concept
"the little colored Jews" (цветные еврейчики)
colored little Jews
also: цветные еврейчики, the little colored Jews
A period ethnic slur naming Jewish people with a dismissive diminutive ("еврейчики," literally "little Jews") modified by "цветные" ("colored"/"gaudy," here likely a slighting reference to garish dress or, in some readings, to skin tone) -- appearing in a short list of groups Chekhov claims are hissing loudest against Suvorin ("apothecaries, the little colored Jews, and the rest of the rabble"). Unlike the self-deprecating idiom "as the learned Yids say", this instance is not self-directed: it names an outside social group with contempt, grouping Jewish critics of Suvorin together with a dismissive ethnic diminutive as part of a broader sneer at Suvorin's detractors. It reflects the casual, unexamined antisemitism common in the vernacular of educated Russians in the 1880s, including Chekhov's own private correspondence at this period of his life, rather than a programmatic or sustained animus documented elsewhere in his biography. Per this corpus's editorial policy of presenting historical material factually rather than suppressing or euphemizing documented usage, the slur is preserved in translation and flagged here for context, not endorsed.
Reading notes
- To Al. P. Chekhov, 19–20 February 1887. Moscow. §5 the little colored Jews
This clause translates "цветные еврейчики" (literally "colored/gaudy little Jews"), which combines a dismissive diminutive for Jewish people ("еврейчики") with an adjective ("цветные") whose force here is contested by editors -- it most likely mocks showy or garish dress associated in period antisemitic caricature with Jewish tradesmen and pharmacists, though some readers have taken it as a slighting reference to complexion. The phrase appears in a short, contemptuous list -- "apothecaries, the little colored Jews, and the rest of the rabble" (фармачевты, цветные еврейчики и прочая шволочь) -- naming the groups Chekhov claims are hissing loudest against Suvorin over the Nadson and Literary Fund controversies described earlier in this section. Unlike the self-deprecating idiom "as the learned Yids say" found elsewhere in this correspondence, this instance is not aimed at Chekhov himself: it singles out an ethnic group among Suvorin's critics for contempt, grouping them with apothecaries and "the rest of the rabble" as beneath serious notice. It documents the casual, unexamined antisemitism common in the private vernacular of educated Russians of Chekhov's generation and milieu -- a strain of period bigotry attested elsewhere in his early correspondence -- rather than a sustained or programmatic animus; it should not be read as representative of his mature public views or his later personal and professional relationships, which included many Jewish friends, colleagues, and subjects treated with sympathy in his fiction. Per this corpus's editorial policy of presenting historical material factually rather than suppressing, softening, or euphemizing documented usage, the slur is preserved in translation and flagged here for context. It is not endorsed.