Chekhov perfected the short story and reinvented theatre with plays of deceptive simplicity in which nothing happens and everything is felt. The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya created a drama of subtext — meaning conveyed beneath the surface of ordinary conversation — that dominated 20th-century theatre. He was also a practising doctor who led public health campaigns in rural Russia.

• Nationality: RU
• Roles: playwright, writer