The first lecture in the series about Vladimir Nabokov will connect the biography, key texts, and personal interests of the writer. Listeners will see how his Petersburg childhood, emigration, family, butterflies, chess, and teaching come together in a pattern of fate and change the perspective on his books. The format will suit those who have long read Nabokov and those who are just discovering him. Vladimir Nabokov often seems to be an almost mythical figure: some remember his scandalous novels, others - his butterfly collections, and others - complex chess problems. In the lecture at the library, you will see a living person behind the legend, learn how his fate was broken and rebuilt, how languages and countries changed, but his inner freedom and keen attention to detail remained. The conversation will start with the childhood and youth of the future writer. The streets of Petersburg, family estates, a rich library, and brilliant parents shaped his taste for words and sense of play, without which it is impossible to imagine his prose. Then - revolution and emigration: studying at Cambridge, years in Berlin and France, moving to the USA, and then returning to Europe. These stages are not just changes of address, but a series of trials from which a special worldview emerges. A separate block will meet lovers of philological details. The speaker will analyze how key books are structured, how Nabokov hides clues in the text, plays with the reader, encrypts motifs and autobiographical details. Alongside will be topics that usually seem secondary: butterflies, chess, crosswords. Examples will show how hobbies turn into a system of images and help to understand his prose more deeply. It is also important that the discussion will touch on family and teaching work. The story of the marriage, Vera's support, the professor's daily life, lectures on Russian literature for students from different countries - all this forms a complete portrait of a person who did not abandon his language and roots, even while living far from Russia. Nabokov scholar Yulia Reutova will gather facts, letters, and plots into a coherent narrative accessible to those who are just beginning to get acquainted with the writer.