Long or
short, most autobiographies are deadly exercises in self-aggrandizement and creative
remembering. We cherish the good ones – by Berlioz, Ulysses S. Grant, Henry
Adams, Nabokov, Whittaker Chambers – for their rarity. Not coincidentally, all five
merge History with personal histories, suggesting that more is at stake than
the writer’s precious vanity. There is at least one more good one, and it’s a mere
200 words long. Dense with facts and autobiography-spoofing irony, Chekhov’s
capsule bio comes in a letter to V. A. Tikhonov (1857-1914), a playwright,
Chekhov admirer and editor of a magazine, North, who had asked for information to
accompany a photograph. On this date, Feb. 23, in 1892, Chekhov begins with a
straightforward recitation of facts: “I was born in Taganrog in 1860. . .” With
the sixth sentence, the tone changes:
“In 1891 I
made a tour in Europe, where I drank excellent wine and ate oysters. In 1892 I
took part in an orgy in the company of V. A. Tihonov [sic: Constance Garnett’s
transliteration] at a name-day party.”
Then another
tonal switch, back to vital stats: “I began writing in 1879.” That year, at age
nineteen, he became the principal economic support for his family. There’s
self-deprecation – “I have sinned in the dramatic line too, though with
moderation” – and silliness: “I have been translated into all the languages
with the exception of the foreign ones.” He writes: “I practice medicine, and
so much so that sometimes in the summer I perform post-mortems, though I have
not done so for two or three years. Of authors my favorite is Tolstoy, of
doctors Zaharin." [Who can identify Zaharin? He’s not mentioned in Rayfield’s
biography.]
In my job, I’m
more accustomed to reading self-penned biographies that amount to lengthy lists
of grants and awards. In his twelve remaining years, Chekhov turned
himself into a genius.
1 comment:
Dr. Gregory Antonovich Zaharin (more commonly transliterated "Zakharin") was a brilliant but eccentric doctor well-known to Russians of Chekhov's day for treating both Tolstoy and Tsar Alexander III. He developed a distinct therapeutic style that emphasized the the importance of paying attention to the concrete particulars of both the disease and the patient. He was an expert in morbidly sensitive nerves and was known for promoting a "rational" diet, mineral waters, and hygienic practices. Politically conservative, he was not unlike Chekhov himself in at least one respect — eager to allay pain where possible but skeptical of grand schemes to improve the human condition.
He was known for his idiosyncrasies. Notoriously rude, he demanded (perhaps a bit like Socrates) that the patient only answer "yes" or "no" to his questions. All payments had to be in advance of treatment. When he ministered to the Tsar, he imperiously demanded that three conditions be kept: that all dogs were contained, that all doors were thrown open, and that all the clocks were stopped.
Some supposed him to have botched the medical treatment of the Tsar. When Alexander III died, a furious mob destroyed Zakharin's house.
You can read an English translation of his lectures to medical students here:
https://archive.org/details/clinicallecture00zakhgoog
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