Biography
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Набо́ков, pronounced [vlʌˈdʲimʲɪr nʌ'bokəf]) (April 22, 1899 [O.S. April 10], Saint Petersburg – July 2, 1977, Montreux) was a Russian-American author. He wrote his first literary works in Russian, but rose to international prominence as a masterly prose stylist for the novels he composed in English. He is also noted for having made significant contributions to lepidoptery and created a number of chess problems.
Nabokov's Lolita (1955) is frequently cited as one of the most important novels of the 20th century. It is his best-known work in English, probably followed by the singularly structured Pale Fire (1962). Both of these works exhibit Nabokov's love of wordplay and descriptive detail.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.