--- description: Photos made in Ithaca, New York, in 1958 illustrate the great writer's obsession with the colorful order Lepidoptera. title: Vladimir Nabokov and His Butterflies: Portrait of a Lepidopterist image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09d0dbf64e9c463e/698849d25f570f817db1ad6e/01_00919669.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Authors](/tag/authors/) ## Authors Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Vlad the (Insect) Impaler: LIFE With Nabokov and His Butterflies by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 12, 2013 7:17 PM CUT  Vladimir Nabokov looks at a butterfly, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Vladimir Nabokov looks at a butterfly, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958.Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 12, 2013 7:17 PM CUT On anyone’s list of the 20th century’s greatest writers never to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, [Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/401299/Vladimir-Nabokov "undefined") will likely appear at, or very near, the top. Of course, one can point to any number of literary masters — Graham Greene, Borges, Ibsen and others — who were, inexplicably, passed over for the honor. But the exclusion of Nabokov is especially strange — and, for his countless admirers, especially vexing — in light of the sustained excellence of the novels (those written in Russian as well as in English), stories, poems and nonfiction that he produced across five full decades. The scope of his influence, meanwhile, can hardly be overstated. Jhumpa Lahiri, Jeffrey Eugenides, Don DeLillo, Salman Rushdie, Michael Chabon, [Thomas Pynchon](http://pynchonwiki.com/ "undefined") — the roster of prominent (and even a few genuinely great) writers whose work echoes or pays direct tribute to Nabokov’s genius is as long as it is varied. But another passion long battled with his love of writing for preeminence in Nabokov’s life: namely, the study and collection of butterflies. In a November 1964 article titled “The Master of Versatility,” LIFE took pains to remind its readers that Nabokov — by that time an internationally celebrated novelist, translator and teacher — was “much more than a many-tongued writer: Lepidoptera are butterflies and moths, and Nabokov is one of the world’s authorities on them.” Here, LIFE.com presents a series of pictures — made in and around Ithaca, N.Y., in 1958 by LIFE’s Carl Mydans — that illustrate the man’s obsession with the colorful flying insects. Born in Russia in 1899, Nabokov fled the Revolution at 17, studied at Cambridge, and went on to teach literature in the United States. (He became a naturalized American citizen in 1945.) In 1964, he was living in Montreux, Switzerland — “writing,” LIFE noted in the 1964 article, “chasing butterflies and making brilliant conversation.” Here, in exactly the sort of sharp, amusing and cheerfully acerbic language one might expect from the author of _Lolita_, _Pnin_, _Pale Fire_ and _Bend Sinister_, are just some of the remarks on life, art and, of course, butterflies that Nabokov shared with LIFE’s Jane Howard: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- One final note, this time on the pronunciation of Nabokov’s name. In a 1965 interview, Nabokov himself said: “Frenchmen of course say ‘Na-bo-_koff_‘ with the accent on the last syllable. Englishmen say ‘_Na_\-bokov,’ accent on the first, and Italians say Na-_bo_\-kov, accent in the middle, as Russians do … \[with\] a heavy open ‘o’ as in ‘Knickerbocker.’ The awful ‘Na-bah-kov’ is a despicable gutterism…. Incidentally, the first name is pronounced _Vladeemer_ — rhyming with ‘redeemer.'” There. Aren’t you glad we cleared that up? _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Vladimir Nabokov looks at a butterfly, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera chase butterflies near Six Mile Creek, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov hunts butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov hunts butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov hunts butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vera Nabokov, wife of Vladimir Nabokov, with a butterfly net, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov hunts butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov puts a butterfly into an envelope, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov and butterfly, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov and collection of butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Vladimir Nabokov mounting his butterflies, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Part of Vladimir Nabokov's butterfly collection, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958. Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3876664/vladimir-nabokov-and-his-butterflies-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3876664/vladimir-nabokov-and-his-butterflies-photos/"},"headline":"Vlad the (Insect) Impaler: LIFE With Nabokov and His Butterflies","datePublished":"2013-04-12T19:17:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:53.097Z","description":"LIFE.com presents a series of photos made in Ithaca, New York, in 1958 that illustrate the great writer's obsession with the colorful order Lepidoptera.","url":"https://time.com/3876664/vladimir-nabokov-and-his-butterflies-photos/","keywords":["Authors","photography","Switzerland","Literature","1964","Carl Mydans","1958"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09d0dbf64e9c463e/698849d25f570f817db1ad6e/01_00919669.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09d0dbf64e9c463e/698849d25f570f817db1ad6e/01_00919669.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vladimir Nabokov 1958","caption":"Vladimir Nabokov looks at a butterfly, Ithaca, N.Y., 1958.","creditText":"Carl Mydans—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/authors/","name":"Authors"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3876664/vladimir-nabokov-and-his-butterflies-photos/","name":"Vlad the (Insect) Impaler: LIFE With Nabokov and His Butterflies"}}]}] ```