Subject
Origin of name Humbert Humbert (fwd)
Date
Body
From: ILYITCHEV EUGENE <eugen@dialup.ptt.ru>
To: "NABOKV-L-request@UCSBVM.ucsb.edu" <NABOKV-L-request@UCSBVM.ucsb.edu>
Subject: Humbert Humbert (fwd)
Andrew Wise <awise@daemen.edu> on Mon, 2 Mar 1998 proposed a possible
origin for the name "Humbert Humbert". He writes:
"The Pushkin/Mickiewicz scholar Waclaw Lednicki mentions in his memoirs
that when he was a boy in Moscow he had a governess named Humbert, and
recalls that she was constantly being asked about her relationship to
the "scandalous Humberts." (Apparently, she was not connected to those
persons.) There was in fact a scandal involving some Humberts in France
or Switzerland (the specific country eludes me right now) around the
turn of the century. Some superficial research indicates that the
scandal, which appears to have involved bank fraud, was well-covered in
the Western press. I have not, however, looked for coverage in the
Russian press. Anecdotal evidence from Lednicki's memoirs suggests,
however, that the name "Humbert" was recognized in certain circles in
Russia as one associated with disgrace."
I doubt that there is any connection between Nabokov's hero and the
scandalous family. Lednicki remembered the case because his governess'
name was Humbert. I can't imagine for Nabokov the reason for remembering
it.
Here is some evidence I managed to "dig out" of sources available to me:
In one of his interviews from "Strong Opinions"(McGraw-Hill,1973) VN
says that duplicated boom of this name carries much infamy and hint as
well. He characterizes it as a villainous name for a villainous person.
Also, it is a princely name, says Nabokov, and he needed a princely name
for depicting Humbert-the-Truculent and Humbert-the-Coward. It was
noteworthy for Nabokov that this name could also be used in puns.
Diminutival "Hum", according to VN , lies on the same level, emotional
and cultural, as diminutival "Low", as Lolita's mother called her.
A Russian critic A.Dolinin assumed the following semantic associations
with Humbert's name. The first one is with the Old Testament Ham, Noah's
son, who made fun of his father; another - with
the latin word "umbra"(shadow); and also it can be associated with the
English words "hummingbird" and "humbug".
Eugene Ilyitchev, Moscow
E-mail: eugen@dialup.ptt.ru
To: "NABOKV-L-request@UCSBVM.ucsb.edu" <NABOKV-L-request@UCSBVM.ucsb.edu>
Subject: Humbert Humbert (fwd)
Andrew Wise <awise@daemen.edu> on Mon, 2 Mar 1998 proposed a possible
origin for the name "Humbert Humbert". He writes:
"The Pushkin/Mickiewicz scholar Waclaw Lednicki mentions in his memoirs
that when he was a boy in Moscow he had a governess named Humbert, and
recalls that she was constantly being asked about her relationship to
the "scandalous Humberts." (Apparently, she was not connected to those
persons.) There was in fact a scandal involving some Humberts in France
or Switzerland (the specific country eludes me right now) around the
turn of the century. Some superficial research indicates that the
scandal, which appears to have involved bank fraud, was well-covered in
the Western press. I have not, however, looked for coverage in the
Russian press. Anecdotal evidence from Lednicki's memoirs suggests,
however, that the name "Humbert" was recognized in certain circles in
Russia as one associated with disgrace."
I doubt that there is any connection between Nabokov's hero and the
scandalous family. Lednicki remembered the case because his governess'
name was Humbert. I can't imagine for Nabokov the reason for remembering
it.
Here is some evidence I managed to "dig out" of sources available to me:
In one of his interviews from "Strong Opinions"(McGraw-Hill,1973) VN
says that duplicated boom of this name carries much infamy and hint as
well. He characterizes it as a villainous name for a villainous person.
Also, it is a princely name, says Nabokov, and he needed a princely name
for depicting Humbert-the-Truculent and Humbert-the-Coward. It was
noteworthy for Nabokov that this name could also be used in puns.
Diminutival "Hum", according to VN , lies on the same level, emotional
and cultural, as diminutival "Low", as Lolita's mother called her.
A Russian critic A.Dolinin assumed the following semantic associations
with Humbert's name. The first one is with the Old Testament Ham, Noah's
son, who made fun of his father; another - with
the latin word "umbra"(shadow); and also it can be associated with the
English words "hummingbird" and "humbug".
Eugene Ilyitchev, Moscow
E-mail: eugen@dialup.ptt.ru