Nabokov House

Nabokov House

Nabokov House is the house in Saint Petersburg with the modern street number of 47 Great Morskaya Street (Bol'shaia morskaia ulitsa), 190000. It was in this mansion that Vladimir Nabokov was born in 1899. Currently, the first floor of the house contains the Nabokov Museum.

History of the House

It is a medium to large townhouse, built in the 19th century, in the Neo-Renaissance style. Between 1897 and the October Revolution the house was the property of the Nabokovs, who had obtained it as a dowry of Elena Rukavishnikova (Vladimir Nabokov's mother). Vladimir Vladimirovich lived in the house until November 1917. The house is meticulously described in his autobiography The Other Shores and Speak, Memory. For Vladimir the house remained the only house in the world. Subsequently, even when he grew rich, he never acquired any other house and preferred to live in hotels.

Nabokov Museum

Since April 1998 the first floor of the house (the family floor in Nabokov's time) is occupied by the Nabokov Museum and the upper two stories (the parents' floor and the children's floor) are occupied by the offices of the newspaper Nevskoe Vremya. In the museum space are the Phone room, Dining room, Library, Committee Room (where most of the meetings of the Constitutional Democratic party were held) and the Kitchen.

Inside Nabokov's House

Very little has remained from the Nabokov's family life in the house. Time and history spared nothing, except the interiors of several rooms on the first and second floors of the building and the old stained glass window above the flight of stairs leading to the third floor.

Nabokov memorabilia, including Vladimir Nabokov's personal effects (index cards, pencils, eyeglasses, scrabble game) as well as books and other objects connected to his life and art, form the core of the museum's collection. The museum is dedicated to fostering Nabokov's memory and his artistic legacy and cultural values, both within Russia and internationally. The museum not only houses exhibits related to Nabokov's life and milieu and provides a research library for Nabokov scholars but also holds many events and activities inspired by Nabokov: readings of works by Nabokov and those he admired, (such as Chekhov and Joyce), lectures, international or single-nation conferences ("Nabokov and Russia", "Nabokov and England", "Nabokov and France", "Nabokov and Germany", "Nabokov and the United States"), an annual international Nabokov summer school, and exhibitions and installations related to Nabokov. Its activities have the regular support of leading Nabokov scholars from around the world.

Friends of the Nabokov Museum (FNM)

The museum is supported by the American nonprofit organization Friends of the Nabokov Museum (FNM). The FNM can be contacted at [e-mail]. Donations can be made online at the museum's website or mailed to Friends of the Nabokov Museum, Inc., P.O. Box 41146, San Jose, CA 95160.

Museum info

• 190000, St.Petersburg # 47 Bol'shaya Morskaya

The museum is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Monday.

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  Model of Nabokov's House

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  Butterflies drawn by Nabokov for his wife

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  Butterflies collected by Nabokov on his book The other shores

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  Butterflies collected by Nabokov

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  Samizdat books by Nabokov made in Russia

References

• Booklet Saint Petersburg Museum of V. V. Nabokov
• Website of the museum

Coordinates: 59°55′55″N 30°18′18″E / 59.9319°N 30.3049°E / 59.9319; 30.3049