Trivia

He was born under the Julian calendar on April 10, 1899. At the time this would have been April 22 by the Gregorian calendar, and this is often quoted as his birthday. But Russia remained on the Julian calendar until 1918, by which time the Gregorian date equivalent to April 10 had shifted to April 23 -- the date that Nabokov actually celebrated. Nabokov was pleased that this change allowed him to share a birthday with William Shakespeare.

His father, a Russian diplomat who participated in the 1917 revolution but was not a Communist, was assassinated in Berlin in 1922 by a Russian fascist.

Mentioned in the song 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' by 'The Police'.

Donated his massive collections of rare butterflies to Harvard University and to Zoology Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Taught at Harvard University during the 1940s.

Father of Dimitri Nabokov. Cousin to Nicolas Nabokov.