About the book: 2020 / In the book, dedicated to the topic of Anton Chekhov’s relationship with the Jews, his biography is presented for the first time in the context of Russian-Jewish cultural connections of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. It is shown that the writer, like no other classic of Russian literature of the 19th century, was surrounded by Jews from an early age. At the same time, his position regarding the active participation of Jews in Russian cultural and social life was complex and changeable. However, Chekhov always distanced himself from any public manifestations of xenophobia, including anti-Semitism, on the part of representatives of the right-wing conservative camp, with whom he was friendly and collaborated in the literary field. A separate chapter of the book examines the history of Chekhov’s friendship with Isaac Levitan in the light opposition "friend - foe"».