figure
Chizh
also: Чиж
A figure or recurring character in a story or feuilleton by "Sedoy" (Alexander Chekhov's pen name) that Chekhov and Suvorin discuss; Chekhov advises Alexander not to make "Chizh" too familiar or recognizable a figure and to refer to him generically as "the doctor" instead, suggesting Chizh was a thinly veiled portrait of a real or recognizable person given a joking surname ("chizh" = siskin, a small finch). Not otherwise identified in the source; genuinely distinct from the unrelated wordplay ("Dr. Siskin") in Chekhov's own story "The Examination," which shares only the punning surname and must not be conflated with this reference.
Reading notes
- To Al. P. Chekhov, 24–25 July 1891. Bogimovo. §4 Chizh oughtn't to be made too familiar a figure
A figure appearing in Alexander's ("Sedoy"'s) story, evidently modeled closely enough on a real or recognizable person that Chekhov and Suvorin advise keeping him anonymous ("just call him 'the doctor'") rather than letting him become a recurring, identifiable character under the joking surname "Chizh" ("siskin"). Not otherwise identified. Distinct from, the punning "Dr. Siskin" of Chekhov's own story "The Examination" -- an unrelated wordplay figure sharing only the surname.
- To Al. P. Chekhov, 6 August 1891. Bogimovo. §13 what I said about Chizh wasn't advice but only regret
Refers back to Chekhov's remark in the companion letter section 4, where he tells Alexander that "Chizh oughtn't to be made too familiar a figure" in a recent story by "Sedoy" (Alexander's own pen name) -- advising he be called simply "the doctor" instead, since colleagues would recognize and needle the real person behind the name. Here, roughly a week and a half later, Chekhov defends that remark as mere regret, not the "wise advice" Alexander now resents; identified with the same corpus entity established at for consistency.