Vladimir Nabokov author page

Vladimir Nabokov biography

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. He was born on 22 April 1899 in St Petersburg, Russia, into an aristocratic family.

Following the Russian Revolution, his family went into exile in Western Europe. Nabokov studied Slavic and Romance languages at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, graduating in 1922.

He began his literary career writing in Russian, publishing novels under the pseudonym “V. Sirin,” including Mashen’ka (1926), The Defense (1930), and The Gift (1938).

After emigrating to the United States in 1940, he switched to writing primarily in English. His works include Bend Sinister (1947), Pnin (1957), and his most famous novel, Lolita (1955), which brought him international acclaim. He later published Pale Fire (1962) and Ada, or Ardor (1969).

In addition to literature, Nabokov was a respected lepidopterist, publishing scientific papers on butterflies and working as a curator of lepidoptera at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology.

He died on 2 July 1977 in Montreux, Switzerland.