Nabokov, Vladimir, << NAH boh kawf, VLAH duh meer >> (1899-1977), was a Russian-born author. His novels are noted for their complicated plots and the complex attitudes they express toward their subjects. Critics praised Nabokov’s novels for their wit, intricate use of words, and rich language. His novels, which are often satirical, include Invitation to a Beheading (published in the Soviet Union, 1938; United States, 1959), The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941), Lolita (published in France, 1955; United States, 1958), Pnin (1957), Pale Fire (1962), and Ada (1969). An unfinished novel, The Original of Laura, was published in 2009. Nabokov published collections of stories and poetry and translated several Russian literary classics into English. Speak, Memory (1951, expanded 1966) is his autobiography. A collection of his lectures at Cornell University in the 1950’s was published as Lectures on Literature (1980). The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov was published in 1995. Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Poems was published in 2012.
Nabokov was born on April 22, 1899, in St. Petersburg. The family fled to Western Europe in 1919 because of the Bolshevik revolution. Nabokov attended Cambridge University in England from 1919 to 1922. From 1922 to 1940, he lived in Berlin and Paris among other Russians who had left their country because of the revolution. He wrote his novels in Russian, and most were later translated into English. In 1940, Nabokov settled in the United States and began to write in English. He returned to Europe to live in 1959. He died on July 2, 1977.
