Summary

Nabokov outlines his family history in Chapter 3 starting with his father’s side of the family. His paternal grandmother was German and his paternal grandfather was Russian. His father is from a very political family with many famous uncles. Likewise, Nabokov’s father was a political liberal in Russian politics—as wells as a famous lawyer and journalist. After he compiles an exhaustive list of his father’s relatives, he then follows his maternal lineage.

His mother’s brother, his Uncle Ruka, owned a home next door to Nabokov’s family’s country house. He recalls as a child the affectations from his Uncle Ruka and the clattering of horse hooves of his uncle’s carriage as it came down the road. His uncle was a wealthy diplomat who favored Nabokov and when he died, left him an inheritance and estate worth over a...