Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov was born on July 8 (20), 1869, in Tsarskoye Selo, Saint Petersburg Province, and died on March 28, 1922, in Berlin. He was a Russian lawyer, politician, journalist, and publicist, as well as one of the leaders of the Constitutional Democratic Party. His son was the famous writer V. V. Nabokov.

Vladimir was the son of Justice Minister Dmitry Nikolaevich Nabokov and Baroness Maria Ferdinandovna von Korf. In 1883, he began his studies at the 3rd Saint Petersburg Gymnasium and graduated with a gold medal in 1887. He then enrolled in the law faculty of Saint Petersburg University. In 1890, he was arrested for participating in student unrest, but in 1891 he graduated from the university and went to Germany, to the University of Halle, to prepare in the field of criminal law. In 1894, he began working in the State Chancellery, and from 1895 he became a chamber junker. From 1896, he taught criminal law at the Imperial School of Jurisprudence and held the title of professor. He wrote a number of scientific works on criminal law.

In 1906, Nabokov was elected a member of the I State Duma from Saint Petersburg and spoke on its podium twenty-eight times. One of his famous speeches was delivered on May 13, 1906, when he challenged the government, stating that the executive power must be subordinate to the legislative.

After the dissolution of the I Duma, he signed the Vyborg Manifesto, for which he was sentenced to three months in prison, which he served from May 14 (27) to August 12 (25), 1908.

From November 15, 1918, Nabokov held the position of Minister of Justice of the Second Crimean Regional Government. In 1919, he emigrated with his family, lived for some time in London and Paris, and in 1920 moved to Berlin. In England, he, along with P. N. Milyukov, published the magazine 'The New Russia' in English.

Nabokov died as a result of an assassination attempt by monarchist emigrants on P. N. Milyukov. Two terrorists tried to kill Milyukov. The first, Pyotr Shabelsky-Bork, missed, and Nabokov along with A. I. Kaminka captured him. While Nabokov held the terrorist, the second, S. V. Taboritsky, shot him three times in the back, trying to free his accomplice. After his death, several writers, including Bunin, Kuprin, and Merezhkovsky, wrote obituaries.

Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov is buried at the Russian cemetery in Tegel, Berlin.