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Chekhov Gymnasium
The Literary Museum named after Anton Chekhov

Литературный музей им. А.П.Чехова
Chekhov Gymnasium in 2006
Established	1809 (as gymnasium) 1975 (as museum)
Location	Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9, Taganrog
Collection size	Expositions related to Anton Chekhov's school years, theater plays by Chekhov (memorabilia, photographs)
Director	Yelizaveta Vasilievna Lipovenko Липовенко, Елизавета Васильевна
Public transit access	Spartakovsky Station (Street cars: 2,3,5,8,9)

The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 (formerly Gymnasicheskaya Street) is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named after him and transformed into a literary museum. Visitors can see Anton's desk and his classroom, the assembly hall and even the punishment cell which he sometimes visited.

History of the school

The Boys Gymnasium was founded in 1809. Students of the Boys Gymnasium benefited from various grants. In mid-1870s a school church was made in the same building, and the cross may be seen on some old postcards. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the following Civil War, the building housed a cavalry school (6th Cavalry College).

During the Occupation of Taganrog in 1941-1943 used by the Germans as Sicherheitsdienst headquarters.

In 1954, the Boys Gymnasium was named after Anton Chekhov within the framework of events dedicated to the writer's 50th death anniversary memorial year.

In 1975 opened as The Literary Museum named after Anton Chekhov, more commonly known under the short name Chekhov Gymnasium.

January 29, 2010 President of Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev held a meeting with representatives of the Russian and foreign theatrical communities in Taganrog at the stateroom of the Chekhov Gymnasium literary museum.

School years of Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog (1866-1868), and at the age of eight he was sent to the local grammar school (Gymnasium) where he proved an average pupil. As an adolescent he tried his hand at writing short "anecdotes," amusing or funny stories, although he is also known to have written a serious long play at this time, "Fatherless," which he later destroyed. He received an annual grant of 300 rubles which had been introduced by the Taganrog City Council after the failed assassination attempt on the tsar Alexander II of Russia.

After the business of Anton Chekhov's father failed, the whole family left for Moscow in 1875-1876. Anton was left in Taganrog to care for himself and finish school.In 1879, Chekhov passed his final exams and joined his family in Moscow, where he had obtained scholarship to study medicine at the Moscow University.

Other famous graduates

This article's list of alumni may not follow Misplaced Pages's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (September 2022)

• Nikolay Chekhov, artist
• Mikhail Chekhov, writer
• Alexander Chekhov, writer
• Dmitry Girs, writer
• Leonid Gobyato, Russian general, inventor of the first mortar
• Nikolay Sherbina, poet
• Ivan Martos, sculptor
• Alexander Leonidovich Vishnevsky, Russian and Soviet actor
• Valentin Parnakh, poet, founder of the Soviet Jazz music
• Isaac Yakovlevich Pavlovsky, journalist and writer
• Konstantin Savitsky, artist
• Vladimir Bogoraz, anthropologist and writer
• Samuel Maykapar, composer
• Nikolay Apollonovich Belelyubski, scientist, famous designer of bridges
• Osip Notovich, writer
• Andrei Grechko, Soviet general, Marshal of the Soviet Union (graduate of the Cavalry College)
• Ivan Golubets, the first Hero of the Soviet Union in the Black Sea Fleet
• Zinoviy Vysokovskiy, actor
• Sergey Zvantsev, writer
• Victor Dyomin, Soviet cinema critic, editor, writer
• Mikhail Basov, Russian media artist, documentary filmmaker.
• Kuzma Galitsky, Soviet army general
• Vladimir Grigoryevich Zakharov, Soviet composer, People's Artist of the USSR, art director of Pyatnitsky Choir
• Yakov Rubanchik, Soviet architect

Museum

Today the Gymnasium is open to public as The Literary Museum named after Anton Chekhov (Литературный музей А.П.Чехова). After the Pushkin House museum in Saint Petersburg, this is the second-largest literary museum in Russia both in terms of space and unique funds. The exhibition includes the library that consists of the antique books of the time and books later sent by Anton Chekhov, his personal belongings, photographs, documents, autographs by Chekhov and other famous people - friends of the writer.

Gallery

Exterior

• The Boys Gymnasium on an old postcard, late 19th century.
• The Boys Gymnasium on an old postcard, late 19th century.
• The Literary Museum Chekhov Gymnasium in 2008.
• Anton Chekhov statue at the entrance of the gymnasium.
• The Gymnasium as seen from the Spartakovsky Pereulok, with the Monument Oath of the Youth in front in 2007.

Inside the museum

• The stateroom at the Gymnasium on Jan.30, 2010 during the Chekhov's 150th birth anniversary celebrations.
• Chekhov's seat in the boys gymnasium. On the left is an original maths test checked by Anton Chekhov's mathematics teacher Edmund Dzerzhinsky.
• Punishment cell in the former Taganrog Boys Gymnasium, 2010
• Memorabilia related to Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard play
• Memorabilia related to Anton Chekhov's play The Wedding
• Memorabilia for Chekhov's play Three Sisters

References

• Taganrog Encyclopedia (Энциклопедия Таганрога), 2nd edition, Taganrog, 2003
• История города Таганрога, П.П.Филевский, Москва, 1898
• По старой Греческой, Н.Гаврюшкин, Таганрог, 2003

1. «Наш Чехов». «Известия» от 15 июля 1954 г.
2. President Medvedev's Opening Remarks at Meeting with Representatives of the Russian and Foreign Theatrical Communities in Taganrog.
3. The President of Russian Federation Dmitri Medvedev participated in celebrating the 150th anniversary of the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov in the writer's home city of Taganrog

See also

• The Girls Gymnasium in Taganrog

47°12′54″N 38°55′17″E / 47.21500°N 38.92139°E / 47.21500; 38.92139

v t e Landmarks and tourist attractions in Taganrog, Russia
Museums	Alferaki Palace Museum of Art Birthhouse of Anton Chekhov Museum of Architecture and Urbanism Ivan Vasilenko Museum Chekhov Gymnasium Anatoly Durov Museum Chekhov Shop The Family Seat Military museum
Monuments	Peter I Monument Alexander I Statue Chekhov Monument Monuments to Chekhov's Heroes Garibaldi Monument Great Patriotic War Monuments Gully of Petrushino Memorial Lenin Monument Monument to Defenders of Taganrog in 1855 Ranevskaya Monument
Related to Anton Chekhov or Chekhov family	Birthhouse of Anton Chekhov Chekhov Gymnasium Taganrog Theatre Chekhov Shop Alexandrovskiye Trade Rows Greek Church and Greek School Gorky Park (Taganrog) Chekhov Monument Peter I Monument Chekhov Library The Family Seat
Churches	St.Nicholas Church All Saints Church
Destroyed landmarks	Assumption Cathedral Cherepakha Islet Greek Monastery Greek Church and Greek School House with Bullets Old Stone Steps Taganrog Fortress Taganrog Old Prison Yelizavetinsky Park
Historical buildings or mansions	Alexander I Palace Avgerino mansion Kelya of Saint Pavel of Taganrog Mariinskaya Gymnasium Rafailovich mansion Shakhmatov House Tchaikovsky House Taganrog Old Station Country Court
Other	Pushkin Embankment City bar in Taganrog Taganrog Old Cemetery Chapel of Saint Pavel of Taganrog
Related articles	History of Taganrog List of People in Taganrog

• Educational institutions established in 1809
• Museums in Taganrog
• Schools in Russia
• School buildings completed in 1843
• Gymnasiums in Russia
• Anton Chekhov
• Literary museums in Russia
• 1809 establishments in the Russian Empire
• Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Rostov Oblast
• Cultural heritage monuments in Taganrog