Editing Vladimir Nabokov (section)

==Career==
===Berlin (1922–1937)===
In 1920, Nabokov's family moved to Berlin, where his father set up the émigré newspaper ''Rul''' ("Rudder"). Nabokov followed them to Berlin two years later, after completing his studies at Cambridge.

In March 1922, Russian monarchists [[Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork]] and [[Sergey Taboritsky]] shot and killed Nabokov's father in Berlin as he was shielding their target, [[Pavel Milyukov]], a leader of the [[Constitutional Democratic Party]]-in-exile. Shortly after his father's death, Nabokov's mother and sister moved to Prague. Nabokov drew upon his father's death repeatedly in his fiction. On one interpretation of his novel ''[[Pale Fire]]'', an assassin kills the poet John Shade when his target is a fugitive European monarch.

Nabokov stayed in Berlin, where he had become a recognised poet and writer in Russian within the émigré community; he published under the ''nom de plume'' V. Sirin (a reference to the [[sirin|fabulous bird]] of Russian folklore). To supplement his scant writing income, he taught languages and gave tennis and boxing lessons.<ref name="MA"/> Dieter E. Zimmer has written of Nabokov's 15 Berlin years, "he never became fond of Berlin, and at the end intensely disliked it. He lived within the lively Russian community of Berlin that was more or less self-sufficient, staying on after it had disintegrated because he had nowhere else to go to. He knew little German. He knew few Germans except for landladies, shopkeepers, and immigration officials at the police headquarters."<ref>{{cite web| last = Zimmer | first = Dieter E | url = http://www.d-e-zimmer.de/Root/nabberlin2002.htm | title = Presentation of the book ''Nabokov's Berlin'' | series = The International Vladimir Nabokov Symposium | publisher = St. Petersburg | date = 15 July 2002}}.</ref>

====Marriage====
In 1922, Nabokov became engaged to Svetlana Siewert, but she broke the engagement off early in 1923 when her parents worried whether he could provide for her.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/schiff-vera.html | work= The New York Times |title= Vera, chapter 1, para 6 |first= Stacy|last=Schiff}}</ref> In May 1923, he met [[Véra Evseyevna Slonim]], a Russian-Jewish woman,<!-- do not put ethnicity first --> at a charity ball in Berlin.<ref name= "MA">{{Citation | author-link = Martin Amis| last = Amis | first = Martin | title = Visiting Mrs Nabokov: And Other Excursions | pages = 115–18 | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | orig-year = 1993 | edition = reprint | year = 1994 | isbn = 978-0-14-023858-7| title-link = Visiting Mrs Nabokov: And Other Excursions }}.</ref> They married in April 1925.<ref name="MA"/> Their only child, [[Dmitri Nabokov|Dmitri]], was born in 1934.

In the course of 1936, Véra lost her job because of the increasingly antisemitic environment; [[Sergey Taboritsky]] was appointed deputy head of Germany's Russian-émigré bureau; and Nabokov began seeking a job in the English-speaking world.

===France (1937–1940)===
In 1937, Nabokov left Germany for France, where he had a short affair with Irina Guadanini, also a Russian émigrée. His family followed him to France, making en route their last visit to [[Prague]], then spent time in [[Cannes]], [[Menton]], [[Cap d'Antibes]], and [[Fréjus]], finally settling in Paris. This city also had a Russian émigré community.

In 1939, in Paris, Nabokov wrote the 55-page novella ''[[The Enchanter]]'', his final work of Russian fiction.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Heinegg|first=Peter|date=18 September 1986|title=The Enchanter by Vladimir Nabokov; translated by Dmitri Navokov|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-28-bk-9567-story.html}}</ref> He later called it "the first little throb of ''Lolita''."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cahill|first=Sarah|date=9 July 1987|title=Reading: The First Throb of Lolita|url=http://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/reading-the-first-throb-of-lolita/|access-date=3 September 2021|website=Chicago Reader|language=en-US}}</ref>

In May 1940, the Nabokovs fled the advancing German troops, reaching the United States via the [[SS Champlain|SS ''Champlain'']]. Nabokov's brother Sergey did not leave France, and he died at the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] on 9 January 1945.<ref>{{Citation | first = Lev | last = Grossman | url = http://www.salon.com/2000/05/17/nabokov_5/ | title = The gay Nabokov | newspaper = Salon | date = 18 May 2000 | access-date = 8 December 2013}}.</ref>

===United States===
[[File:957 East State St Ithaca NY NabokovHome1953.jpg|thumb|upright=1|957 East State Street, [[Ithaca, New York]], where Nabokov lived with his family while teaching at [[Cornell University]]]]

====New York City (1940–1941)====
The Nabokovs settled in [[Manhattan]], and Vladimir began volunteer work as an [[entomologist]] at the [[American Museum of Natural History]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Nabokov's Type: Lysandra cormion|url=http://www-v1.amnh.org/news/tag/vladimir-nabokov/|access-date=18 April 2013}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Wellesley College (1941–1948)====
Nabokov joined the staff of [[Wellesley College]] in 1941 as resident lecturer in [[comparative literature]]. The position, created specifically for him, provided an income and free time to write creatively and pursue his [[lepidoptery]]. Nabokov is remembered as the founder of Wellesley's Russian department. The Nabokovs resided in [[Wellesley, Massachusetts]], during the 1941–42 academic year. In September 1942, they moved to nearby [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], where they lived until June 1948. Following a lecture tour through the United States, Nabokov returned to Wellesley for the 1944–45 academic year as a lecturer in Russian. In 1945, he became a [[naturalized citizen]] of the United States. He served through the 1947–48 term as Wellesley's one-man Russian department, offering courses in Russian language and literature. His classes were popular, due as much to his unique teaching style as to the wartime interest in all things Russian.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} At the same time he was the de facto  curator of lepidoptery at [[Harvard University]]'s [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]].<ref>{{cite news| title= Nabokov, Scientist| work= Natural History| date= July 1999}}</ref>

====Cornell University (1948–1959)====
After being encouraged by [[Morris Bishop]], Nabokov left Wellesley in 1948 to teach Russian and European literature at [[Cornell University]], where he taught until 1959. Among his students at Cornell was future [[U.S. Supreme Court]] [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Justice]] [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]], who later identified Nabokov as a major influence on her development as a writer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawprose.org/interviews/supreme-court.php?vid=ginsburg_part_1&vidtitle=Associate_Justice_Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_Part_1|title=Supreme Court Interviews|website=LawProse.org|access-date=5 December 2015|archive-date=2 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702105957/http://www.lawprose.org/interviews/supreme-court.php?vid=ginsburg_part_1&vidtitle=Associate_Justice_Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg_Part_1|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Nabokov wrote ''[[Lolita]]'' while traveling on the butterfly-collection trips in the western U.S. that he undertook every summer. Véra acted as "secretary, typist, editor, proofreader, translator and bibliographer; his agent, business manager, legal counsel and chauffeur; his research assistant, teaching assistant and professorial understudy"; when Nabokov attempted to burn unfinished drafts of ''Lolita'', Véra stopped him. He called her the best-humored woman he had ever known.<ref name="MA"/><ref>{{cite news| work= The New York Times| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/11/obituaries/vera-nabokov-89-wife-muse-and-agent.html |title= Vera Nabokov, 89, Wife, Muse and Agent| date= 11 April 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| first= Brian |last= Boyd| title= Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years| pages= 170, 601}}</ref>

In June 1953, Nabokov and his family went to [[Ashland, Oregon]]. There he finished ''Lolita'' and began writing the novel ''[[Pnin (novel)|Pnin]]''. He roamed the nearby mountains looking for butterflies, and wrote a poem called "Lines Written in Oregon". On 1 October 1953, he and his family returned to Ithaca, where he later taught the young writer [[Thomas Pynchon]].<ref name="medfordmail">{{cite news| url-status= dead| url= http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/99/sept99/92299n2.htm |title= Snapshot: Nabokov's Retreat| place= Ashland, Oregon | work= [[Mail Tribune]] (Medford, Oregon)| date= 5 November 2006| page= 2 |first= Dani| last= Dodge |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101202051944/http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/99/sept99/92299n2.htm |archive-date= 2 December 2010 | access-date= 9 August 2018}}</ref>

===Montreux (1961–1977)===
[[File:Nabokov's grave.JPG|thumb|upright=1|The Nabokovs' gravesite at Cimetière de [[Clarens, Switzerland|Clarens]] near [[Montreux]], Switzerland]]

After the great financial success of ''Lolita'', Nabokov returned to Europe and devoted himself to writing. In 1961, he and Véra moved to the [[Fairmont Le Montreux Palace|Montreux Palace Hotel]] in [[Montreux]], Switzerland, where he remained until the end of his life.<ref name= "theparisreview.org"/> From his sixth-floor quarters, he conducted his business and took tours to the Alps, Corsica, and Sicily to hunt butterflies.

===Death===
Nabokov died of bronchitis on 2 July 1977 in Montreux.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCrum |first=Robert |date=2009-10-24 |title=The final twist in Nabokov's untold story |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/25/nabokov-original-of-laura-mccrum |access-date=2024-07-13 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first= Robert |last= McCrum| title= The Final Twist in Nabokov's Untold Story| work= [[The Observer]]| via= theguardian.com | date= 25 October 2009| url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/25/nabokov-original-of-laura-mccrum}}</ref> His remains were cremated and buried at [[Clarens, Switzerland|Clarens]] cemetery in Montreux.<ref name= GarlandC>{{cite book| title= The Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov| editor-first= Vladimir E. |editor-last= Alexandrov | publisher= Garland Publishing| place= New York |year= 1995| isbn= 978-0-8153-0354-1}}</ref>{{rp|xxix–l}}

At the time of his death, he was working on a novel titled ''[[The Original of Laura]]''. Véra and Dmitri, who were entrusted with Nabokov's [[literary executor]]ship,<ref name= "MA"/> ignored Nabokov's request to burn the incomplete manuscript and published it in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/04/nabokov_original_of_laura.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080724052855/http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/04/nabokov_original_of_laura.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 July 2008|title=Nabokov's last work will not be burned|work=The Guardian |location=UK |first=Kate |last=Connolly|date=22 April 2008|access-date =24 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90073521| title= Interview with Dmitri Nabokov| website= NPR.org|date= 30 April 2008}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20130124212416/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iBxjF8uCw6NIn9hlD_8tEsKhlALA Agence Française]</ref>