Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

Writing
1899-04-22
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire [now Russia]

Biography

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1899-1977) was a Russian-born multilingual novelist, poet, translator, critic and entomologist considered the foremost of the post-1917 émigré authors. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian while living in Berlin. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States, where he began writing in English. Nabokov was a professor of Russian literature at Cornell University from 1948 to 1959, before returning to Europe in 1961, where he settled in Montreux, Switzerland. Beginning with King, Queen, Knave (1928), his writing began to feature intricate stylistic devices. His novels are principally concerned with the problem of art itself, presented in various disguises, as in Invitation to a Beheading (1938). Parody is frequent in The Gift (1937–38) and later works. His novels written in English include the notorious best seller Lolita (1955), which brought him wealth and international fame; Pale Fire (1962); and Ada (1969). His episodic novel about an émigré professor of Russian in the United States, Pnin (1957), is to some extent based on his experiences as a literature professor. His critical works include a monumental translation of and commentary on Aleksandr Pushkin’s Evgeny Onegin.

Known For & Full Filmography3 Titles

#1Apostrophes

Drama Series - 1975, 16 episodes as Self

8.5 / 10
Talk

Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and hosted by Bernard Pivot. It ran for fifteen years (724 episodes) from January 10, 1975, to June 22, 1990, and was one of the most watched shows on French television (around 6 million regular viewers). It was broadcast on Friday nights on the channel France 2 (which was called "Antenne 2" from 1975 to 1992). The hourlong show was devoted to books, authors and literature. The format varied between one-on-one interviews with a single author and open discussions between four or five authors.

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#2L'affaire Matzneff

Movie - 2020, 2h 15m as Self (archive footage)

8.8 / 10
Documentary

About the Gabriel Matzneff affair and pedophilia in French culture and society from the 1950s to the present day. "It was not very difficult to know who Matzneff was at the time." Vanessa Springora denounces thus, in an interview with the Parisian , the support which benefited the writer Gabriel Matzneff , in the years 1970 and 1980. The author fifties then maintains an affair with the young girl, aged 14 years. A relationship under control that the editor tells in Le Consentement (éd. Grasset), published Thursday. "After having analyzed the work " , the Paris public prosecutor's office announced Friday January 3 the opening of an investigation for "rapes committed on the person of a minor of 15 years".

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#3Lolita : méprise sur un fantasme

Movie - 2021, 2h 15m as Self - Writer (archive footage)

7.2 / 10
DocumentaryHistoryTV Movie

A fresh new look at Lolita, the famous and controversial novel published in 1955 by Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov (1891-1977), a masterpiece of English-language literature that has been constantly misinterpreted by countless readers who have mistakenly turned its young heroine into an erotic icon.

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