Nabokov's Pictorial Biography
1. Russia 1899-1919
Earliest memories
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was born into an old, wealthy and aristocratic Russian family in St. Petersburg, on April 23, 1899. In his memoir, "Speak, Memory," he notes that his first childhood memories can be dated to 1903.
Discovering butterflies
Nabokov reads a book of butterflies in 1907 at Vyra, the summer estate of his maternal grandfather located about 50 miles south of St. Petersburg. During his youth, Nabokov spent his time collecting butterflies around the Vyra estate, a place which would come to represent the essence of childhood for the writer.
Fleeing Russia
The Nabokov family fled Russia in 1919 after the Bolshevik revolution led to instability at home. This photo, taken less than six months before they were to leave Russia, shows the five Nabokov children: from left, Vladimir, Kirill, Olga, Sergei and Elena.
2. Exile 1919-1940
Exile in England
After fleeing Russia, the family moved to England, where Nabokov attended Trinity College at Cambridge from 1919-1922. He began his studies in zoology but later focused on Russian and French literature.
Death of his father
Nabokov, shown in larger photo, spends the summer after his father's death at the home of Svetlana Siewert, his one-time fiancee. Nabokov's father, Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (bottom right) was shot to death in Berlin while trying to stop right-wing Russian assassins from killing politician Pavel Miliukov in March 1922.
Marriage to Vèra
Nabokov and Vèra Slonim met in May of 1923 at a charity costume ball and later married in 1925 in Berlin. After settling down into marriage, Nabokov never purchased his own house, even with the great wealth and success of "Lolita." He claimed that after the loss of his home in Russia his only attachment was, in his terms, the "unreal estate" of memory and art.
Birth of his son
Nabokov's son, Dmitri, was born in May of 1934. Dmitri went on to become an opera singer but also helped his father translate early work to English.
3. America 1940-1960
Refuge in America
his passion for the study of butterflies.
Publishing "Lolita"
Nabokov's "Lolita," which he referred to as a "time bomb," was first published by Olympia Press in France in 1955. Three years later, the book was published in America where some critics dubbed it "pornography," recommending that it be banned from shelves.
4. Switzerland 1960-1977
The final years
"Lolita" affected Nabokov for the rest of his life, some critics say he wrote his best works during the last 17 years of his career. After moving to Switzerland in 1960, he published acclaimed works such as "Pale Fire" and "Ada or Ardor" before his death in 1977.