--- title: Who Is Vladimir Dal? Why Google Honors Him With a Doodle description: Vladimir Dal wore a lot of hats and dabbled in many careers canonical: https://time.com/5034525/google-doodle-vladimir-dal-russia/ author: Laignee Barron article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-22T06:13:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T00:07:14.000Z og:title: Why Google Doodle Is Celebrating a Russian Scribe's Birthday og:description: Vladimir Dal traveled the Russian countryside and wrote a dictionary og:url: https://time.com/5034525/google-doodle-vladimir-dal-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0906e6e72691f5d6/6988e6b47cdbac440fd5afa0/vladimir-dals-216th-birthday-5162782184964096-2xa.gif?branch=production&width=711&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 711 og:image:height: 400 og:image:alt: vladimir-dals-216th-birthday-5162782184964096-2xa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Google Doodle Is Celebrating a Russian Scribe's Birthday twitter:description: Vladimir Dal traveled the Russian countryside and wrote a dictionary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0906e6e72691f5d6/6988e6b47cdbac440fd5afa0/vladimir-dals-216th-birthday-5162782184964096-2xa.gif?branch=production&width=711&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Who Is Vladimir Dal? Why Google Is Celebrating the Scholar With a Doodle > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:07 AM UTCPublished: Nov 22, 2017 6:13 AM UTC  Google's November 22, 2017 Doodle celebrates the lifework of Russian lexicographer Vladimir Dal. Google's November 22, 2017 Doodle celebrates the lifework of Russian lexicographer Vladimir Dal. Google by [Laignee Barron](https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:07 AM UTCPublished: Nov 22, 2017 6:13 AM UTC Vladimir Dal wore a lot of hats and dabbled in many careers, from a stint in the Russian Navy, to practicing medicine, to writing fairytales. But the Russian scholar is perhaps best remembered for capturing the richness and depth of the Russian language in his four-volume magnum opus _Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language._ The encyclopedic work contains more than 200,000 Russian words and 30,000 Russian sayings. In commemoration of what would have been the 216th birthday of the great Russian lexicographer, or word scholar, Google’s Doodle team put together [a slideshow](https://www.google.com/doodles/vladimir-dals-216th-birthday) depicting Dal’s tireless travels through Russia. Dal was born on Nov. 22, 1801, in what is now modern-day Ukraine. He grew up among a family of linguists and scholars, where speaking five or more languages was not out of the ordinary. After retiring from his work as a military doctor, including time on the front lines during the Russo-Turkish War, Dal spent years scouring Russia’s countryside, collecting verbal histories, traditions, proverbs and unique phrases in all different dialects. His travels and notes served as the underpinning for his expansive dictionary. Dal’s dictionary was considered so instrumental that novelist Vladimir Nabokov said he [resolved to read](https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=8C2iAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286&lpg=PA286&dq=nabokov+on+vladimir+dal&source=bl&ots=ehCBWZEL6N&sig=8IPJex%5F0UzRzxr%5FZAzyQRFs6hsY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg4NDbndHXAhWKuY8KHcJeDfE4ChDoAQglMAA#v=onepage&q=nabokov%20on%20vladimir%20dal&f=false) ten pages of it every night while in university. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5034525/google-doodle-vladimir-dal-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5034525/google-doodle-vladimir-dal-russia/"},"headline":"Who Is Vladimir Dal? 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