2-481-297 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

Maxim Gorky and Anton Chekhov with actors of the Moscow Art Theatre, Russia, 1900. Russian author Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) was one of the pioneers of socialist realism in literature. He was a fierce opponent of the Tsarist regime and became involved with the Bolsheviks after the 1905 Revolution. Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is regarded as one of Russia's finest playwrights and one of the greatest writers of short stories. Found in the collection of the Russian State Film and Photo Archive, Krasnogorsk.