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1899
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Born on 22 April in St. Petersburg to Vladimir
Dmitrievich and Elena Ivanovna Rukavishnikov Nabokov.
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1903
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Birth of what Nabokov calls his “sentient life.”
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approx. 1905
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Begins life-long study of nature (especially
lepidoptera), chess, and literature.
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1914
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Composes his first poem. “A miserable concoction,” he
says, “containing many borrowings besides its
pseudo-Pushkinian modulation.”
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1917
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His family goes to the Crimea.
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1919
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The Nabokovs flee Russia; Vladimir and Sergei begin
studies at Cambridge.
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1922
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Nabokov's father is killed by tsarists.
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1923
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Graduates with honors from Cambridge and publishes two
volumes of poetry, A Cluster and The Empyrean
Path. Settles in Berlin.
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1925
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Marriage to Véra Evseevna Slonim.
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1926
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Mary (trans. 1970)
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1928
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King, Queen, Knave (trans. 1968)
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1929
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The Defense (trans. 1964)
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1930
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The Eye (trans. 1965)
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1931
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Glory (trans. 1971)
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1932
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Camera Obscura (trans. as Laughter in the
Dark, 1938)
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1934
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Despair (trans. 1966)
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1935
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Invitation to a Beheading (trans. 1959)
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1937
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The Gift (Not published complete in Russian till
1952, trans. 1963)
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1940
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Nabokov, wife, and son emigrate to U.S.
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1941
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Publication of Sebastian Knight
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