person
Pope Leo XIII
Leo XIII
also: Лев XIII, The Pope
Pope from 1878 (elected the same year this letter was written), a fixture of the foreign-news columns of the day; Chekhov drafts him onto a fictitious censorship committee for comic incongruity.
Reading notes
- To P. Ye. and Ye. Ya. Chekhov, 20 June 1878. Taganrog. §3 The Pope, Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII, elected earlier in 1878, a fixture of the foreign-news columns Chekhov read; his presence on this mock roster of "censors" is pure incongruous escalation.