that is why we are forced to ask ourselves the big questions: What is the

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meaning of life? How do we manage it? Are even to suffer like Gromov, rather than to re- we the pawns in an absurd world? main in his emotionless state. This obsession Among the characters created in the pe- makes him even more dysfunctional, and, riod of 1881–1900, we encounter a whole ironically, he was trapped by his superiors in array of more than 30 medical doctors. For his own ward. He achieves his goal, he suffers. the greater part, they are people burdened Soon, following a beating by a nurse, Ragin with obligations to their patients, and are dies of a stroke. When the novelist Nikolay hindered by various life problems and poor Semyonovich Leskov read this masterpiece working conditions. In addition to their al- story, he said: “Ward №6 is Russia!”) ready dulled ambition to succeed, they are The character of Dr. Chebutykin deserves 394 restricted in their professional activities and particular attention. A 60-year-old man, in duties. Some among them, like Dr. Ragin days past in love with the mother of the Pro- in the story Ward №6, succumb to mental zorovs, has developed strong feelings for her illness, while others, blinded by one-sided youngest daughter, Irina, who looks like her medical observation, neglect the person, like mother, and who looks upon the doctor as poor Anyuta, who deserves at least a little her protector. This emotional tie between human attention. In the Ward №6, Ragin Irina and Chebutykin ceases to exist when is in charge of a district provincial hospital the doctor, drunk, broke a porcelain clock, for twenty years. Initially he was an ener- a memento of her mother. However, Chebu- getic doctor, but time eroded his enthusi- tykin is obsessed by his passion for the girl 40 asm and he has concluded that his efforts years his junior, and his love provokes him have made no difference. Hospital is very into hating Irina’s future husband, Baron poorly equipped, socioeconomic state of his Tusenbach. That is why Chebutykin agrees patients that affects their health is beyond to take part in an ill-matched duel between his control, the mortality in the town did the Baron and a well-trained officer, Soliony, not decrease. who survived three duels. Chebutykin hopes that killing Tusenbach will give him a chance “If the aim of the medicine is by drugs to to come close to Irina again. alleviate suffering,” Dr. Ragin thinks, “why alleviate it? […] they say that suffering Masha: This duel should not be allowed. leads man to perfection; and if mankind He might kill him. Or…he might really learns to alleviate its sufferings with wound… pills and drops, it will completely abandon Chebutykin: Who? religion and philosophy, in which it has Masha: …the Baron. hitherto found not merely protection from Chebutykin: Well. The Baron is a fine all sorts of trouble, but even .” man, but one Baron more or less. Let us not be sentimental (Pause.) Let Now Ragin lives insolated, and he is in them face each other. permanent state of emotional numbness. In (A voice is heard offstage.) one of his rare visits of the mental ward, he Wait! That is Skvortzov, his second. meets a sparkling paranoid Ivan Gromov, He is in the boat. who has been confined for proclaiming that Andrei: In my opinion, any help in sup- truth and justice must triumph one day. port of , even if it came from Ragin has strong desire to feel something, a doctor, is wrong.

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Chebutykin: It only seems so. We are drama. In that play, we meet three ladies not there. We do not exist. There – impeccably brought up, well educated, and is only semblance of our existence. who wish to do some good with their lives (Pause.) – which get only the worst from it; they are paralyzed by boredom and senseless exist- Almost all the characters in this drama ence. It is a true Chekhovian drama with a can be arranged in a three-person group. marked nostalgia and perfect harmony, the (Generally, the relationships within trios characters in this play hardly intercommu- are more complex, and tenser than within nicate, and their speech is often addressed duets.) From the characters that appear on to nobody in particular, it is slow in tempo the stage, two mixed trios are made: Ma- and full of pauses. In Three Sisters, like in 395 sha–Kulygin–Vershinin, and Irena–Tusen- Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard, there bach–Soliony, one is made of men, Chebu- is an expression of longing for natural and tykin–Tusenbach–Soliony, and one of all unpolluted life. For example, Vershinin women, Olga–Masha–Irina. In the play it- speaks enthusiastically about the value of self, we encounter a mixed trio made up of the local forest and the river. Natural and the characters from the stage and offstage unpolluted life is one that mankind cannot characters: Natasha–Andrei–Protopopov, achieve if mankind exterminates other liv- and the Prozorovs’ mother–the Prozorovs’ ing beings (the duel ends the life of Baron father–Chebutykin. Also, there are three Tusenbach), destroys forests (Natasha cuts unhappy marriages in the play, Masha–Ku- the beautiful trees), and damages the planet lygin, Vershinin–his offstage wife, and Na- that we all share. The Chekhovian theme tasha–Andrei. of ecology strike us today as prophetic be- Chebutikyn’s relationship with Irina cause ecological awareness is only a recent is dual: fatherly and amatory. The role of development. the protector develops into sexual yearn- The play ends with Olga’s words: “If only ing when the young girl becomes a woman we had known…” She was probably referring who resembles her mother–his love. Three to the fact that time goes on, and it cannot Sisters is in fact an enigmatic play because, be stopped. And so, the time has come for according to Moss, “you don’t know whether the soldiers to leave the town while the sis- it had better be played with a sad and bitter ters stay where they are. Nothing has come kind of humor, or realistically, if helplessness of their ardent wish to return to Moscow to could be interpreted as utopia.” Hamlet is the their lost paradise, and the author points out only other play, continues Moss, which pro- that we cannot always look back, because vides a similar possibility of solutions: Could there is no return to the past, you must have Chebutykin have saved Tusenbach in the last the courage to move forward and face the act? Is Vershinin’s vision of the future world unknown. Thus, Vershinin is speculating only one cosmic version of Irina’s unfulfilled about future of Russia with hope that one dreams about Moscow? Is the trio of Irina’s day life will become better, and he talks about suitors only an ironic play reflected in the the need to work towards that goal. That is sisters’ mirror, one trio corresponding to why so much emphasis has been given to another trio? time in this play – minutes, hours, years and Three Sisters, not The Cherry Orchard, is anniversaries are precisely stated, and it is by many considered to be Chekhov’s best no accident that Chebutykin is breaking a

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clock. The place in this play is also precisely khalin. Yet even with his detailed descrip- defined – men wish to stay where they are, tions, on this trip, Chekhov obviously missed and women, to go to Moscow, because their “the greatest landscape painter of the day,” memories subconsciously pull them to their as he called his adopted brother and close beautiful and secure past. friend, Isaac Levitan, who had meant to go with him on the trip to Sakhalin. Levitan was in the entourage of friends and family A Visit to Sakhalin Island, Alfred who accompanied the writer on the first leg Dreyfus Case, and Chekhov’s of his trip, but he did not continue, decid- Resignation from the Academy ing in the end he could not leave his lover 396 for that long. In 1890 Chekhov made a journey across Chekhov returned from Sakhalin to Siberia to Sakhalin, a barren devil’s island Odessa by way of the sea. He embarked on in the Okhotsk Sea, 800 kilometers north the steamer “Petersburg” at Vladivostok with of Japan, the Russian convict island. Not more than 300 soldiers returning from serv- only criminals, but many Russian writers ice in the Far East. During the trip he was and other political prisoners made invol- really frightened during a storm in the China untary, and in most cases one-way, journeys Sea when the Captain told the passengers to Siberia. However, before Chekhov, only who had revolvers to keep them loaded; Nikolai Dobroliubov made a short volun- since death by shooting was preferable to tary exploration to the Siberia prisons. If death by drowning. Later on, two soldiers Chekhov reached Sakhalin at all, his con- died in the ship’s hospital, and they were bur- temporaries thought, he would be the only ied at sea. These burials inspired Chekhov to Russian on the island who would be neither write “,” a story of the death of a tuber- prisoner nor jailer. cular soldier buried at sea that was praised The hardships of that journey and the by many, including his friend, Tchaikovsky three-month sojourn on this convict island who was deeply moved by the tale. were frightful. Despite of the worst condi- In The Island, Chekhov gave an impres- tions, Chekhov had carefully studied prison sive description of the brutal beatings which conditions there, and he collected the data were done on an accidental basis to male and for the medical geography of the island. This female prisoners alike. visit and Chekhov’s subsequent report, The Island of Sakhalin drew the attention of Rus- The executioner stands to one side and sian society to the of 10 000 convicts strikes in such a way that the lash falls and soon forced the Czar to implement some across the body. After every five strokes reforms. The Island is also a masterpiece of he goes to the other side and the prisoner travel writing whose extraordinary descrip- is permitted a half-minute rest<…>After tions of the landscape and the wildlife of the the first five or ten strokes his body, cov- Siberian steppe remains unsurpassed. He ered with scars from previous beatings, nicely compared his admired Volga with turns blue and purple, and his skin bursts magnificent river Yenisey and described the at each stroke<…> And later, after twen- power and enchantment of the taiga, strange ty or thirty strokes, he complains like a villages that he passed when he sailed down drunken man or like someone in deliri- the Amour, and marvelous landscape of Sa- um: ‘Poor me, you are murdering me…’

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The warden cries, ‘Forty-two! Forty- election was nullified by the Czar’s order, three!’ It is a long way to ninety. and huge scandal arose. Chekhov supported this brilliant poet who had tremendous el- The Island made such an impression on emental power, “a voice that gave to Europe the Russian public that corporal punishment a magnificent look and trustworthy picture was abolished, in 1897 for women and in of modern Russia,” and he belatedly resigned 1904 for men. The campaign was led by the from the Academy over Gorky’s disqualifica- medical doctors. Why would a sick young tion. Only Chekhov and two more academi- physician go on a 5 000 km suicidal journey cians resigned over Gorky. to visit criminal and political prisoners? “All Impressed by Chekhov’s humanism, the educated Europe now knows that it is not author of this article published a short paper 397 the wardens who are to blame, but all of us; on Chekhov during the days most critical yet this is not a concern of ours, we are not for disintegrated Yugoslavia. The goal was interested,” wrote Chekhov to Suvorin. to draw attention to the compassion of that After the Jewish artillery captain, Alfred doctor-writer, including his visit to Sakhalin Dreyfus, had been sentenced to life im- Island, so that his example might inspire us, prisonment on Devil’s Island for betraying medical professionals and others, to re-ex- French military secrets to Austro-Hungar- amine the phenomenon of greed manifested ians, a member of the French general staff, in many sectors of the society. George Picquart, found documents that convinced him of Dreyfus’ innocence. The real betrayer was Major Esterhazy. However, Chekhov and Death Picquart’s superiors ordered him to drop the case. French and Russian public opinion During the last years of his life, Chekhov was deeply divided on this indictment: anti- used to say that he was an atheist. In spite Semites and nationalists faced off against of the fact that Chekhov was brought up in democrats and internationalists. Many noted a religious family, liked to observe church French persons worked to get Dreyfus a new rituals and to read about Russian monas- trial, and among them was Zola, who wrote teries, listened with enthusiasm to the ring- a polemical letter J’accuse (I accuse). This ing of church bells, expertly wrote about letter caused hurtful anger of the French religious characters and analyzed religious establishment, but admiration of Chekhov. themes, Chekhov not only had doubts about Dreyfus finally received a second trial in religion, but he plainly rejected it. The men- 1899, but despite apparent fact, Esterhazy tioned doubt was explicitly expressed when was “cleared.” Due to the opposing views on he wrote “I would gladly become a monk this case, the Chekhov-Suvorin long-lasting if monasteries admitted people who are friendship was in deep crisis. not religious, and who do not have to pray.” When Russia and all educated Europe However, he accepted religion as a way of had become fascinated by the unexpected life, an indispensable moral code particularly appearance of Maxim Gorky, who sprang suitable for a simple Russian man. Chek- up from uneducated Russian people like a hov belonged to the generation of educated comet thanks to the linkage of his personal Russians who were ready to enter the post- destiny and his literary achievements, he religion era. was elected to the Academy. However, this

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For Chekhov, a medical student and doc- Why should Chekhov have gone so far tor, death was a phenomenon he often en- away from his country to die? In all probabil- countered, and no doubt he thought of it not ity, Chekhov no longer had any hope even infrequently because he knew that he would of a temporary improvement in his health, die early. However, he looked upon death and some have blamed his wife, a woman as a part of the natural process, and when it of German descent, to have persuaded him came he died bravely and simply. In contrast, to go to Germany. The real reason for his Tolstoy was strongly obsessed with dying, a journey to Badenweiler we shall perhaps good deal of his life. Because of his fear of never learn, but it is possible that Chekhov, death he added to his religious feelings a an atheist, “staged” his death in a distant 398 mystic concept of the departure of the soul country where even if he wanted to, he could into a “universal soul,” but it did not dispel not at the point of death send for a Russian his fear. It is not surprising, therefore, that priest, but only for a doctor. Tolstoy has described dying better than any other writer. The superb scenes of dying in world literature are those of Ivan Ilych, and Epilogue Prince Andrey written by Tolstoy. It is strange that Tolstoy, when paying Another humanist, Dante, suggests in Il Con- a visit to Chekhov in a hospital, should in- vivio (The Banquet) that the greatest danger troduce the subject of death and life after to mankind comes from avarice. Wealth is death, while Chekhov was expectorating not equally distributed, and the craving for blood. When Tolstoy ended describing his it is the greatest danger to humanity. To sat- theory, Chekhov said that he does not want isfy such strong desire, you inevitably cause such a life after his death; he firmly stood injury to others. Dante even believed he had in this world. Later on, he wrote to Suvo- the solution to avoiding war, but his idea rov: ”It is terrible that after you die, you be- unfortunately did not influence the rulers come nothing. They take you to the cemetery, who often prefer to solve problems militarily. return , and begin to drink tea, and Chekhov went a step further than Dante; hypocritically talk about you. It is ugly to he personally sacrificed himself when he think about it.” journeyed to the convict island, managed When his health had completely deterio- to draw the attention of society, and who rated, Chekhov and his wife Olga left in June then exerted pressure on the authorities 1904 for a German spa, Badenweiler, in the to force them to implement humanitarian Black Forest. “Everything has come to an reforms. end. I am going far away to die” he said to Let us hope that before long a strong and his friend. On the night of July 15th, he sum- creative person will come up with a modern moned the doctor and told him Ich sterbe (I formula to inspire us to wage a battle with am dying). The doctor tried to calm him and words against those who rule and are armed went out to order champagne. (The version of with modern weaponry as efficient as the the story in which Chekhov himself ordered formula used by Chekhov. The author of champagne is not correct.) Chekhov drank a this article has envisioned a salutary way, glass of champagne lay down and died. but only in his dreams:

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Dream

Last night I dreamed that I was declaring war On all the armies on this planet. “I have no fear of guns, bombs, or rockets. I have no army; words are my weapons.”

I was appealing to unarmed masses to seek justice, Not to be afraid of any army, And I was crying out: “Words are our weapons!” 399 To the armed I sent word to abandon guns: “Soldiers and terrorists, beware of your unarmed brethren, Because the word of the people is the strongest weapon!”

With a start, I woke up from this century’s last night Feeling unhappy that on this planet justice must wait. Will the time ever come when sober reality Will wake up masses from their profound sleep?

PS: Chilean brother Pablo unfurled A message that the majority did not get. “O beautiful is this planet, I came to live in this world.”

“For a formula to prevent every unnecessary tomb, To be secure as when sheltered in the womb, A man doesn’t need the help of a smart dolphin’s steer–“ Exclaims Dudley, my distinguished peer.

Dear reader and distinguished friend, Every war represents humanity’s end.

резюме Σ Антон Павлович Чехов: врач, писатель и гуманист В прошлом году (с 7 по 9 октября) в колледже Колби (г. Уотервилл, штат Мейн) был проведен фестиваль к столетнему юбилею памяти А. П. Чехова (The Chekhov Centenary Festival). Автор настоящей статьи выступил на однодневном круглом столе, организованном «Северноамериканским обществом чтителей Чехова», с докладом Could Chekhovian Humanism Help Us Today? В докладе этом, послужившем

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для написания настоящей статьи, рассматриваются вопросы отдельных персонажей «Трех сестер» (например, Чебуткин), подчеркивается значение факта о путешествии Чехова на Сахалин, затрагиваются отдельные аспекты темы «жизнь-смерть» в творчестве А. П. Чехова и Л. Н. Толстого.

References

400 Chekhov 1989: Chekhov A. The Island of Sakhalin. trans. L and M Terpak, London. Coulehan 2003: Coulehan J. Chekhov’s doctors. A collection of Chekhov’s Medical tales. The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio. Fejder 1927: Fejder V. A. P. Chekhov: Literaturnjij bit i tvor…estvo po memuarnim materialam. Leningrad, 1927. Figes 2002: Figes O. Natasha’s Dance. Picador, New York. Igić 1999: Igić R. Dr. med. A. P. Čehov. Kontakt; 7: 10–11. Igić 2003: Igić R. Dream. In: Theatre of the mind, Noble House Publishers, London, 2003, p. 5. Moss 1978: Moss H. Three Sisters. In: Chekhov and Our Age, Ed. J. Mc Conkey, Center for International Studies, New York, pp. 189–212. Nedeljković 1974: Nedeljković D. Ka obećanoj zemlji. Slovo ljubve, Beograd. Novačić 2004: Novačić A. Dosije Čehov. Duga, Beograd. O’Brien 1998: O’Brien E. The little-known compassion of Dr Chekhov. Lancet; 352: 331–332. Rayfield 1998:Rayfield D. . A Life. Henry Holt and Co., New York. Smirnova 1999: Smirnova G. Doktor Čehov. Kontakt; 7: 31–33. Zweig 1951: Zweig VS. Souvenirs et rencontrJs. B. Grasset, Paris.

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