Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, best known as the author of Lolita, was born around April 23, 1899, in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the eldest of five siblings, growing up in an affluent and aristocratic household. The family had two residences, one in St. Petersburg and the other an estate located fifty miles south in the countryside. In his youth, Nabokov relished playing tennis and soccer but also developed a deep fascination with butterflies, a passion inherited from his father.
During Nabokov's adolescence, Russia was under the rule of Czar Nicholas II. The Nabokov family, despite the political climate, generally lived harmoniously under the czar's regime. Nabokov's father,...
