(!LANG: Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich: biography. Nobel Prize in Literature Ivan Alekseevich Bunin handed out the Nobel Prize to friends

MOSCOW, October 13 - RIA Novosti. The Nobel Committee on Thursday awarded the 2016 Literature Prize to Bob Dylan. Last year, the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich was awarded the prize, although Haruki Murakami was considered the favorite. This year, the bookmakers predicted him to win again, but the choice of the Nobel Committee is unpredictable. RIA Novosti looked at which of the writers, certainly worthy of the award, never received it.

Lev Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature for several years in a row - from 1902 to 1906. Although his ideas and works were popular in the world, the writer did not receive a prize. The secretary of the Swedish Academy, Karl Virsen, stated that Tolstoy "condemned all forms of civilization and insisted in return for them to adopt a primitive way of life, divorced from all the establishments of high culture." Tolstoy later wrote a letter in which he asked not to be awarded the Nobel Prize.

MOSCOW, October 13 - RIA Novosti. The Nobel Committee on Thursday awarded the 2016 Literature Prize to Bob Dylan. Last year, the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksievich was awarded the prize, although Haruki Murakami was considered the favorite. This year, the bookmakers predicted him to win again, but the choice of the Nobel Committee is unpredictable. RIA Novosti looked at which of the writers, certainly worthy of the award, never received it.

Lev Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature for several years in a row - from 1902 to 1906. Although his ideas and works were popular in the world, the writer did not receive a prize. The secretary of the Swedish Academy, Karl Virsen, stated that Tolstoy "condemned all forms of civilization and insisted in return for them to adopt a primitive way of life, divorced from all the establishments of high culture." Tolstoy later wrote a letter in which he asked not to be awarded the Nobel Prize.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov(also published under the pseudonym Sirin; April 10, 1899, St. Petersburg - July 2, 1977, Montreux) - Russian and American writer, poet, translator, literary critic and entomologist.

Biography

St. Petersburg Museum of V. V. Nabokov. The museum is housed in a house that has belonged to the Nabokov family since 1897. Vladimir Nabokov was born here in 1899 and spent the first 18 years of his life in this house.

Vladimir Nabokov was born on April 10 (22), 1899 in St. Petersburg into a wealthy noble family.

Father - Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (1869-1922), lawyer, famous politician, one of the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadet Party), from the Russian old noble family of the Nabokovs. Mother - Elena Ivanovna (nee Rukavishnikova; 1876-1939), the daughter of the richest gold miner, came from a small estate noble family.

In addition to Vladimir, there were four more brothers and sisters in the family:

  • Sergei Vladimirovich Nabokov (1900-1945) - translator, journalist, died in the Nazi concentration camp Neuengamme.
  • Olga Vladimirovna Nabokova (1903-1978), Shakhovskaya in her first marriage, Petkevich in her second.
  • Elena Vladimirovna Nabokova (1906-2000), in the first marriage Scolari, in the second - Sikorskaya. Her correspondence with Vladimir Nabokov has been published.
  • Kirill Vladimirovich Nabokov (1912-1964) - poet, godson of brother Vladimir.

Paternal grandfather, Dmitry Nikolaevich Nabokov, was Minister of Justice in the governments of Alexander II and Alexander III, paternal grandmother Maria Ferdinandovna, Baroness von Korf (1842-1926), daughter of Baron Ferdinand-Nicholas-Victor von Korf (1805-1869) , a German general in the Russian service. Maternal grandfather Ivan Vasilyevich Rukavishnikov (1843-1901), gold miner, philanthropist, maternal grandmother Olga Nikolaevna Rukavishnikova, ur. Kozlova (1845-1901), daughter of Nikolai Illarionovich Kozlov (1814-1889), doctor, professor, head of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy.

Three languages ​​were used in everyday life of the Nabokov family: Russian, English and French - thus, the future writer spoke three languages ​​from early childhood. In his own words, he learned to read English before he could read Russian. The first years of Nabokov's life were spent in comfort and prosperity in the Nabokovs' house on Bolshaya Morskaya in St. Petersburg and in their country estate Vyra (near Gatchina).

Estate in Rozhdestveno next to Batovo and Vyra

He began his education at the Tenishevsky School in St. Petersburg, where Osip Mandelstam had studied shortly before. Literature and entomology become Nabokov's two main hobbies.

In the autumn of 1916, a year before the October Revolution, Vladimir Nabokov received the Rozhdestveno estate and a million-dollar inheritance from Vasily Ivanovich Rukavishnikov, his maternal uncle. In 1916, Nabokov, while still a student at the Tenishevsky School, published the first poetry collection Poems (68 poems written from August 1915 to May 1916) in St. Petersburg under his own name. This is the only book by Nabokov officially published in Russia during his lifetime. Nabokov himself never republished the poems from the collection.

The October Revolution forced the Nabokovs to move to the Crimea, where the first literary success came to Vladimir - his works were published in the Yalta Voice newspaper and used by theater troupes, who fled in large numbers on the southern coast of Crimea from the dangers of revolutionary times. In April 1919, before the capture of the Crimea by the Bolsheviks, the Nabokov family left Russia forever. Some of the family jewels were taken away with them, and with this money the Nabokov family lived in Berlin, while Vladimir was educated at the University of Cambridge (Trinity College), where he continues to write Russian poetry and translate into Russian "Alice in the Country Miracles by Lewis Carroll. At the University of Cambridge, Nabokov founded the Slavic Society, which later became the Russian Society of the University of Cambridge.

In March 1922, Vladimir Nabokov's father, Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov, was killed. This happened at a lecture by P. N. Milyukov "America and the Restoration of Russia" in the building of the Berlin Philharmonic. V. D. Nabokov tried to neutralize the Black Hundreds who shot at Milyukov, but was shot dead by his partner.

Berlin (1922-1937)

In 1922 Nabokov moved to Berlin; makes a living teaching English. Nabokov's stories are published in Berlin newspapers and publishing houses organized by Russian emigrants.

In 1922 he becomes engaged to Svetlana Sievert; the engagement was broken off by the bride's family in early 1923 because Nabokov could not find a permanent job.

In 1925, Nabokov marries Vera Slonim, a Petersburger from a Jewish-Russian family. Their first and only child, Dmitry (1934-2012), did a lot of translations and publishing of his father's works and contributed to the popularization of his work, in particular, in Russia.

Shortly after his marriage, he completed his first novel, Mashenka (1926). After that, until 1937, he created 8 novels in Russian, continuously complicating his author's style and experimenting more and more boldly with form. Published under the pseudonym V. Sirin. Published in the journal Sovremennye Zapiski (Paris). Nabokov's novels, which were not published in Soviet Russia, were successful with Western emigration, and are now considered masterpieces of Russian literature (especially Luzhin's Defense, The Gift, Invitation to Execution (1938)).

France and departure to the USA (1937-1940)

In 1936, V. E. Nabokova was fired from her job as a result of the intensification of the anti-Semitic campaign in the country. In 1937, the Nabokovs left for France and settled in Paris, also spending a lot of time in Cannes, Menton and other cities. In May 1940, the Nabokovs flee from Paris from the advancing German troops and move to the United States on the last flight of a passenger liner. Champlain, chartered by the American Jewish agency HIAS to rescue Jewish refugees.

Nabokov's grave in Cimetière de Clarens (Switzerland) USA

In America, from 1940 to 1958, Nabokov made his living by lecturing on Russian and world literature at American universities.

Nabokov wrote his first novel in English (The Real Life of Sebastian Knight) back in Europe, shortly before leaving for the United States. From 1937 until the end of his days, Nabokov did not write a single novel in Russian (except for his autobiography Other Shores and the author's translation of Lolita into Russian). His first English-language novels, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and Bend Sinister, despite their artistic merit, were not commercially successful. During this period, Nabokov closely converged with E. Wilson and other literary critics, continued to professionally engage in entomology. Traveling during holidays in the United States, Nabokov is working on the novel Lolita, the theme of which (the story of an adult man who is passionately carried away by a twelve-year-old girl) was unthinkable for his time, as a result of which even the writer had little hope of publishing the novel. However, the novel was published (first in Europe, then in America) and quickly brought its author worldwide fame and financial well-being. It is interesting that initially the novel, as Nabokov himself described, was published by the odious Olympia Press publishing house, which, as he realized after publication, produced mainly “semi-pornographic” and similar novels.

Europe again

Nabokov returned to Europe and since 1960 lived in Montreux, Switzerland, where he wrote his last novels, the most famous of which are Pale Fire and Ada (1969).

Nabokov's last unfinished novel, Laura and Her Original. The Original of Laura) was released in English in November 2009. The Azbuka publishing house published its Russian translation in the same year (translated by G. Barabtarlo, edited by A. Babikov).

V. V. Nabokov died on July 2, 1977, he was buried in the cemetery in Clarens, near Montreux, Switzerland.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd

Address plate on the house of V. V. Nabokov in St. Petersburg

04/10/1899 - 1917 - Bolshaya Morskaya street, 47.

Young Vladimir Nabokov. St. Petersburg. 1907

writing style

Nabokov's works are characterized by a complex literary technique, a deep analysis of the emotional state of the characters, combined with an unpredictable, sometimes almost thriller plot. Among the most famous examples of Nabokov's work are the novels Mashenka, Luzhin's Defense, Invitation to Execution, and The Gift. The writer gained fame among the general public after the publication of the scandalous novel Lolita, which was subsequently made into several adaptations (1962, 1997).

In the novels "Protection of Luzhin" (1929-1930), "The Gift" (1937), "Invitation to Execution" (dystopia; 1935-1936), "Pnin" (1957) - a collision of a spiritually gifted loner with a dreary-primitive "average human" world - "petty-bourgeois civilization", or the world of "vulgarity", where imaginary, illusions, fictions rule. However, Nabokov does not remain on a narrow social level, but proceeds to develop a rather metaphysical theme of the relationship between different "worlds": the world of the real and the world of writer's imagination, the world of Berlin and the world of memories of Russia, the world of ordinary people and the world of chess, etc. the flow of these worlds is a modernist trait. Also, a sense of novelty and freedom in these works is given by the fact that in them Nabokov develops vivid language techniques, improves his style, achieving a special salience, tangibility of seemingly fleeting descriptions.

The sensational bestseller "Lolita" (1955) - an attempt to combine erotica, love prose and socio-critical morality, while touching on popular topics, has reached the heights of sophisticated aesthetics and certain philosophical depths. One of the leading problems in the novel is the problem of selfishness, which destroys love. The novel is written on behalf of a refined European, a scientist suffering from a painful passion for nymphet girls as a result of childhood love for a girl with whom he was separated a short time after meeting.

Lyrics with motives of nostalgia; memoirs ("Memory, speak", 1966).

Stories of amazing lyrical power. They contain in miniature many problems of the writer’s major works: the theme of the “other” world, the theme of a fleeting, elusive experience intertwined with it, etc. The most outstanding works in this genre are the stories “Return of Chorba”, “Spring in Fialta”, “Christmas” , "Cloud, lake, tower", "Terra Incognita", story "Spy".

Essays ("Nikolai Gogol", 1944).

Translations into English of "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and "A Hero of Our Time" by Mikhail Lermontov.

The poetics of stylistically refined prose is composed of both realistic and modernist elements (linguistic-stylistic play, all-encompassing parody, imaginary hallucinations). A principled individualist, Nabokov is ironic in his perception of any kind of mass psychology and global ideas (especially Marxism, Freudianism). Nabokov's peculiar literary style was characterized by a game of charade of reminiscences and a puzzle of encrypted quotations.

Nabokov is a synesthetic

Synesthesia is a phenomenon of perception when, when one sense organ is irritated, along with sensations specific to it, sensations corresponding to another sense organ arise, in other words, the signals emanating from different sense organs are mixed and synthesized. A person not only hears sounds, but also sees them, not only touches an object, but also feels its taste. The word "synesthesia" comes from the Greek. Συναισθησία and means a mixed sensation (as opposed to "anesthesia" - the absence of sensations).

Here is what Vladimir Nabokov wrote in his autobiography:

The confession of a synesthete will be called pretentious and boring by those who are protected from such infiltrations and strainings by more dense partitions than I am protected. But to my mother it all seemed quite natural. We talked about this when I was in my seventh year, I was building a castle from multi-colored alphabet blocks and casually remarked to her that they were painted incorrectly. We immediately found out that some of my letters were the same color as hers, in addition, musical notes also optically affected her. They did not excite any chromatisms in me.

In addition to Vladimir himself, his mother and his wife were synesthetics; his son Dmitry Vladimirovich Nabokov also had synesthesia.

Nobel Prize in Literature

Beginning in the 1960s, rumors spread about Vladimir Nabokov's possible nomination for the Nobel Prize.

In 1972, two years after receiving the prestigious prize, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote a letter to the Swedish committee recommending that Nabokov be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although the nomination did not materialize, Nabokov expressed deep gratitude to Solzhenitsyn for this gesture in a letter sent in 1974 after Solzhenitsyn's expulsion from the USSR. Subsequently, the authors of many publications (in particular, London Times, The Guardian, New York Times) ranked Nabokov among those writers who were undeservedly not included in the lists of nominees.

Teaching activity

He taught Russian and world literature, translated "Eugene Onegin" and "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" into English. The lectures were published posthumously by the American bibliographer Fredson Bowers. with the assistance of the widow of the writer V. E. Nabokova and son D. V. Nabokov: "Lectures on Literature" (1980), "Lectures on Russian Literature" (1981), "Lectures on Don Quixote" (1983).

Chess

He was seriously fond of chess: he was a rather strong practical player and published a number of interesting chess problems.

In some novels, the chess motif becomes pervasive: in addition to the obvious dependence of the fabric of Luzhin's Defense on chess, in the "true life of Sebastian Knight" many meanings are revealed if the names of the characters are read correctly: the protagonist Knight is a horse on the chessboard of the novel, Bishop is an elephant .

Entomology

Nabokov was a self-taught entomologist. He made a significant contribution to lepidopterology (a section of entomology dedicated to Lepidoptera), discovered twenty species of butterflies, and was the author of eighteen scientific articles. Butterfly Collection Curator ( Lepidoptera) at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

After the death of the writer, his wife Vera presented a collection of butterflies in 4324 copies to the University of Lausanne.

In 1945, based on the analysis of the genitals of male pigeon butterflies, he developed a new classification for the genus Polyommatus, which differs from the generally accepted one. Later, Nabokov's point of view on the taxonomy of pigeons was confirmed by DNA analysis.

Nabokov about himself

I am an American writer, born in Russia, educated in England, where I studied French literature before moving to Germany for fifteen years. … My head speaks English, my heart speaks Russian, and my ear speaks French.

Television versions of theatrical productions

  • 1992 - "Lolita" (Roman Viktyuk Theatre), duration 60 min. (Russia, director: Roman Viktyuk, cast: Unknown Gentleman - Sergey Vinogradov, Humbert Humbert - Oleg Isaev, Lolita - Lyudmila Pogorelova, Charlotte - Valentina Talyzina, Quilty - Sergey Makovetsky, Annabel / Louise / Ruta / Elder sister / Second sister - Ekaterina Karpushina, Rita - Svetlana Parkhomchik, Young Man - Sergey Zhurkovsky, Dick / Bill - Anton Khomyatov, Little Girl - Varya Lazareva)
  • 2000 - "King, Queen, Jack", duration 2 hours 33 minutes. (Russia, director: V. B. Pazi, cast: Elena Komissarenko, Dmitry Barkov, Mikhail Porechenkov, Alexander Sulimov, Irina Balai, Margarita Aleshina, Konstantin Khabensky, Andrey Zibrov)
  • 2001 - "Mashenka" - a television version of the play by the Theater Company of Sergei Vinogradov. In 1997, Sergei staged the play Nabokov, Masha, which opened the Sergei Vinogradov Theater Company. For this work, in 1999, he received the prize "For the best plastic direction" at the theater festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Nabokov. Duration 1 hour 33 minutes. (Russia, director: Sergey Vinogradov, cast: Ganin - Evgeny Stychkin, Mashenka - Elena Zakharova, Alferov - Boris Kamorzin, Podtyagin - Anatoly Chaliapin, Clara - Olga Novikova, Kolin - Grigory Perel, Gornotsvetov - Vladimir Tyagichev, Maria Alferova - Natalya Zakharov)
  • 2002 - "Lolita, or In Search of the Lost Paradise" (Donetsk Academic Order of Honor Regional Russian Drama Theatre, Mariupol), duration 2 hours 25 minutes. (1st act - 1 hour 18 minutes, 2nd act - 1 hour 07 minutes) (Ukraine, director: Anatoly Levchenko, cast: Humbert Humbert - Oleg Grishkin, Lolita - Oksana Lyalko, Charlotte Hayes - Natalya Atroshchenkova, Claire Quilty - Alexander Arutyunyan, Louise - Natalya Metlyakova, Humbert in childhood - Mikhail Starodubtsev, Youth - Valentin Pilipenko, Doctor - Igor Kurashko, Dick - Andrey Makarchenko, Constance - Inna Meshkova)

Films about Nabokov

  • 1993 - "Mademoiselle O." - a feature film by Jérôme Foulon, produced in Russia and France.
  • 1997 - "Vladimir Nabokov - Secret Passion" film by Valery Balayan, TVC, 1997.
  • 1999 - "The Age of Nabokov". A film by Leonid Parfenov.
  • 2007 - "Nabokov: Happy Years (2 films)" - a documentary about Vladimir Nabokov. Duration about 60 min. (2 parts, approximately 30 minutes each) (dir. Maria Gershtein)
  • 2009 - "Geniuses and villains of the outgoing era: Vladimir Nabokov" - a documentary television program from a well-known cycle in Russia. Duration 26 min (aired November 17, 2009)
  • 2009 - “Vladimir Nabokov. Russian Roots is a documentary film about the family of the famous Russian and American writer Vladimir Nabokov. Duration 52 min (scriptwriters - O. N. Popova, O. V. Chekalina, director - O. V. Chekalina) (TIGR film company with the participation of the Studio Ol film company)

Museums

In October 2006, the Vladimir Nabokov Museum in St. Petersburg hosted a photo exhibition "Nabokov Addresses", which presents photographs of the houses where Nabokov and his family lived. The authors of the photo are D. Konradt, D. Ripple, I. Kaznob, A. Nakata and the chief curator of the Nabokov Museum E. Kuznetsova.

In honor of Vladimir Nabokov in 1985, the asteroid (7232) Nabokov was named.

Novels

  • "Mashenka" (1926)
  • "King, Queen, Jack" (1928)
  • "Protection of Luzhin" (1930)
  • "Camera Obscura" (1932)
  • "Feat" (1932)
  • "Despair" (1934)
  • "Invitation to Execution" (1936)
  • "The Gift" (1938)
  • "The Real Life of Sebastian Knight" The Real Life of Sebastian Knight) (1941)
  • "Under the Sign of the Illegitimate" Bend sinister) (1947)
  • "Lolita" (English) Lolita) (1955)
  • "Pnin" (English) Pnin) (1957)
  • "Pale Flame" pale fire) (1962)
  • Ada, or the Joys of Passion: A Family Chronicle Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle) (1969)
  • "Transparent Things" transparent things) (1972)
  • "Look at the harlequins!" (English) Look at the Harlequins!) (1974)
  • Laura and her original The Original of Laura) (1975-1977, published posthumously in 2009)

Tale

  • "Spy" (1930)
  • The Magician (1939, published posthumously in 1986)

Storybooks

  • Return of Chorba (1930)
  • Spy (1938)
  • Nine Stories (1947)
  • Spring in Fialta (1956)
  • Nabokov's Dozen: A Collection of Thirteen Stories (1958)
  • Nabokov's Quartet (1966)
  • Nabokov's Congeries (1968)
  • A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
  • Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1975)
  • Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
  • The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (1995)
  • Cloud, Castle, Lake (2005)

Dramaturgy

  • "Wanderers" (1921)
  • "Death" (1923)
  • "Grandfather" (1923)
  • Ahasuerus (1923)
  • "Pole" (1924)
  • "The Tragedy of Mr. Morn" (1924)
  • "Man from the USSR" (1927)
  • "Event" (1938)
  • "The Invention of the Waltz" (1938)
  • "Mermaid"
  • "Lolita" (1974), (screenplay)

Poetry

  • Poetry(1916). Sixty eight poems in Russian.
  • Almanac: Two Ways(1918). Twelve poems in Russian.
  • Bunch(1922). Thirty-six poems in Russian (under the pseudonym V. Sirin).
  • mountain path(1923). One hundred twenty-eight poems in Russian (under the pseudonym V. Sirin).
  • Poems 1929-1951(1952). Fifteen poems in Russian.
  • Poems (1959)
  • Poems and Problems (1969)
  • Poetry(1979). Two hundred and twenty two poems in Russian

Documentary

  • Nikolay Gogol(English) Nikolai Gogol) (1944)
  • Notes on Prosody (1963)
  • Lectures on foreign literature(English) Lectures on Literature) (1980)
  • Lectures on Ulysses (1980)
  • Lectures on Russian literature(English) Lectures on Russian Literature) (1981)
  • Lectures on Don Quixote(English) Lectures on Don Quixote) (1983)

Autobiographies

  • "Curtain Raiser" (1949)
  • "Convincing Evidence" Conclusive Evidence: A Memoir) (1951)
  • "Other Shores" (1954)
  • "Memory, Speak" Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited) (1967)
  • “Nabokov about Nabokov and other things. Interviews, reviews, essays.” Compiled by Nikolai Melnikov. Moscow: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, (2002) ("Strong Opinions. Interviews, reviews, letters to editors." N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, (1973))
  • "The Nabokov-Wilson Letters Letters between Nabokov and Edmund Wilson" (1979)
  • "Correspondence with Sister" (1984)
  • "Carrousel" (1987)
  • "Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Nabokov-Wilson Letters, 1940-1971." (2001)

Translations

  • Nikolka Peach. (fr. Colas Breugnon) (1922)
  • "Anna in Wonderland" (English) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) (1923)
  • "Three Russian Poets. (Selections from Pushkin, Lermontov and Tyutchev in New Translations by Vladimir Nabokov) (1944)
  • "A Hero of Our Time" (1958)
  • "The Song of Igor's Campaign. An Epic of the Twelfth Century" (1960)
  • « Verses and Versions: Three Centuries of Russian Poetry Selected and Translated by Vladimir Nabokov» (2008)

Vladimir Nabokov is a Russian and American writer, poet, playwright, translator and literary critic. His works are still staged and made into films.

Interestingly, Nabokov was nominated 4 times in a row for the Nobel Prize in Literature. even wrote a letter to the committee so that the writer would be nominated for a prestigious award for the fifth time, but this did not produce any results.

Nabokov's favorite subject, after literature, was entomology, as he liked to observe and study their vital activity.

Later, the young man even began to collect butterflies, which he caught with a net on the street. It is interesting that in his works he often mentioned these amazing creatures.

While still a student at the school, Vladimir Nabokov published the collection "Poems", which became the first in his biography. It contained about 70 poems.

It is worth noting that the teacher of Russian literature criticized the work of the student and advised Vladimir to do something else. However, despite harsh criticism, the future writer still continued to compose poetry.


Vladimir Nabokov in his youth

On the eve of the October Revolution of 1917, the Nabokov family decided to move to the Crimea, because they felt the coming changes.

It was there that the poet was able to achieve success in the writing field. His works were published in various newspapers and were also used for theatrical productions.

In 1918, the almanac "Two Ways" was published by Vladimir Nabokov, in collaboration with the little-known poet Andrei Balashov.

Soon he becomes interested in the metric theory of Andrei Bely, who, along with, was a leading figure in Russian symbolism and modernism. Later, Nabokov would try to apply this theory in his own writings.

Emigration

When the Bolsheviks headed by came to power in the newly formed, the Nabokov family had to leave and go to, which at that time had many Russian emigrants.

At this time of the biography, the young man enters the University of Cambridge and successfully graduates from it. Having received a diploma, he begins to work as a teacher, as well as engage in translation activities.

Creativity Nabokov

In 1926, Nabokov presented his first novel, Mashenka, which dealt with the problem of love. It should be noted that he sent his work, whom he considered his mentor.

He wanted to hear the opinion of the famous Russian writer about his book, but he did not wait for an answer from the classic.


Vladimir Nabokov in America

After that, Vladimir Vladimirovich continues to write novels and publish them in the publication Sovremennye Zapiski. An interesting fact is that it was originally published under the pseudonym "Sirin".

When he came to power in Germany in the mid-30s, Nabokov again had to change his place of residence. As a result, he moves from to, and from there to.

During the biography of 1940-1958. he teaches at American universities.

The students listened to his lectures with great interest, since he had not only deep knowledge, but also the ability to beautifully present any information.

After becoming a writer, Vladimir Nabokov formed his own style of writing.

In 1955, one of the most famous novels in Nabokov's biography, Lolita, was published. It also intertwined masterfully veiled erotica.

Nabokov described the love of an adult man for a teenage girl, speaking about complex things in simple terms.

Some biographers of Nabokov believe that he was left without a Nobel Prize precisely because of his "Lolita". However, based on this book, 2 films were shot, which were very popular with the viewer.

Personal life

From a young age, Vladimir Nabokov repeatedly started love affairs with girls. In 1922, at the age of 23, he began dating Svetlana Sievert, after which he proposed to her.

However, Svetlana's parents were against her marrying Nabokov, since he did not have a permanent job.

After 3 years, he married a Jewish woman, Vera Slonim, who was an educated and intelligent girl. In this marriage, they had a boy Dmitry (1934), who later became an opera singer and translator.


Vladimir Nabokov and Vera Solonim

Interestingly, Vera, like Nabokov himself, loved butterflies. That is why she repeatedly caught them with her husband, separating him.

Vladimir Nabokov was interested in chess and was a very strong player. Later, he even published a book with many interesting chess problems.

The writer Nabokov himself spoke of himself as follows:

I am an American writer, born in Russia, educated in England, where I studied French literature before moving to Germany for fifteen years.

My head speaks English, my heart speaks Russian and my ear speaks French.

Death

At the end of his life, Nabokov lived and worked in. During this period of his biography, he wrote 2 novels: Pale Fire (1961) and Ada (1969).

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov died on July 2, 1977 from a progressive bronchial infection. He was 78 years old.

His body was cremated and buried in Switzerland at the Claran cemetery.

Nabokov's photo

Below you can see a photo of Nabokov. There are both photos from the personal archive of Vladimir Nabokov, as well as those photos that are in the public domain.


Nabokov and his siblings (left to right): Vladimir, Kirill, Olga, Sergei and Elena, 1918

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In addition to Vladimir himself, his mother and his wife were synesthetics; his son Dmitry Vladimirovich Nabokov also had synesthesia.

Nobel Prize in Literature

Beginning in the 1960s, rumors spread about a possible nomination of Vladimir Nabokov for the Nobel Prize. Nabokov was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature at least three times: in 1963 by Robert Adams, in 1964 by Elizabeth Hill, and in 1965 by Andrew J Chiappe and Frederick Wilcox Dupee.

In 1972, two years after receiving the prestigious prize, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote a letter to the Swedish committee recommending that Nabokov be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Although the nomination did not materialize, Nabokov expressed deep gratitude to Solzhenitsyn for this gesture in a letter sent in 1974 after Solzhenitsyn's expulsion from the USSR. Subsequently, the authors of many publications (in particular, the London Times, The Guardian, New York Times) ranked Nabokov among those writers who were undeservedly not included in the lists of nominees.

Entomology

Nabokov was a professional entomologist. His interest in this area arose under the influence of the books of Maria Sibylla Merian, which he found in the attic of the Vyra estate. Nabokov made a significant contribution to lepidopterology (a section of entomology dedicated to Lepidoptera), having discovered many types of butterflies, more than 30 species of butterflies (including Madeleinea lolita) and the genus of butterflies Nabokovia were named in his honor and the names of the heroes of his works.

Part of the collection of butterflies collected by Nabokov in the 1940s - 1950s, which was in the Museum of Modern Zoology at Harvard University (USA), with the help of the zoologist N.A. Formozov, was donated to the Nabokov Museum after the death of the writer. Nabokov worked at the Harvard Museum for seven years (1941-1948) and most of his personal collection, collected over the years, was donated by him to this museum. Butterflies from this collection were collected by him during his summer travels in the western states of the United States. It is noteworthy that the description of these travels, including cafes and motels, subsequently entered the Lolita novel as a description of the travels of a pedophile criminal and his victim.

After the death of the writer, his wife Vera presented a collection of butterflies in 4324 copies to the University of Lausanne.

In 1945, based on the analysis of the genitals of male pigeon butterflies, he developed a new classification for the genus Polyommatus, which differs from the generally accepted one. Later, Nabokov's point of view on the taxonomy of pigeons was confirmed by DNA analysis.

According to the biologist Nikolai Formozov, butterflies were an integral part of the figurative system of most of Nabokov's works: for example, in the story "Christmas", Sleptsov's internal monologue is interrupted at the word "death" by the unexpected appearance of the butterfly Attacus atlas from the cocoon. Cincinnatus in the novel “Invitation to the Execution”, when writing a letter, is distracted from it to touch the pear-eyed peacock (Saturnia pyri), which later, after the execution of the protagonist, flies out through the broken window of the cell. A swarm of white nocturnal and bright exotic butterflies circles over the deceased Pilgram at the end of the story of the same name. The angel in the story “Blow of the Wing”, according to the description of the writer, is like a night butterfly: “The brown hair on the wings smoked, shimmered with frost<…>[he] leaned on his palms like a sphinx” (“sphinx” is the Latin name for one of the genera of hawk moths - Sphinx). The path of the swallowtail described in the book “Other Shores” repeats the route of his great-uncle, the Decembrist M.A. Nazimov, to the place of his Siberian exile. In total, butterflies are mentioned in the writer's works more than 570 times.