Posted on Jul 2, 2021
Biography of Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-American Novelist
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Early Life and Education
"Vladimir Nabokov was born on April 22, 1899, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the eldest of five children. Out of his younger siblings, Sergey, Olga, Elena, and Kirill, Vladimir was the clear favorite and was idolized by his parents. His father, Vladimir Dimitrievich Nabokov, was a progressive politician and journalist. Nabokov’s mother, Elena Ivanovna Rukavishnikov, was a wealthy heiress and granddaughter of a gold mine millionaire.
Young Nabokov had an idyllic childhood despite the political turmoil brewing around him. He grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic, and loving household, speaking three languages (Russian, English, and French), which would later prove fruitful as he worked as a tutor to support his writing. The family spent their summers in the countryside. Nabokov would remember Vyra, one of their three manors, as an idyllic, magical and revelatory respite, long after it had been destroyed. It was there that his love for butterflies was born.
In his younger years, Nabokov was taught by governesses and tutors, as was the custom for children of the upper class. In January 1911, Nabokov was sent to the Tenishev School with his brother Sergey. Tenishev was one of the best of its kind—a liberal secondary school situated in Saint Petersburg. It was there that young Nabokov grew his appetite for poetry and began writing in verse. Between the months of August 1915 and May 1916, he wrote his first book of poems, 68 in total, which he titled Stikhi (“Poems”) and dedicated to his first love, Valentina Shulgin (she would later be the inspiration for his 1926 debut novel Mary). He self-published 500 copies at the printer who produced his father’s work. His debut, however, was not quite a success: he faced ridicule from his classmates, and one famous poet, Zinaida Gippius, told the elder Nabokov at a party that his son would never be a writer."
Early Life and Education
"Vladimir Nabokov was born on April 22, 1899, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the eldest of five children. Out of his younger siblings, Sergey, Olga, Elena, and Kirill, Vladimir was the clear favorite and was idolized by his parents. His father, Vladimir Dimitrievich Nabokov, was a progressive politician and journalist. Nabokov’s mother, Elena Ivanovna Rukavishnikov, was a wealthy heiress and granddaughter of a gold mine millionaire.
Young Nabokov had an idyllic childhood despite the political turmoil brewing around him. He grew up in a wealthy, aristocratic, and loving household, speaking three languages (Russian, English, and French), which would later prove fruitful as he worked as a tutor to support his writing. The family spent their summers in the countryside. Nabokov would remember Vyra, one of their three manors, as an idyllic, magical and revelatory respite, long after it had been destroyed. It was there that his love for butterflies was born.
In his younger years, Nabokov was taught by governesses and tutors, as was the custom for children of the upper class. In January 1911, Nabokov was sent to the Tenishev School with his brother Sergey. Tenishev was one of the best of its kind—a liberal secondary school situated in Saint Petersburg. It was there that young Nabokov grew his appetite for poetry and began writing in verse. Between the months of August 1915 and May 1916, he wrote his first book of poems, 68 in total, which he titled Stikhi (“Poems”) and dedicated to his first love, Valentina Shulgin (she would later be the inspiration for his 1926 debut novel Mary). He self-published 500 copies at the printer who produced his father’s work. His debut, however, was not quite a success: he faced ridicule from his classmates, and one famous poet, Zinaida Gippius, told the elder Nabokov at a party that his son would never be a writer."
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