He was born under the Julian calendar on April 10, 1899. At the time
this would have been April 22 by the Gregorian calendar, and this is
often quoted as his birthday. But Russia remained on the Julian
calendar until 1918, by which time the Gregorian date equivalent to
April 10 had shifted to April 23 -- the date that Nabokov actually
celebrated. Nabokov was pleased that this change allowed him to share a
birthday with
William Shakespeare.