Portrait of Princess Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova (1743–1810),
upper left the Vorontsov-Dashkov alliance coat of arms,
oil on canvas, 91 x 73.5 cm, framed

Princess Dashkova, depicted here, was one of the most important figures in the court of Tsarina Catherine II. As the daughter of Count Roman Larionovich Vorontsov, she belonged to one of the most influential aristocratic Russian families. She became known for her sparkling intelligence early on. She received an exceptionally comprehensive education and studied mathematics at the Moscow State University. In 1759 Yekaterina was wed to Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Dashkov, alhtough he died soon after in 1764. In 1762 she played a leading role in the coup to which Tsar Peter II fell victim. Subsequently, the princess became one of the closest friends of the new Tsarina, Catherine II. This friendly relationship soon came to an end, as she did not approve of the Tsarina’s alternating lovers and her entourage. Nevertheless she remained a loyal supported of the Tsarina. In 1768 the princess left Russia with imperial authorisation in order to travel extensively through Europe. She settled in Paris where, thanks to her scientific and literary reputation, she quickly came into contact with the Enlightenment circles of Diderot and Voltaire. From France she travelled, as she was always an Anglophile, to England and Scotland. From 1777 to 1779 she lived in Edinburgh. In 1781 the princess met Benjamin Franklin in Paris. He invited her to become the first female member of the American Philosophical Society. The extensive correspondence between the two is among the most significant exchanges of letters in the age of the Enlightenment.

In 1782 Princess Dashkova returned to Russia, where the Tsarina received her amicably. Immediately after her return, she was appointed Director of the Imperial Academy of Arts and Sciences. The princess was the first woman at the head of such an academy. She succeeded in restoring the respectability of the institution. In 1784 she became the president of the newly created Russian Academy, which worked to publish a six-volume dictionary of the Russian language. The princess was an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as early as 1783. Shortly before the death of the Tsarina, a rift developed between the two women. Catherine accused the princess of allowing the Academy to publish a tragedy full of revolutionary principles. After Catherine’s death, the new Tsar Paul I stripped Princess Dashkova, whom he held partly responsible for the murder of his father, of all her administrative offices. She had to retreat to her country estate near Moscow, where she died in 1810.