Russian emigres draws upon a very distinct Russian tradition of intellectuals in exile. Both the Russian Empire and Soviet Union had many exiles, both inside the empire and outside it. Many of those that left voluntarily early in their lives, including Vladimir Nabokov, Boris Pasternak, and Ayn Rand, reflected the sentiments of those that were later forced into political exile, which include Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn and Sakhalov. Some, like Nabokov and Solzhenitsyn, are considered among the best Russian writers in Russian history and are almost universally read at home. Others, like Rand, are still virtually unheard of outside their adopted countries. The idea of separation from Russia is ingrained in the Russian culture, as Dostoyevsky, Lenin and so many others were at one point in exile. In this work I will primarily address Nabokov's cohort of Russian emigres to Europe and America.

Nabokov was a native of Saint Petersburg, which at...
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