Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860 - 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov is known internationally primarily as a playwright through his plays such as Three Sisters, The Seagull and The Cherry Orchard. With his typical, value-neutral and reserved way of depicting aspects of life and the way of thinking of people in the Russian provinces, Chekhov is considered one of the most important authors of Russian literature.