Anton Chekhov was a Russian playwright and short story writer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His works often featured characters with the names Vanya, Ivanov, Irina, and Olga. Vanya is a common diminutive of the name Ivan, Ivanov is a patronymic derived from the name Ivan, Irina is a female form of the name Ivan, and Olga is a female given name.