Véra Nabokov
| Véra Nabokov | |
|---|---|
Véra and Vladimir Nabokov, Montreux, 1969
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| Native name | Вера Евсеевна Набокова |
| Born |
Vera Yevseyevna Slonim 5 January 1902 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 7 April 1991 (aged 89) Vevey, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Editor, translator |
| Spouse(s) | Vladimir Nabokov |
| Children | Dmitri Nabokov |
Véra Nabokov (Russian: Ве́ра Евсе́евна Набо́кова; 5 January 1902 – 7 April 1991) was the wife, editor, and translator of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, and a source of inspiration for many of his works.
Born Vera Yevseyevna Slonim in Saint Petersburg into a Jewish family, the second of three daughters born to Slava Borisovna (née Feigin) and Yevsey Lazarevich Slonim. Yevsey was a lawyer, and successful in the tile and timber businesses, among others. With the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution, the family moved to Moscow, and after fleeing through Kiev, Odessa, Istanbul, and Sofia, arrived in Berlin, where they joined the large Russian émigré population.
In Berlin, Yevsey Slonim co-founded a publishing firm, Orbis, and Véra worked in the office. Vladimir Nabokov, who was considering translating Dostoyevsky into English, met Véra's father at the office and they played chess. Véra admired Vladimir's poetry, which was well-known through émigré publications, and went to his readings.
The details of the first meeting between Véra and Vladimir are uncertain; he maintained it was at a charity ball on 8 (or 9) May 1923, but she denied this story. Sometime after that date, the two had a long conversation overlooking a canal, at which Véra wore a mask and recited Vladimir's poetry. At the time, he was using the pen name "Vladimir Sirin" (Владимир Сирин).
Although it was then unusual for a Russian aristocrat to marry into a Jewish family, Nabokov had no issue with it. His father, Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov, was a prominent opponent of anti-semitism in Tsarist Russia and wrote articles deploring the Kishinev pogrom. Vladimir Dmitrievich was killed in 1922 in Berlin, during an assassination attempt on the life of politician Pavel Milyukov.
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