Veronica Yabloko

For many people the name Vladimir Nabokov conjures the thought of a single novel: Lolita. And while Lolita was certainly a masterpiece, to reduce Nabokov’s career to the impact of a single text would be a criminal injustice. Not only was Nabokov a masterful writer whose texts were both shocking and intriguing, but he also saw the world through a particular and unique lens. A survivor of revolution and tragedy, Nabokov’s writing was shaped greatly by his experiences as a political refugee. Combined with his gift of synesthesia, which allowed him to see letters as colors, Nabokov had a mastery of language unfathomable to many. But to understand his literary genius, we must first understand the life that shaped him as an artist.

In St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was born to lawyer Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov and heiress Yelena Ivanovna on April 22, 1899. Because of his family’s social status and economic background, Nabokov had a relatively happy, fortunate childhood filled with summers at his family’s estate, the Rozhdestveno Estate, in endless pursuit of butterflies. As a young man, he published two works of poetry: Poems (1916) and Two Paths (1918). However, the 1917 Bolshevik revolution abruptly ended his childhood, stripping Nabokov’s family of most of their wealth and forcing his family to flee to Lavadiya, Crimea. The sudden end to his childhood and essential exile from his home country had a profound impact on Nabokov’s philosophy, writing, and political views. For the rest of his life, he remained a staunch supporter of democratic movements and condemned Soviet communism and fascism. 

While Nabokov’s family remained in Eastern Europe, the young writer moved to Cambridge, studying Slavic and Romance languages at Trinity College. In England, Nabokov produced two more books of poems titled The Cluster and The Empyrean Path, both of which were published in 1923. While these were also in Russian, by this time Nabokov had begun writing in English as well. 

After graduating, he followed his family to Berlin who, despite living in Germany for many years, remained strongly connected to Russian culture and the Russian immigrant community. Unfortunately, Nabokov’s father died tragically in an altercation with a Russian monarchist who, in an attempt to assassinate the founder and head of the Russian Constitutional Democratic Party, Pavel Milyukov, shot Nabokov’s father instead. Although he was deeply affected by his father’s death, Nabokov moved on to start a family of his own with fellow émigré Véra Evseyevna Slonim. A skilled and private person like her husband, Véra would juggle roles as wife, mother, editor, writer, and assistant to her husband throughout their marriage. She was a reliable figure and resource to him, especially during their time together in Berlin, when Nabokov made little money writing under the pen name “V. Sirin.” 

Between 1922 and 1937 while in Berlin, Nabokov published many novels including his first, Mashenka, in 1926. In 1928 Nabokov published his second novel, titled King, Queen, Knave, where his distinct style of writing, often defined by its poetic flair, first appeared. Two years later he published The Defense, which earned him much literary attention. After publishing The Defense, Nabokov went on to publish several critically acclaimed novels including Despair (1935) and Invitation to a Beheading (1936). The Gift (1937) was Nabokov’s last Russian novel to be published during his lifetime. 

Nabokov’s family eventually left Berlin for the United States, where Nabokov taught at Harvard University, Wellesley College, Cornell University, and Stanford University. In these years, Nabokov would publish many English novels, the most notable of which include Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957), and Pale Fire (1962). In addition to writing novels, Nabokov wrote short stories, novellas, and even literary commentaries (such as his commentary on and translations of Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin). Toward the end of his life, Nabokov also published a memoir comprised of many of his earlier essays.

With the success of Lolita, he and Véra eventually relocated to Montreux, Switzerland, where he wrote professionally until his death on July 2, 1977. His last novel, published posthumously, The Original of Laura (2009) was released against his wishes, as he had requested the text be burned. Unable to do so, his wife instead locked away the novel for 30 years. Nabokov’s son later found it and decided to publish, as he felt it contained the very essence of his father.

To this day readers and critics alike still marvel at his literary artistry. Nabokov’s writing greatly reflected his own personality and linguistic curiosity, as his works were often abundant with literary allusions and linguistic puns. When teaching literature in his later years, Nabokov would instruct his students to look beyond the characters to understand the emotions of artistic creation. Nabokov’s work plays with this idea, creating often untrustworthy narrators and teasing the reader with its humour and hidden messages. Nabokov’s works were not only humourous, but also deeply and morally nuanced. Nabokov’s experience as a political refugee shaped much of his writing, which questioned morality, explored the purpose of art, and pushed the boundaries of right and wrong. 

Now, nearly 50 years after his death, Nabokov’s indelible mark still remains. An exceptional writer in both Russian and English, Nabokov has no doubt left his signature in both Russian and American academia and culture. His fearlessness in pushing the boundaries of literature, and art as a whole, changed the literary landscape and opened the door for many writers who followed. One thing is certain: though Nabokov may have transcended this realm nearly fifty years ago, his art remains, just as he always dreamed it would.
 

Boyd, Brian. “The Passions of Young 'Sirin'.” The New York Times. The New York Times, October 14, 1990. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/boyd-nabokov.html. 

Dragunoiu, Dana. “Lolita and the Communists.” Vladimir Nabokov and the Poetics of Liberalism, 2011, 82–141. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv47w6dh.8.   

“Firstworldwar.com.” First World War.com - Primary Documents - Announcement of the First Provisional Government, 3 March 1917, March 3, 1917. http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/firstprovgovt.htm.  

Pearson, Julia. “Biography of Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American Novelist.” ThoughtCo, 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-vladimir-nabokov-4776379.   

“‘Vladimir Nabokov.’” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/vladimir-nabokov.