Princess Dashkova

Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova
Portrait of Vorontsova-Dashkova by Dmitry Levitsky (1784)
Born	Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova (1743-03-28)28 March 1743 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	15 January 1810(1810-01-15) (aged 66) Moscow, Russian Empire
Spouse(s)	Prince Mikhail Dashkov
Parent(s)	Roman Vorontsov

Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova (Russian: Екатери́на Рома́новна Воронцо́ва-Да́шкова; 28 March [17 March O.S.] 1743 – 15 January [4 January O.S.] 1810) was the closest female friend of Empress Catherine the Great and a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment.

Born Countess Yekaterina Vorontsova, she was the third daughter of Count Roman Vorontsov, a member of the Senate, and was distinguished for her intellectual gifts. Her uncle Mikhail Illarionovich and brother Alexander Romanovich both served as Imperial Chancellors, while her brother Semyon was Russian ambassador to Great Britain, and a celebrated Anglophile. She received an exceptionally good education, having displayed from a very early age the abilities and tastes which made her whole career so singular. She was well versed in mathematics, which she studied at the University of Moscow. In general literature, her favorite authors were Bayle, Montesquieu, Boileau, Voltaire and Helvétius.

While still a girl, she was connected with the Russian court, and became one of the leaders of the party that attached itself to the Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeyevna.