20 October, 1891 Chekhov wrote to the publisher of ‘Novoye Vremya”(new time) Alexey Suvorin: “If I am a medical doctor, I need patients and a hospital, if I am a writer, I need to live among the common people. I need at least a bit of public and political life…”.
Chechov’s medical practice in Melikhovo over 1892–1893 became a great civic cause. When the threat of cholera epidemic arose in the Moscow region, the writer got actively involved in the work of the sanitary council of Serpukhov zemstvo (local) administration. He established a medical district covering 25 villages, 4 factories and a monastery. The cholera spread was prevented twice in the district administered by Chekhov.
Apart from medical practice, Chekhov contributed much to the public life. In 1897 he took an active part in the All-Russian population census and was awarded a bronze medal for that. In the upper part of the display panel there is a copy of the certificate of award. In the left-hand part of the first row there is a picture dated 1895, that shows Anton Chekhov and his brother Mikhail at the steps of an ancillary building. Next to the picture there is a drawing of the ancillary building interior. In the left-hand part of the third row there is a picture of Anton Chekhov, his brother Mikhail and medical doctor Nikolay Korobov (Chekhov’s fellow student in Moscow University). The picture was taken in the writer’s study in Melikhovo. The common photo of the writer Mamin-Sibiryak, and Ignaty Potapenko who came to visit Chekhov, is on the next display panel.
Vladimir Gilyarovsky also visited Melikhovo. ‘Gilyarovsky came in the first day of Easter, he behaved eccentrically, crushed wood logs and caracoled on my hungry worn-out horses, without a saddle’, - Chekhov wrote to landowner Alexander SmAgin in 1892. The far right picture in the last but one row was taken by Isaac Levitan in Melikhovo garden, there is a large group of people – Chekhov’s brother Ivan and their cousin, musician Alexey Dolzhenko standing around a utility cart with Chekhov himself and his brother Mikhail sitting in it. The cart is driven by Gilyarovsky.
In the bottom row of the display board panel is a photo of Leo Tolstoy who inscribed it to Chekhov. The writers got personally acquainted in 1895 when Chekhov came to visit Tolstoy for the first time. “The impression was marvellous. I felt at ease, at home, and it was easy to hold conversations with Lev Nikolaevich “, - Chekhov wrote. “Chekhov visited us, and I liked him. He is very talented, and I believe, he has a kind heart”, - Tolstoy wrote.
Chechov’s medical practice in Melikhovo over 1892–1893 became a great civic cause. When the threat of cholera epidemic arose in the Moscow region, the writer got actively involved in the work of the sanitary council of Serpukhov zemstvo (local) administration. He established a medical district covering 25 villages, 4 factories and a monastery. The cholera spread was prevented twice in the district administered by Chekhov.
Apart from medical practice, Chekhov contributed much to the public life. In 1897 he took an active part in the All-Russian population census and was awarded a bronze medal for that. In the upper part of the display panel there is a copy of the certificate of award. In the left-hand part of the first row there is a picture dated 1895, that shows Anton Chekhov and his brother Mikhail at the steps of an ancillary building. Next to the picture there is a drawing of the ancillary building interior. In the left-hand part of the third row there is a picture of Anton Chekhov, his brother Mikhail and medical doctor Nikolay Korobov (Chekhov’s fellow student in Moscow University). The picture was taken in the writer’s study in Melikhovo. The common photo of the writer Mamin-Sibiryak, and Ignaty Potapenko who came to visit Chekhov, is on the next display panel.
Vladimir Gilyarovsky also visited Melikhovo. ‘Gilyarovsky came in the first day of Easter, he behaved eccentrically, crushed wood logs and caracoled on my hungry worn-out horses, without a saddle’, - Chekhov wrote to landowner Alexander SmAgin in 1892. The far right picture in the last but one row was taken by Isaac Levitan in Melikhovo garden, there is a large group of people – Chekhov’s brother Ivan and their cousin, musician Alexey Dolzhenko standing around a utility cart with Chekhov himself and his brother Mikhail sitting in it. The cart is driven by Gilyarovsky.
In the bottom row of the display board panel is a photo of Leo Tolstoy who inscribed it to Chekhov. The writers got personally acquainted in 1895 when Chekhov came to visit Tolstoy for the first time. “The impression was marvellous. I felt at ease, at home, and it was easy to hold conversations with Lev Nikolaevich “, - Chekhov wrote. “Chekhov visited us, and I liked him. He is very talented, and I believe, he has a kind heart”, - Tolstoy wrote.
