An autographed postcard by writer Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov is an outstanding writer, poet, translator and literary critic who has left a significant mark on world culture. He was born in 1899 in St. Petersburg into an aristocratic family. After the revolution, he emigrated, living in Germany, France, and then in the USA and Switzerland. He is best known for his works such as Lolita, The Protection of Luzhin, The Gift, and Ada, which are distinguished by their refined style, complex structure, and wordplay. In addition to his literary work, Nabokov was a passionate entomologist who devoted years to the study of butterflies and made contributions to lepidopterology.

In 1945, Nabokov proposed a revolutionary hypothesis about the migration of blue butterflies (Lycaenidae) in South America. Decades later, genetic research confirmed his assumptions, proving that the intuitive writer was right, despite his lack of modern methods of analysis. This case was one of the rare examples when a writer got ahead of science.