Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1899-1977)

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich

WRITER (RUSSIA)

BORN 22 Apr 1899, St. Petersburg - DIED 2 Jul 1977, Montreux, Vaud
GRAVE LOCATION Clarens, Vaud: Cimetière (ashes)

Vladimir Nabokov came form a rich Othodox family of St. Petersburg. He learned English and French from an early age. In 1916 he inherited the Rozhestveno estate from an uncle, but he lost it in the Revolution of 1917. the family left for the Crimea in 1917 and in 1918 moved on to Lividia. In 1919 they went to England, where Vladimir studied at Cambridge. After he finished his studies he followed his family to Berlin, where his father was killed in 1922 by Russian monarchists who tried to murder Pavel Milyukov. His engagement to Svetlana Siewert was broken in 1923 and he married Véra Evseyevna Slonim in 1925. They had a son, Dmitri, in 1934.

After Vera, who was Jewish, lost her job in 1936 they left Germany in 1937 and went to Paris. In 1940 they fled to the United States, where Vladimir worked at the American Museum of Natinal History. In 1941 he started lecturing at Wellesley College and founded a russian department there. In 1942 he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he lived until 1948 with his wife. In 19435 he became an American citizen. He was on a trip collecting butterflies when he started writing his famous novel "Lolita". When he wanted to burn unfinished parts of it Vera stopped him. In 1953 they moved to Ashland, Oregon, where he finished "Lolita".

"Lolita" was a huge success and enabled the Nabokovs to return to Europe. In 1961 he went to live at the Montreux Palace Hotel in Montreux with Vera and he stayed there for the rest of his life. When he died in 1977 he left an unfinished novel, "The Original of Laura". Vera died in 1991 and was buried beside him.

Images

The grave of Vladimir Nabokov at the cemetery in Clarens, Vaud.
Picture by Androom (05 Dec 2007)