Vladimir Nabokov Museum is located in the former Nabokov family mansion. Born in this house in 1899, Vladimir Nabokov lived here for 18 years, until his family was forced into exile in 1917.
The house on Bol’shaya Morskaya forms the setting for many of Nabokov’s novels; it is especially apparent in his autobiography, Speak, Memory. According to Nabokov, the house always remained his “only home in the world”: he never acquired a permanent home abroad.
The Museum opened an April, 1998. It is one of the youngest literary museums in St. Petersburg. It occupies the first floor of the Nabokov House. In the past, it was the “family floor”, where a dining-room, a sitting-room, a library, a committee room and a kitchen were located. There are two more floors in the house, but they are occupied by the offices of a local newspaper, Nevskoye Vremya.
Very little has remained from the Nabokovs’ family life. Time and history spared nothing, except the interiors of several rooms on the first and second floors of the building, the old stained glass window above the flight of stairs leading to the third floor. But the Museum Collection keeps growing – thanks to donations from people who love Nabokov and care about preserving his memory.
Nabokov Museum is a non-profit organization and not supported by the State, which is unique for Russia. Supported by various sponsors, corporate and private donors, and cultural foundations, Nabokov Museum is gaining a reputation as both a traditional literary museum and an actively developing cultural center.
Vladimir Nabokov Museum is located in the former Nabokov family mansion. Born in this house in 1899, Vladimir Nabokov lived here for 18 years, until his family was forced into exile in 1917.