- Nabokov lets us know that he has a scrapbook of various family documents, that remained out of his hands between 1939 and 1961. Regaining its possession means that he can finally tell a proper story of his father.
- Vladimir Dmitirievich Nabokov, a writer and "jurist" (read: law expert), was born on July 20, 1870, in St. Petersburg, and was assassinated on March 28, 1922 in Berlin.
- In early life, he was educated at home, but when he was thirteen, was sent to what the Russians called a "Gymnasium" ("to a combination of American "high school" and "junior college." (9.1.2)
- He was a driven student, and once tried to catch a cold by sitting in front of an open window in winter, to stay home ill rather than be unprepared for school the next day. It didn't work, but the teacher was out sick, so it was all okay after all.
- At 16, he graduated with honors and went on to study law at St. Petersburg University, graduating in 1921, continuing his studies in Germany after.
- Nabokov notes: an old schoolmate of his father would send his widowed mother the book he had carried when they took a bicycle trip through the Black Forest. It was Madame Bovary.
- On November 14, 1897, he marries Nabokov's mother, with whom he'd have six children, though one was stillborn. One of these children would be Vladimir.
- In 1895 through 1904, he acts as a "Junior Gentleman of the Chamber" and lectures at the university, and everything goes along swimmingly until he publishes an essay against the police involvement in 1905 pogroms. He does so without the permission of the government, and his title is taken away.
- After that, he makes it his business to be active politically, even as it endangers his life.
- After the essay's publication, he becomes a liberal newspaper editor and is a member of the People's Freedom party (an anti-Tsarist group).
- He becomes a member of a liberal parliament, and speaks nationally about government policy.
- The Parliament publishes a manifesto when the Tsar rule dissolves, and later, in 1906, he is jailed for three months for his involvement.
- From solitary, he writes the family letters, asking after Vladimir's butterfly specimens, reporting there are only common types in the jail yard.
- After jail, he continues to work with liberal, activist media but was never part of on-the-ground activity during revolutionary upheavals in 1917.
- Nabokov reflects: though his father could have been a truly great leader, sociopolitical circumstances seem to have prevented him from ever doing so.
- Throughout the November Revolution, he was installed as an Executive Secretary in the Council of Ministers, but then arrested by Lenin's Bolsheviks upon its dissolution. (History check: though Nabokov calls Lenin's revolution in 1917 "the November Revolution," it's now more popularly called "the October Revolution." In fact, it started in later October and continued through the first week of November. Go figure.)
- Though he was arrested, chaos on the ground made it easy for him to escape to Crimea where the rest of the family was waiting.
- After this, for a couple of years, he served in regional government, but it wasn't long before the family went into voluntary exile, to London and Berlin. (More about this, later.)
- During the rest of his life, he remained active, writing and making speeches throughout Europe.
- Nabokov laments: though his father was a direct, clear speaker, who was always prepared, long-winded Vladimir always needs something in front him when talking in public.
- Nabokov has read many of his father's writings, but notes that there are so many, it's impossible that he could list them all in this book.
- Just prior to his assassination, an émigré newspaper had started to published more personal writings, reflections about his early life.
- "(he and I are overlapping now—too briefly)," Nabokov writes—he is not the only one who has become investing in remembering childhood on the page. Perhaps this is what he's inherited. (9.1.7)