Favorites and favoritism of Catherine II. All favorites of Catherine II the Great

Catherine II had several favorites, friends and confidantes to whom she could entrust her most intimate problems and experiences: Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina, Anna Stepanovna Protasova and Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina. However, there were also such favorites to whom she trusted not her intimate experiences, but affairs of state importance, and their names were Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova and Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya. At court, they were not called favorites, but they were precisely the favorites: in their position they were the closest circle of Catherine II. The first, beloved confidantes, in addition to intimate problems related to Catherine's favorites, were also entrusted with matters relating to the career advancement of court officials and various petitioners, which brought them a good income. In addition, they received from the Empress various benefits, benefits and assistance in the form of paying off debts, money for buying or repairing a house, and for other needs. Their relatives also received financial assistance (for weddings, christenings, the purchase of housing, etc.), as well as those for whom the favorite asked the empress.

As already mentioned, among the confidantes-girlfriends of Catherine II, the most trusted were: Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina (1730–1820), Anna Stepanovna Protasova (1745–1826) and Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina (1739–1824). Let's start with the last one.

Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina (1739-1824) was physically the closest and therefore the confidant of Catherine II. She first served in the rank of chamberlain at the rooms of the empress, was responsible, like a mother with a child, for dressing her in the morning and putting her to bed in the evening, for introducing favorites into the chambers of the empress, for the most intimate natural procedures. Until the end of the life of Catherine II, she was devoted and faithful to her, and after her death she never revealed the secrets of her former mistress to anyone.

It is known that she was a noblewoman from a very poor family who had a small estate in the Ryazan province. But it is not known exactly how she got into the palace, into the chambers of the empress herself. According to rumors, she received the position of chamberlain on the recommendation of Grigory Potemkin, who was then the favorite of Catherine II. Potemkin became a favorite of Catherine II in 1774 and remained her lover (and according to one version, her husband) until 1776. Following the rumors, we can say that it was during this period that Marya Savvishna appeared in the palace. At that time, she should have been 35 years old, which in itself was already too late for admission to the palace for the position of chamberlain. However, there is news, more like the truth, that in the 60s Catherine baptized the niece of Maria Savvishna - Catherine. And this means that Grigory was indeed the favorite at that time, but not Potemkin, but Orlov, so the Orlovs, apparently, made up her patronage. In the 60s, Marya Savvishna was 25–26 years old. She was 10 years younger than Catherine II. It is possible that she appeared in the chambers not of the Empress, but of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, and not in the 60s, but in the 50s of the 18th century, when she was still a young girl.

“Savvishna,” as the empress called her, remained with the empress all these years, she only had the one granted, that is, in modern terms, the “exclusive right” to appear in the empress’s bedroom at the first call, look after her in intimate matters, help dress her, comb her hair. Over time, this work began to be done by others, but Savvishna was always present as a manager during the toilet, dressing, combing the empress, during morning audiences.

The rooms of Marya Savvishna were located in the immediate vicinity of the chambers of Catherine II, so that the dignitaries who came to the audience were waiting for their turn in the room of Marya Savvishna, and these were: the tutor of the Grand Duke N.I. Panin, the famous poet and secretary of state G.R. Derzhavin, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences E. R. Dashkova, Secretary of State A. V. Khrapovitsky, Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod of the National Academy of Sciences. Protasov, honored generals and admirals. They all understood how important Perekusikhina's word to the Empress was for their affairs, and Savvishna constantly accepted gifts from visitors of such a high rank.

Catherine II completely trusted her Savvishna and her personal affairs, including love affairs, consulted with her on everyday issues, found out her opinion regarding this or that court nobleman or favorite candidate.

She transferred Perekusikhina from the camera-jungfer to the chamber-maid of honor, but these changes had almost no effect on the position of “Savvishna” at court: she continued to stay at the empress’s rooms, faithfully serving her and performing all the same duties. In addition to household chores, Perekusikhina accompanied her mistress during her daily walks, on pilgrimage trips, long journeys, always being there, ready to help her at any moment of the day or night.

Marya Savvishna was a simple, poorly educated, but very intelligent woman, extremely sincere and devoted. She loved her patroness, her empress, her mistress selflessly, completely devoting her life to her and remaining an old maid. Once Ekaterina gave Savvishna an expensive ring with her portrait and at the same time said, as if in jest: “Here is your fiancé, whom, I am sure, you will never change.” And since then she began to call herself her fiancé. And indeed, Perekusikhina never cheated on this "fiance", even after his death.

In the 19th century, many anecdotes were published about Catherine II, characterizing her as a wise ruler of the Russian Empire, as a kind person, intelligent and fair, distinguished by the simplicity of communication not only with those close to her, but also with strangers. In some anecdotes, Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina was also mentioned. Here is one of them: “Once Catherine was sitting in the Tsarskoye Selo garden on a bench with her beloved chamberlain, M. S. Perekusikhina. A Petersburg dandy passing by, not recognizing the Empress, looked at her rather insolently, did not take off his hat and, whistling, continued his walk.

Do you know, - said the empress, - how annoying I am with this rascal? I'm able to stop him and soap his head.

After all, he did not recognize you, mother, ”Perekusikhina objected.

Yes, I’m not talking about this: of course, I didn’t find out; but you and I are dressed decently, also with a galunchik, dapper, so he was obliged to have respect for us, as ladies. However, - Catherine added, laughing, - I must tell the truth, we are outdated with you, Marya Savvishna, and if we were younger, he would bow to us too ”(Features of Catherine the Great. St. Petersburg, 1819).

For herself personally, Marya Savvishna never asked Catherine for anything, quite pleased with her position, but she did not forget her family. Her brother, Vasily Savvich Perekusikhin, became a senator at her request, and her niece E. V. Torsukova and her husband received a place at yard and became very rich.

On November 5, 1796, when Catherine had a stroke, Savvishna was the first to find her unconscious in the toilet room and the first, after the shock, pulled herself together and began to beg the confused Zubov to bleed her, as happened before. Perhaps this managed to save the life of the Empress at least for a while. But Zubov did not allow to bleed without Dr. Rogers, who at that time had left somewhere, did not allow. When Dr. Rogers arrived an hour later and wanted to bleed the Empress, it was already too late: the blood did not go.

Paul I, who did not love everyone who faithfully served Catherine, including Marya Savvishna, took the reins of government into his own hands, first of all dismissed Perekusikhina from the court. However, wanting to show himself honest and fair, he appointed her a good pension from the Cabinet of His Majesty in the amount of 1200 rubles a year, granted her 4517 acres of land in the Ryazan province, and in St. Petersburg a house bought by the treasury from the banker Sutherland.

After the death of her beloved empress, Marya Savvishna lived for another 28 years. She died in St. Petersburg on August 8, 1824 at the age of 85 and was buried at the Lazarevsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The same selflessly devoted favorite of Catherine II was Anna Stepanovna Protasova (1745–1826), daughter of Stepan Fedorovich Protasov, who became a senator in 1763, and his second wife Anisiya Nikitichna Orlova, cousin of the Orlov brothers.

Catherine II enrolled the 17-year-old noblewoman Protasova in the court staff as a maid of honor of the Highest Court on the recommendation of her favorite Grigory Orlov. Apparently, this happened in 1763, when, through the intercession of the same Grigory Orlov, her father Stepan Fedorovich Protasov became a privy councilor and senator.

Anna Protasova, like Marya Savvishna Perekusikhina, devoted her whole life to the Empress Empress, remaining an old maid. She was ugly, even bad-looking, and besides, she was not rich. She was considered a girl until the end of her days, although the courtiers of both the large and small courts were well aware of her real participation in the examination of candidates for favorites in terms of their male fitness.

There were cases when court cavaliers began courting her, but, unfortunately, it was quickly discovered that the purpose of this courtship was to enlist her support at court and take advantage of her closeness to the empress. Anna Stepanovna was 16 years younger than Catherine II, but her external unattractiveness only set off the charms of the empress.

In 1784, when the age of Protasova approached 40 years, Catherine granted her to the chamber-maids of honor of the Imperial Court with the “richest portrait” of the Empress, that is, with a portrait richly strewn with diamonds, which Protasova was very proud of. The appearance of Anna Stepanovna has survived to this day: by order of the Empress, the French artist Jean Louis Veil painted a portrait of Anna Stepanovna Protasova, depicting her, apparently, somewhat embellished, but most importantly - with this "richest portrait" pinned to the dress on a blue moire bow on the left side chest, shoulder.

As a chambermaid of the Imperial Court, Protasova acquired the right to monitor the behavior of the ladies-in-waiting, give them instructions, and manage a whole staff of chamber-pages. She began to receive higher salaries, live in more comfortable apartments located near the empress’s chambers, use the table “from the empress’s kitchen”, dine with the empress almost every day on the “gilded service”, sometimes serve her in the bedroom.

As a favorite of Catherine II, Anna Protasova had a lot of weight at court: they fawned over her, they looked for support from her, but they were afraid of her. However, most often she was approached for support, especially by her relatives, even those who were distantly related. So, for example, there was such a historical anecdote:

“Before the accession of Paul, the Annensky Order, established by the son-in-law of Peter the Great, the Duke of Holstein Friedrich-Karl, was not considered among the Russians. Although Pavel Petrovich, when he was the Grand Duke, signed all the letters for the award of the Annensky Order as the Duke of Holstein, the latter was given only to those persons who were appointed by Empress Catherine II. The Grand Duke really wanted some of his associates to wear the Annensky Cross, but the Empress did not give them this order.

Finally, the Grand Duke came up with the following trick. Having ordered two small Annensky crosses with screws, he called to himself two of his favorites, Rostopchin and Svechin, and said to them:

I welcome you both Annensky cavaliers; take these crosses and screw them to the swords, only on the back cup, so that the empress cannot see.

Svechin screwed on the cross with the greatest fear, and Rostopchin considered it more prudent to warn his relative, Anna Stepanovna Protasova, who enjoyed a special favor with the Empress, about this.

Protasova promised him to talk to Catherine and find out her opinion. Indeed, having chosen a convenient moment when the empress was in a cheerful mood, she informed her about the tricks of the heir and said that Rostopchin was afraid to wear the order and at the same time was afraid to offend the Grand Duke.

Catherine laughed and said:

Oh, he, the unfortunate hero! And I couldn't think of a better one! Tell Rostopchin to wear his order and not be afraid: I won't notice.

After such an answer, Rostopchin boldly screwed the Annensky cross not to the back, but to the front cup of the sword and appeared in the palace.

The Grand Duke, noticing this, approached him with the words:

What are you doing? I told you to screw it to the back cup, and you screwed it to the front. The Empress will see!

Your Highness's mercy is so precious to me, - answered Rostopchin, - that I do not want to hide it.

Yes, you will ruin yourself!

Ready to destroy yourself; but I will prove my devotion to your highness.

The Grand Duke, struck by this obvious proof of Rostopchin's devotion, embraced him with tears in his eyes.

Here is the origin of the Order of St. Anne of the fourth degree ”(M. A. Dmitriev. Little things from the reserve of my memory. 2nd ed. M., 1869).

Anna Protasova never betrayed her patroness and mistress, in all the unpleasant moments of the life of the Empress Anna Stepanovna was always there, she knew how to patiently listen to Catherine, console her, persuade her, although it was oh so difficult to calm the stubborn and persistent empress.

Anna Stepanovna was next to her benefactor on November 5, 1796, when Catherine had a stroke. Protasova did not leave her bed during the day, she was present both during the agony and at the last breath of Catherine the Great.

Having come to power, Paul I did not excommunicate Anna Stepanovna Protasova from the court. She retained her court status as a maid of honor, left behind her both the palace chambers and the palace kitchen. This attitude of Pavel towards her was explained by the fact that Anna Stepanovna, through the marriage of her niece, became a relative of the favorite of the sovereign, Count F.V. Rostopchin, who became Governor-General of Moscow during the Patriotic War of 1812. Moreover, Emperor Paul awarded her the Order of St. Catherine the Lesser Cross, and with it, as expected, the title of “Cavalier Lady”, appointed her a good pension with the award of 100 souls of peasants in the Voronezh and St. Petersburg provinces.

Emperor Alexander I did not forget the former favorite of his unforgettable grandmother, and on the day of his coronation, when, according to tradition, many persons at court received titles, orders, promotions and other awards, Anna Stepanovna was awarded the title of countess. At her request, this count's dignity was extended to her three unmarried nieces and to her brother, Alexander Stepanovich, with his descendants.

After the death of Paul I, Countess Protasova continued to serve as a senior maid of honor, but not at the Highest, but at the small court of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. At the same time, she managed to win over the favor of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna, the wife of Alexander I, and thus get into the intimate circle of the courtiers of the Imperial Court.

In old age, Countess Protasova lost her sight, but she continued to go out into the world and appear at court.

The former favorite and senior lady-in-waiting of Catherine II, Countess Anna Stepanovna Protasova, having outlived her patroness Catherine II and the emperors Paul I and Alexander I, died on April 12, 1826 at the age of 81. She served at the Russian court for 46 years and outlived her patroness Catherine the Great by 30 years.

Simultaneously with the previous favorites, there was a third one near Empress Catherine II, her special favorite, friend and confidante, Countess Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina(1730–1820), nee Rumyantseva, daughter of Major General Count Nikita Ivanovich Rumyantsev and Princess Maria Vasilievna Meshcherskaya.

When Countess Anna Rumyantseva was in her 20s, she married Count Alexander Alexandrovich Naryshkin (1726–1795), chamberlain of the small court of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich (Peter III) and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (Catherine II). The marriage took place on October 8, 1749. At the behest of the then reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna took the bride to the crown and accompanied the young to the house prepared for them. From that time on, a friendship began between Catherine and Anna, reinforced by the proximity to Catherine of Lev Aleksandrovich Naryshkin, the brother of Anna's husband and her brother-in-law.

Soon, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna appointed Anna's husband, Count Alexander Alexandrovich Naryshkin, chamberlain of the small court of the imperial highnesses, which further strengthened Catherine's friendly relationship with the Naryshkins. In her Notes, Ekaterina told how Lev Naryshkin helped her secret meetings with Poniatovsky: in the evening he called for Ekaterina in a carriage and took her, wrapped in a dark cloak, to a meeting with her lover at his brother’s house, where he provided them with all the conditions for a date his daughter-in-law, Anna Nikitichna, and in the morning, unnoticed by anyone, brought him back.

Enamored Stanislav Poniatowski made his way to Catherine and her rooms in the Grand Duke's palace. But one day, according to his story, he was caught by the guards, appeared before the husband of his beloved - the Grand Duke, heir Pyotr Feodorovich, who, having learned why Poniatowski ended up in the territory of a small courtyard, invited Poniatowski to spend time with the four of them: he, the Grand Duke, with his mistress Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, and Poniatowski with Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. At first they had dinner together, and then they dispersed in pairs to their rooms. This friendly gesture on the part of the heir turned out to be not at all as broad as it might seem at first. When Catherine became pregnant, Pyotr Feodorovich refused his involvement in the unborn child, and Catherine had to send Lev Naryshkin to him for negotiations, who, on behalf of the Grand Duchess, demanded that the heir publicly renounce intimacy with his wife, after which this issue was hushed up.

Such morals in the spirit of favoritism flourished in those days under the Russian throne.

Chief chamberlain of the court of their highnesses Alexander Naryshkin with his wife Anna Nikitichnaya, his brother Chief Master of the Horse Lev Naryshkin (1733-1799), the main favorite of Peter III and "assistant to all his passions", and under Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna - the main wit and merry fellow, as well as Stanislav Poniatowski, and after his departure to Poland, the Orlov brothers - that was the circle of Catherine's friends, the embryo of the conspiracy that brought her to the throne. Of course, there were also well-wishers who helped her enthronement, such as N.I. Panin, E.R. Dashkova, who also participated in this process. However, in comparison, for example, with Anna Nikitichnaya Naryshkina, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, although she was known as the favorite of the Empress, was not in such favor as Anna Nikitichna, who was only one year younger than Catherine (in fact, they were the same age) and with whom they were very approached each other, both young, cheerful; the loving Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna with her love affairs and the devoted accomplice of her hobbies, the keeper of her intimate secrets - Anna Naryshkina. How could it be possible to compare Anna Nikitichna, the most devoted and best friend, never judging, never offended, but only helping both with advice and deed, with Ekaterina Romanovna, the bearer of the highest morality, always edifying, dissatisfied and condemning? Therefore, one day (this was in May 1788), Empress Catherine II ordered to prepare rooms for A. N. Naryshkina in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace and arrange them in such a way that there were no rooms left for Princess Dashkova. “... I want to spend time with one, but not with the other; she is also in a quarrel for a piece of land! - Catherine added in connection with this order.

Catherine II in her Notes wrote about the reasons for her rapprochement with Anna Nikitichnaya Naryshkina, who had no children: “This marriage had no more consequences than ours; this similarity in the position of Naryshkina and mine greatly contributed to the friendly ties that united us for a long time; my condition has changed after 9 years, counting from the day of my wedding, but she is still in the same position, and has been married for 24 years.

On September 15, 1773, Catherine granted her friend the status of lady of the Imperial Court, and in 1787 she awarded her the Order of St. Catherine.

Anna Nikitichna did especially much for Catherine in those difficult days when the betrayal of the favorite Dmitriev-Mamonov was revealed. For the empress, this was an impudent and rude insult, it was a blow to the very heart. Two young impudent men - favorite Alexander Mamonov and maid of honor Daria Shcherbatova - who met for almost two years and led her by the nose, simply mocked her, an elderly woman, despising her title of empress and her power. At the same time, the favorite broke a comedy, arranging scenes of jealousy for Catherine, following her disposition towards other men. And he could just tell about his love for the maid of honor Daria. Anna Nikitichna spent all these nightmarish days with her patroness and mistress, who literally sobbed and could not calm down. She was shocked by the ingratitude and stupidity of Mamonov, his constant insincere declarations of love, this unjustified lie. Naryshkina was present at Ekaterina’s explanations with her favorite, and once she scolded him so much that Ekaterina later wrote: “I have never heard anyone scold like that before.”

Anna Nikitichna, spending several hours alone with the Empress a day, helped her gather her courage, hold the engagement, and then the wedding and wedding of Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov with Daria Shcherbatova, dress her maid of honor for the wedding and give them money and valuable gifts. Justice, the greatness of the empress were preserved and demonstrated before the Russian court, high society and the courts of Western Europe.

The lady of state Naryshkina quickly reacted to the situation, realizing that “a wedge is being knocked out with a wedge,” and in a matter of days she introduced Catherine to a new favorite - Platon Alexandrovich Zubov, even more handsome and more obsequious than Mamonov, and many years younger. Revenge was taken, and until the end of his days Mamonov felt like a fool, having exchanged the position of the “Red Caftan” in the imperial palaces for a reclusive life in Moscow in the company of the narrow-minded, and therefore boring Daria.

After the death of Empress Catherine II, Anna Nikitichna remained at the Imperial Court. A few days after his accession to the throne, Paul I not only did not dismiss his mother's former favorite, Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina, but on November 12, 1796 (7 days after the death of Catherine II) appointed her chamberlain of the Imperial Court.

The chamberlain of the Imperial Court, the cavalry lady Countess Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina, a former friend and confidante of Catherine the Great, her lady of state and main favorite, died on February 2, 1820, just 9 days before her birthday, when she would have turned 90 years old.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova (Vorontsova ) (1744–1810). Countess Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova (Princess Dashkova by her husband) was born in St. Petersburg on March 17, 1744 (according to another version - 1743). She herself, in her Notes of the Princess, determines the date of her birth as 1744, “about the time when Empress Elizabeth returned from Moscow after her coronation.” The coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on April 25, 1742. The Empress appeared in St. Petersburg in the same year of 1742: on October 24, 1742, by her Decree, she declared her nephew Peter the heir to the Russian throne. Consequently, Ekaterina Vorontsova was cunning: she was born in March 1743.

Ekaterina Romanovna was born in the family of Senator Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov. But from the age of two, after the death of her mother, she was brought up in the family of her uncle, Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, who in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna was a prominent statesman, diplomat, State Chancellor of the Russian Empire. In her Notes, Ekaterina Romanovna gave the following description of her surname and her father: “I will not talk about my father's surname. Its antiquity and the brilliant merits of my ancestors put the name of the Vorontsovs in such a prominent place that my family pride has nothing more to wish for in this regard. Count Roman, my father, the Chancellor's second brother, was a wild man who lost my mother in his youth. He did little about his own affairs and therefore willingly handed me over to his uncle. This kind kinsman, grateful to my mother and loving his brother, received me with pleasure.

Mikhail Illarionovich was married to Anna Karlovna Skavronskaya, cousin of Elizaveta Petrovna, so the Empress considered the Vorontsov family to be related to her and took part in her family affairs, taking care of Mikhail Illarionovich's orphaned nephews. She easily came to the Vorontsovs and often invited them to visit her, in Tsarskoye Selo. Moreover, Countess Anna Karlovna had the court rank of lady of state (1742), and then received the highest court ladies' rank of chief chamberlain (1760) and was awarded the Order of St. Catherine I degree (Grand Cross).

Ekaterina Romanovna had two sisters: Maria Romanovna (married Countess Buturlina) and Elizaveta Romanovna, chamber maid of honor, official favorite of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich (Peter III), married Polyanskaya. But the sisters were older than Catherine. After the death of their mother, Elizaveta Petrovna appointed them as ladies-in-waiting to the palace, where they lived, as early as childhood. Ekaterina rarely met her sisters, almost did not communicate with them at all. She received her upbringing and education together with her uncle's daughter. In those days, for court life, this was an excellent upbringing. As for education, Ekaterina Romanovna considered it insufficient, although she knew four languages, spoke French fluently, danced well and drew well. But she was dissatisfied with the knowledge she received and asked herself the question: “But what has been done for the formation of character and mental development?” And she answered herself: “Nothing at all.” Although for court life such education was considered the most brilliant.

Ekaterina Vorontsova, even in her teenage years, showed great curiosity: she asked everyone who visited her uncle's house, and these were politicians, envoys, writers, artists, "about foreign lands, about forms of government and laws." Sometimes she got her uncle's permission to revise his old diplomatic papers, and this contact with the historical past of Russian diplomacy gave her the greatest pleasure. But most importantly, she passionately loved to read books. She re-read almost all the books from her uncle's library (and the library consisted of about 900 volumes), bought novelties that came to bookstores, and enjoyed the courtesy of Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, a favorite of Elizaveta Petrovna, who gave her all the new book and magazine receipts he ordered from Paris. This self-education already in her youth made Ekaterina Vorontsova one of the most educated women in Russia.

The acquaintance with Prince Mikhail (Kondrat) Dashkov and their mutual affection were approved by Elizaveta Petrovna, and soon, in 1759, Countess Vorontsova became Princess Dashkova and with this name entered the history of Russia.

In the winter of 1759, Ekaterina Romanovna met Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. In the “Notes of the Princess” this fact was noted in this way: “In the winter, the Grand Duke also visited and dined with us, later Peter III, with her wife, later Catherine II. Thanks to my uncle's many visitors, I was already known to the Grand Duchess as a young girl who spends almost all her time studying, and, of course, many other flattering comments were added. The respect with which she subsequently honored me was the result of this friendly courtesy; I answered it with full enthusiasm and devotion, which then threw me into such an unforeseen sphere and had more or less influence on my whole life. In the epoch I am talking about, one can probably say that in Russia it was impossible to find even two women who, like Catherine and me, were seriously engaged in reading; from here, by the way, our mutual affection was born, and since the Grand Duchess had an irresistible charm, when she wanted to please, it is easy to imagine how she must have captivated me, a fifteen-year-old and unusually impressionable creature.

This meeting turned out to be fateful for Dashkova. The Grand Duchess became an object of admiration and heartfelt devotion for the young princess, so Ekaterina Romanovna took part in the coup with the aim of overthrowing Peter III and enthroning his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Despite the fact that Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich (Peter III) was the godfather of Ekaterina Dashkova, she, smart and very observant, realized as a girl that he was stupid and did not like Russia. She saw and understood that Elizaveta Petrovna, already at the edge of her life, was very alarmed that she was handing over great Russia to an unworthy heir, albeit a grandson of Peter the Great. However, it was too late to do anything.

On December 25, 1761, on the first day of the Nativity of Christ, Elizaveta Petrovna died, and her uneducated, ill-mannered and stupid nephew, who was contemptuous of Russia and the Russian people, became Sovereign Emperor of the Russian Empire under the name of Peter III.

When he became emperor, his behavior, his statements finally convinced Dashkova that neither Russia nor its people needed such an emperor, that Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, smart, highly educated and well-mannered, loving Russia, deserved to be the ruler of the Russian Empire and had the right to rule at least as the mother of the minor Heir to the Throne Pavel Petrovich. Ekaterina Romanovna knew that not only she thought so, but also many people among the courtiers, and among the high society, but most importantly, among the officers of the most privileged regiments. Everyone was outraged by the peace concluded by Peter III with Prussia on the most humiliating conditions for the victorious Russia and the outbreak of war with Denmark, a war that Russia absolutely did not need.

Humiliation by the husband-emperor, which Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna began to be subjected to at court, moreover, in public, a public expression of his desire to see his favorite-mistress Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova as the empress (who, by the way, he, as a commoner, simply called "Romanovna"), and the intention to exile Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom he hated, to a monastery - all this showed what fate awaited the one whom Dashkova simply adored and, as an honest person, considered it her duty to save. Moreover, many of the "acts" of her godfather Peter III took place before her eyes.

And Dashkova, having decided to make, as she said, a “revolution” and overthrow Peter III from the throne, began to look for accomplices in the conspiracy she had conceived in order to put Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna on the throne. All the measures taken by her, Dashkova described in her "Notes of the Princess":

“After the separation from my husband, I spared no effort to animate, inspire and strengthen opinions favorable to the implementation of the planned reform. The most trusted and closest people to me were friends and relatives of Prince Dashkov: Pasek, Bredikhin - the captain of the Preobrazhensky regiment, Major Roslavlev and his brother, the captain of the Izmaylovsky Guards. ‹….> As soon as my idea of ​​the means of a well-organized conspiracy was determined and strengthened, I began to think about the result, adding to my plan some of those persons who, by their influence and authority, could give weight to our cause. Between them was Marshal Razumovsky, the head of the Izmailovo Guard, very beloved by his corps. Hearing from the English envoy that “the guards are showing a disposition for an uprising, especially for the Danish war,” Dashkova spoke with some officers of the Razumovsky regiment - “with two Roslavlevs and Lasunsky”, then involved Panin, the tutor of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, in the conspiracy, who, however, , was eager to put his pet on the throne, and to assign the role of only regent to Ekaterina Alekseevna, but he completely agreed with the overthrow of Peter III. Having spoken directly with Panin, Ekaterina Romanovna revealed to him the participants in the conspiracy she had already involved in the case: two Roslavlevs, Lasunsky, Pasek, Bredikhin, Baskakov, Getrof, princes Baryatinsky and Orlov. “He was surprised and scared when he saw how far I had gone in my assumption and, moreover, without any preliminary conversation with Catherine.” Dashkova managed to persuade Panin not to advertise his plans for the Heir at the present time, until real steps are taken.

The Archbishop of Novgorod, "known for his learning, loved by the people and adored by the clergy, of course, had no doubts about what the church could expect from such a ruler as Peter III." And the young conspirator attracted him to her side, "if not as an active participant, then at least as a zealous patron of our plans." Prince Volkonsky also joined her plan, who informed her that the spirit of grumbling against the emperor appeared among the soldiers: they were unhappy that they were forced to turn their weapons in favor of the Prussian king against Maria Theresa, who had recently been their ally, and the Prussian king enemy.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, busying herself with creating a conspiracy, did not assume that Ekaterina Alekseevna was already holding all the threads of it in her hands, she had already developed a plan for a coup, relying on the guards and on the high authority of the guards of the Orlov brothers, especially Grigory and Alexei. And she did not like these negotiations of Dashkova with everyone and everyone, moreover "Without a preliminary conversation with Ekaterina", as Dashkova herself wrote. Ekaterina Alekseevna has already studied the experience of Russian coups in order to enthrone Catherine I, Anna Leopoldovna, Elizaveta Petrovna, following the example of whom she also decided to dress in a man's military dress in order to appear in such an impressive form at the barracks and take the oath from the guards. She calculated that in Russia the military officials faithfully serve primarily their beloved, and therefore the main guards authority - Grigory Orlov - became her lover About the fact that it was she who secretly led the preparations for the coup, Catherine wrote to her former lover, the Polish king Stanislav-August Poniatovsky , but she did not reveal this secret to her close circle (except for the Orlov brothers). Subsequently, she wrote about this in her Notes.

And Dashkova had a naive idea that the coup was prepared by her, but took place as if by itself, by the will of Providence, as she later wrote in her Notes: “... without a plan, without sufficient funds, by people of various and even opposite opinions, like their characters, and many of them hardly knew each other, had nothing in common with each other, except for one desire, crowned with an accidental (sic!), but more complete success than could be expected from the most strict and deeply considered plan..."

Ekaterina Romanovna did not even understand that Alexei Orlov could not have come to Peterhof on his own for Catherine and for her, would not have dared to wake the Empress and, without prior agreement, say the following words: “It’s time to get up, everything is ready to proclaim you.” After all, Dashkova did not prepare all this. She was not involved either in the appearance of the imperial cortege on Nevsky Prospekt, or in the proclamation of her friend in the Kazan Cathedral "the most autocratic empress of all Russia Catherine II."

Dashkova wrote her memoirs in her declining years, for all the years from the age of 18 when these events took place, she had a lot of time to comprehend and understand everything, but even at the end of her life she appreciated her role in this “revolution” very much. high: “As for me, I honestly say that, although I owned the first role in this coup - in the overthrow of an incapable monarch, at the same time I am amazed at the fact: neither historical experiences nor the fiery imagination of eighteen centuries do not represent an example of such an event which was realized before us in a few hours ”(emphasis mine. - I.V.)

What is the power of delusion of a person who has read a huge number of books, especially on the history of Russia, both in Russian and French editions, including the accession to the throne of Elizabeth Petrovna, whom Dashkova also knew personally! And for her, the accession to the Russian throne of Elizabeth Petrovna, who, also in a military uniform, also relying on the guards, was also unexpectedly and just as quickly proclaimed Empress of All Russia, was not “an example of such an event”?

Catherine II, in her Notes, assessing her ascension to the Russian throne, wrote: “Princess Dashkova, the younger sister of Elizabeth Vorontsova, although she wants to ascribe to herself all the honor of this revolution, she did not enjoy great confidence for her kinship; besides, her nineteen years did not instill much respect in anyone. She claimed that everything came to me through her hands. However, I had already corresponded with all the bosses for six months before she learned the first name of one of them. True, she is very clever; but her mind is corrupted by her excessive vanity, and her character is eccentric; she is hated by her superiors and is on friendly terms with windy heads who told her what she knew, that is, unimportant details. ‹…› I had to hide from Princess Dashkova what ways others communicate with me, and for five whole months she did not know anything; the last four weeks, although they told her, but as little as possible. <...> Everything was done, I confess, under my special guidance; and, finally, I myself put everything on hold, because the departure from the city interfered with the fulfillment of our plan; everything was completely ready two weeks ago.”

Ekaterina gave Dashkova a very accurate, as we will see later, characterization: "Very smart, but her mind is spoiled by excessive vanity and her character is eccentric." As for the "bosses", Dashkova really hated all Catherine's lovers: favoritism was alien to her.

For the 19-year-old, romantically inclined Dashkova, who spent most of her life in seclusion, with books, these events seemed like some kind of mysterious and exciting game to save her beloved friend and eliminate the rude and stupid emperor. She believed that the case had been won, and friendship with the Empress, now crowned Catherine II, continued, and she, Dashkova, should be assigned the leading role at court, and relations with Catherine should remain friendly, as if on an equal footing. And she began to behave in accordance with her ideas: to show her displeasure regarding the favor of Grigory Orlov, to give orders to guard officers and soldiers, to argue with their commander in front of the soldiers, and so on. Catherine tried to somehow reason with her, but realized that it was useless, that it was better to maintain a decent relationship.

After accession, Catherine rewarded everyone who helped her seize the throne. But at court it was decent to consider these awards as ordinary awards before the crowning of the monarch, especially since even those who did not participate in the conspiracy, but whom it was desirable to attract to the side of the new empress, were noted by the empress's mercy, for example, such as Skavronsky.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova was not forgotten either. Catherine II elevated her to the rank of lady of state of the highest court, granted her the Order of St. Catherine I degree with the title "Her Excellency the Cavalry Lady of the Grand Cross" and a cash prize of 24 thousand rubles. As for the prize, Dashkova doubted for a long time and consulted with many: to take it or not to take it, because she tried not for money, but in the end she took it, and made a lot of noise at court with her reasoning. But such was the nature of the princess.

In the very first days after the coup, Catherine invited Dashkova, as her favorite, and Grigory Orlov, as her favorite, to the palace for dinner. When Dashkova came to the hall where the dinner table was laid, and saw Orlov sitting there on the sofa with his leg outstretched (he badly hurt her), and the table was moved to him, she realized that between the Empress and Orlov there was connection, and this discovery greatly displeased her. Catherine II immediately noticed the displeasure on Dashkova's face, and realized that Dashkova was far from her life credo, that with her especially “honest” understanding of life, not a single ruler would stay on the throne for more than two months. Dashkova, adhering to Orthodox morality, did not understand what favoritism was, why Catherine, such an intelligent, educated and cultured woman, now the All-Russian Empress, chose a rude, ignorant martinet like Grigory Orlov as her favorite. She did not understand that Catherine ascended the throne on the shoulders of guards soldiers led by the Orlovs, and not thanks to the 19-year-old Dashkova, who told six officers, three nobles and Panin about the plot.

Catherine II never broke off relations with anyone suddenly and rudely, because she knew that every person, especially smart, well-mannered and educated, can always come in handy someday. And therefore, in front of the eyes of the courtiers, she always treated Dashkova as her favorite, but she began to avoid friendly meetings with her. Ekaterina Romanovna felt this cooling towards her, but Ekaterina's always friendly tone when meeting her, invitations to the palace for dinner, to balls, to imperial exits, just to stay in the palace with her husband, as a favorite - all this did not give Dashkova an official reason to consider herself rejected, but she always felt the chill of the relationship. When one day she wished to live in the palace next to Catherine, for some reason the necessary premises were not found in the palace for her: all the rooms were occupied by the favorite of the Empress Anna Nikitichnaya Naryshkina, with whom Dashkova was in conflict “for a patch of land”, as Catherine defined it II. Ekaterina Romanovna did not know that the rooms were not found by order of the Empress, but she felt that this was no accident.

The husband of Ekaterina Romanovna, Prince Mikhail Dashkov, was the secret attorney of Catherine II, who appointed Prince Dashkov (shortly before his departure to Poland) the head of the cuirassier regiment, which had previously been led only by German commanders. Dashkova was proud that her husband, in her opinion, managed to make the cuirassier regiment the best regiment in Russia. (It is strange, but in "Notes" she always calls her husband only "Prince Dashkov", as a stranger, so that the reader will not know from her until the end of her memoirs what his name was.)

Catherine II entrusted Prince Dashkov with his cuirassier regiment with the erection of Poniatowski to the Polish throne. Dashkov, with the support of the Russian troops brought into Poland, was supposed to ensure (where by persuasion, where by bribery, where by a hint of the presence of the army) the Sejm would vote positively for Poniatowski. Which was done flawlessly. But Dashkov did not return to Russia. He died in Poland of "a fever associated with a sore throat". Was it so? In her memoirs, many years later, Dashkova mentions several times about his sore throat and, in connection with this, about the severe fever to which he was subject. Maybe it was necessary?

The news of the death of Prince Dashkov, who, having completed the task, was already returning home with his cuirassiers, but caught a cold on the road and died, knocked down a twenty-year-old widow with two children: son Pavel and daughter Anastasia. She was sick for a long time. According to her, Prince Dashkov left huge debts, upon payment of which the family would have been on the verge of ruin. But the 24 thousand donated to her by Catherine, from which she wanted to refuse, completely covered the debts, and the ruin did not take place.

Feeling a chill in relations with Catherine and people influential at court, Dashkova, as a lady of state, referring to the difficult financial situation of her family, asked Catherine for leave and left with her children for the village, to her husband's estate. Life in the village was much cheaper than in the capital, and for 5 years of living in the village, Ekaterina Romanovna managed to save up enough money for a long trip around Europe. Under the pretext of the need to give her son Paul an English education and upbringing after home, which took place according to the method developed by Dashkova, Ekaterina Romanovna, as a lady of state, had to ask the empress for permission to travel abroad. Two letters sent by her to the Empress did not receive a response, and Dashkova herself went to St. Petersburg for an answer. Catherine II greeted her very cordially, in a conversation she found out that Dashkova was going to return and would debunk negative myths about Russia abroad, and, of course, gave the go-ahead to leave . And when Dashkova returned to her estate, the courier brought her 4,000 rubles as a gift from the Empress. Ekaterina Romanovna was indignant at the insignificant, in her opinion, amount, did not want to take it, but then, as she writes in Notes, she made a list of the necessary things that needed to be bought on the road, calculated their cost, took exactly this amount, and the remaining returned the money to the courier. She knew that the courier would report to Catherine exactly how Dashkova had accepted her gift.

In December 1768, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, with her daughter Anastasia and son Pavel, set off on a trip to Europe under the pseudonym "Princess Mikhalkova". Europe already knew a lady of state, a cavalry lady of the Grand Cross, Princess Dashkova, a favorite of the Russian Empress, an 18-year-old girl who, according to rumors, placed Catherine II on the throne. The invented pseudonym could not hide her secrets: many noble and famous people in Europe knew Dashkova by sight, because they had been to Russia and seen her at court next to Catherine. Therefore, she was cordially greeted by many celebrities: the head of the encyclopedists Diderot, and Voltaire, and new acquaintances from high spheres in France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and England.

Dashkova traveled to European cities, got acquainted with their sights, had conversations with important people, hosted many in her hotel or in a house she rented. She did not begin to talk with only one person who overtook her at Diderot's - Rulier, who wrote memoirs about the Russian revolution (that is, about the coup). She did not accept Rulière for a conversation at the insistence of Diderot. Dashkova did not hear about his “memoirs”, and therefore at first she wanted to meet this man, but Diderot warned her: “I will tell you the contents of them. You are presented in all the charm of your talents, in the full glory of the female sex. But the empress is portrayed in a completely different light, like the Polish king, with whom Catherine's connection is revealed to the last detail. As a result, the Empress instructed Prince Golitsyn to repurchase this work. The bargaining, however, was so foolishly conducted that Rulière managed to make three copies of his work and give one to the foreign office, the other to the library of Madame de Gramme, and presented the third to the Archbishop of Paris. After this failure, Catherine instructed me to conclude a condition with Rulière, but all I could do was to take from him a promise not to publish these notes during the life of both the author and the empress. Now you see that your reception to Rulière would have given authority to his book, which is most repugnant to the Empress, especially since it has already been read by Madame Geoffren, who gathers all our celebrities, all remarkable foreigners, and, consequently, this book already in full swing. This, however, does not prevent Madame Zhofren from being a friend of Poniatowski, whom she showered with all kinds of caresses during his stay in Paris and then wrote to him as her beloved son.

Of course, both Diderot and Voltaire, who were in constant correspondence with Catherine II, and the artists who received financial assistance from Catherine and sold their paintings to her, and Catherine's agents who followed Dashkova, all spoke of the princess with great reverence, noting her mind, education, good breeding, delicacy, respect for his empress and love for the Fatherland.

Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Dashkova and her children stayed with her sister Polyanskaya, the former favorite of Peter III, now married to Polyansky. This was no coincidence: she could stay with her father and in her uncle's family, but she had to check Catherine if her grace was strong. Having appeared at the court, Ekaterina Romanovna was very affectionately received by Ekaterina. Dashkova attributed this change in attitude towards her to the resignation of Grigory Orlov, whom she considered her enemy, from whom slander came from her.

True, Dashkova said that Catherine was always merciful to her, and noted this in the Notes: “No matter what people who use, for lack of other authority, ordinary rumors write, I must make a reservation that there will never be a perfect break between me and Catherine. did not have". And she always attributed the cooling of the empress towards her to the negative influence on Catherine of the favorite Grigory Orlov, who did not like Dashkova, seeing that she treated him contemptuously, as a second-class person.

In June 1779, with the blessing of Catherine II, who sent Dashkova 60 thousand rubles for the journey, her lady of state with her son and daughter set off on a new journey through Europe. The purpose of the trip is to complete the education and upbringing of the son of Prince Pavel Mikhailovich Dashkov abroad. In her memoirs, Dashkova did not say a word about her agreements with Catherine II regarding the program of stay in Western Europe, except for the education of her son and her daughter's honeymoon trip, however, from separate references to the studies of Dashkova and her son abroad, we can conclude that the order from Catherine Dashkova nevertheless received it and strictly carried it out, sending reports to her empress on the work done.

It is not difficult to guess what these instructions were: this is a quarantine hospital in Livorno, arranged by the Grand Duke Leopold; the plan of the hospital, the order of maintenance and its administration; this is the plan, arrangement, work of the port of Terracino, which at that time was considered the best and most comfortable in Europe. Dashkova wrote about these objects as if she herself chose these objects for the Empress, because she knows that Catherine is forced to constantly fight, which puts "us in contact with the southern peoples and, therefore, with epidemic diseases." Catherine II remembered the plague epidemic and the riot associated with it in Moscow, where she sent Grigory Orlov to fight the plague and the rebels, who then had to turn his house into a quarantine hospital. The presence of such a hospital, where everything is thought out and provided for, was very important for both Moscow and St. Petersburg. As for the plan and a detailed report on the work of the best port in Europe, Catherine II needed this doubly, because at that time Potemkin was building ports on the Black Sea and for it, drawings and all calculations were of great value, and for Catherine II, familiarization with the documents on the port of Terrachino was important in order to read Potemkin's reports on the construction of ports in the Crimea with knowledge of the matter. The drawings of the port of Terrachino were made by the son of Dashkova, who constantly showed to the empress his knowledge, his skills after graduating from upbringing and education according to the system developed personally by Dashkova, in order to announce that her son could be in demand as a specialist both in Russia and abroad. At the same time, in letters to the Empress, the vain Dashkova demonstrated both her pedagogical abilities and the advantages of her education system, because Catherine opened the Educational House (Smolny Institute) for noble maidens during these years, the system of upbringing and education for which was developed by the Empress herself with the participation of Betsky, but Dashkova was not involved in this work.

Traveling around Europe with the blessing of Catherine II, as her lady of state, her favorite, and not like on her last trip, some kind of Princess Mikhalkova "in a black dress and the same shawl, with the most modest hairstyle", Dashkova was received by the sovereigns different countries and principalities. In Berlin, King Frederick II of Prussia, who in those years, together with the Russian Empress and the Austrian Emperor Joseph II, was engaged in the division of Poland, accepted it without any delay. In Paris, Queen Marie Antoinette met Dashkova at the house of her closest friend-favorite Julie Polignac (which, we note, unfortunately, did not do Dashkova much honor, because not only Paris - all of France already knew what orgies were taking place in this house) . In Rome, in the Vatican, Pope Pius VI, whom Dashkova met in St. Peter's, honored her with a conversation and even offered to inform him of her departure for Naples along the old road he had restored in order to prepare horses for her, "because there is still no mail or other necessary amenities.

In Naples, Dashkova was introduced to the king, and he received her so kindly and hospitably that her son could sometimes participate in the royal hunt. In Vienna, Emperor Joseph II, despite being unwell, gave her an audience. In Livorno, Duke Leopold gave her every opportunity to film the plan and obtain documentation from the quarantine hospital. In London, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova also received a benevolent reception, because there were many people of high rank who were familiar with the Vorontsov family. Her older and beloved brother Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov was Russia's plenipotentiary representative in London for two years (1761-1763).

Ekaterina Romanovna was looking for and buying especially valuable minerals for her collection. And she found an inexpensive collection of minerals, which Catherine II bought at her suggestion for the Imperial Hermitage, which she founded in 1764.

Once Dashkova, in the dungeon where she was taken in search of minerals, accidentally stumbled, even bruising her leg, on two large semi-precious stones. She bought them and ordered to make decorative tables out of them as a gift to Catherine. But Catherine did not accept such an expensive gift. Dashkova, after the death of Catherine, gave them to Alexander I. These tables still adorn the interior of one of the halls of the Hermitage.

In Naples, Dashkova received a letter from Catherine, in which she very kindly thanked her for the quarantine hospital plan, promised, upon her return to St. Petersburg, to arrange a brilliant career for her son, appoint him as a chamber junker, which gave the rank of brigadier (V class of the Table of Ranks). This courtesy of Catherine, on the one hand, made her very happy, but on the other, excited her. Even on their first trip to Europe, “Princess Mikhalkova” and her son accidentally met Grigory Orlov, who was traveling with his wife. A rude martinet, he directly told them that he regretted that when they returned to Petersburg, he would not be there, and, unfortunately, he would not be honored to recommend Prince Pavel Dashkov to the Empress as a favorite. To Dashkova's frightened objection that such things should not be said, and even in the presence of a young man, Orlov declared; the whole court knows that Dashkova has been giving special upbringing and education to her son for so many years, preparing him as a favorite for the empress. Of course, listening to this, and even with her son, Dashkova was very unpleasant. That is why the received affectionate and benevolent letter from the empress with a proposal for a career for her son at court, starting with the chamber junkers, was both sweet and disturbing to read.

At the beginning of 1782, after Paul graduated from the university, Catherine II invited Dashkova to return to St. Petersburg. Upon the return of the Dashkovs to their homeland, Catherine treated Ekaterina Romanovna so kindly that the whole court saw: Dashkova was not formally, but in reality, the empress's favorite. At the wish expressed by Ekaterina Romanovna, Ekaterina invited her and her children to Tsarskoye Selo for dinner. In the palace, she was met by the Serene Highness Prince Potemkin, who asked what the princess wanted regarding Prince Dashkov and what was his rank in the army. According to the then rules, Dashkov was enrolled in the army as a cadet at a young age, so that he would be annually promoted in absentia in rank. But until the promotions were registered, the cadet Dashkov, according to palace rules, did not have the right to sit at the same table with the empress. However, Catherine said loudly so that the whole retinue could hear: “I purposely wanted to leave your son as a cadet for another day and, in this capacity, invited him to dine with me to show my excellent attention with which I put your children above all others.” At dinner, Ekaterina sat Dashkova next to her and spoke exclusively to her. Princess Dashkova was so happy that she neglected the rheumatism that tormented her and accompanied the Empress on her evening walk all evening. The next day, Ekaterina Romanovna received a copy of the decree, according to which Prince Dashkov was promoted to captain of the Semyonovsky Guards Regiment, which gave him the army rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Now the first lady of state, Princess Dashkova, was sure to see her benefactor twice a week. Having learned that Dashkova lives outside the city, in a dacha where her rheumatism is complicated by dampness, Ekaterina gave her a house in St. Petersburg to choose which Dashkova wants to buy. And after a while, she gave Ekaterina Romanovna the Kruglovo estate.

With the help of Potemkin, whom Dashkova considered her friend, Lieutenant-Colonel Pavel Dashkov was sent to the active Southern Army, led by the Most Serene Prince, to a place that excluded any fears for his life.

How can one explain such empress mercy to Dashkova? Well, firstly, Dashkova performed flawlessly before the European rulers abroad as a representative of the great power and great autocrat of Russia Catherine II. Secondly, Catherine, apparently missing communication with a highly educated and intelligent woman who understands the importance for Russia of raising new people, education, the development of science, culture, art, has already realized that the talented Dashkova devoted to her can do a lot for Russia in this area.

Therefore, Dashkova, unexpectedly for her, received from the Empress an offer to become director of the Academy of Sciences. Ekaterina Romanovna refused this prestigious, but also very responsible position. Her argument was that she was not engaged in science, did not graduate from the university and had neither a scientific degree nor an academic title, did not lecture at the university, and besides, she was a woman, and a woman was not supposed to lead pundits. But Catherine firmly insisted on her own, because she knew that according to all the necessary parameters (mind, conscience, efficiency, knowledge, financial calculation, honesty and scrupulousness in solving any problems), no one approaches this position like Princess Dashkova. And despite Ekaterina Romanovna's refusals and assurances that this was impossible, Catherine II issued a decree appointing Dashkova to the post of director of the Academy of Sciences.

What was the contribution of Princess Dashkova to the development of the Academy of Sciences and to the creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences?

From the first day of her appointment, Dashkova behaved like an experienced leader. Here is how Dashkova herself wrote about it: “My first thing after this appointment was to send a copy of the decree to the Academy. I wanted the commission to sit for two more days and immediately bring to my attention a report on the various branches of academic activity, on the state of the printing house, along with the names of librarians and caretakers of various offices, so that the heads of each department would submit to me the next day a report on their positions and everything that is subject to their control. At the same time, I asked the commission to tell me everything that it considers most important regarding the duties of the director. This is how Dashkova managed, as they say, "to take the bull by the horns."

According to the accepted custom, the courtiers began to congratulate Princess Dashkova one by one on the royal mercy, and then the professors of the Academy visited her to express their respect. Ekaterina Romanovna promised them that in any case, if necessary, the door of her house would always be open for members of the Academy. In turn, Dashkova began to visit famous academicians in order to get to know them better, and began with the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler, and then met others: the biologist and geographer P. S. Pallas, the traveler and naturalist I. I. Lepekhin, astronomers P. B. Inokhodtsev, A. I. Leksel, S. Ya. Rumovsky. Meetings with the color of the professorship provided her with support in the scientific community.

Even at the first meeting - the presentation to the members of the academy of the new director, Princess Dashkova - Ekaterina Romanovna came with Euler. In her speech, she testified to her high respect for science and expressed her deep respect for Euler, "one of the greatest mathematicians of his age", as she described him. According to her, “there was not a single professor (with the exception of the ‘allegorical’ one) who did not sympathize with my review and, with tears in his eyes, did not recognize the merits and superiority of this venerable scientist.” It was a delicate calculation: never before had the Academy recognized such scientific merits, which inspired hope for the support of scientific research - the most precious thing for a real scientist.

Immediately after the official part, Dashkova went to the office and demanded from the academic officials a list of all the economic affairs of the Academy, that is, she immediately began working as a director. She told them that "behind the walls of the academy there is a rumor about great unrest under the last director," who allegedly "not only ruined the academic treasury, but also brought it into debt." And she suggested that we work together to get rid of abuses. The new director, Princess Dashkova, warned her employees about the Academy: “I do not want to enrich myself at its expense and I will not at all allow my subordinates to ruin it with bribes. And if I see that your behavior is completely in line with my desire, I will not hesitate to reward the zealous and worthy with an increase in rank or an increase in salary. Pay attention, dear reader, she did not threaten punishments, as it is - alas! - is practiced in modern society, but has drawn the prospect of rewarding for meritorious work and behavior.

Usually, crown officials were sworn in before taking office, and Dashkova also had to go through this rite. Moreover, Catherine II, answering the question whether Princess Dashkova, in view of her court status, should be sworn in, said: “Without a doubt. I did not secretly appoint Princess Dashkova director of the academy. Although I do not need new proof of her loyalty to me and the Fatherland, this solemn act is very pleasing to me: it gives publicity and sanction to my definition.

At a meeting of the Senate, Princess Dashkova took an oath of allegiance to the Empress of All Russia and the Fatherland.

In order not to take on other people's sins (the sources of academic income were depleted, the academy had considerable debts, financial reports were mixed and confused), Dashkova asked the Prosecutor General of the Senate, Prince Vyazemsky, to hand over to her documents testifying to academic troubles, especially complaints about the retired director Domashnev, his answers with defense and protests, "to clarify his own activities."

Ekaterina Romanovna, with great difficulty, managed to establish two sources of academic income: 1) the “economic amount”, that is, her own source of income from the sale of already published academic works 30% below their usual cost, and 2) the money according to the estimate that the academy received from the state treasury.

From the first source, Dashkova managed to pay the debts of book sellers: Russian, French and Dutch, and after being freed from these debts, save money to make up for the arrears of the state fund. In view of the neglect of the academy building and its services, Dashkova asked the state treasury, which was headed by the state treasurer Prince Vyazemsky, for an amount in accordance with the upcoming repair costs, but also to increase wages for both members of the academy and the staff.

Ekaterina Romanovna did her best to increase the income from the publication of academic works in order to have money for unforeseen expenses, for awards, for the purchase of equipment necessary for the research work of scientists. And she succeeded very well, so at the expense of "economic sums" she managed to increase the number of students of the Academy receiving education at public expense, up to 90 people, opened three new departments: mathematics, geometry and natural history - and opened the doors of the Academy to everyone wishing to attend lectures that were read in Russian. These actions of the director raised the prestige of the Academy, and with it the prestige of the Russian language. Dashkova assessed the lectures in this way: “I often listened to them myself and was happy to be convinced that this institution was of great benefit to the sons of poor nobles and lower guard officers.” The professors who gave these lectures at the end of the course received a reward of two hundred rubles, which were also released from an "economic" source, the income of which was formed mainly from the sale of translations of the most interesting European books. I must say that Catherine II annually released five thousand rubles “from her casket” to pay for translations of books by classical foreign writers. Dashkova gathered under the roof of the Academy the most talented and efficient translators of English, French, German, Dutch and other languages, who translated newly published books of both fiction and scientific literature. They were printed in the academic printing house and successfully sold in the shops with which the contract was concluded. Dashkova sent income reports from this activity to Catherine I. So Ekaterina Romanovna put her business at the service of science and education.

Dashkova herself was carried away by compiling new and more accurate maps of various areas of Russia. This was necessary in view of the reform of Catherine II in the field of administrative and territorial division of the Russian Empire, which required new maps of each locality: the establishment of new borders between regions on them, the designation of new roads and buildings. Taking advantage of the fact that Catherine II established local self-government, established local administration, local courts, police and leadership of the nobility in each province and in each county, Dashkova contacted the regional governors in order to obtain information from them for mapping. Things went on, but with difficulty, because all the documentation was sent through the treasury of Prince Vyazemsky and reached the Academy for a very long time. The compilation of new maps has become one of the programs of the Academy's activities.

At the Academy, headed by Princess Dashkova, there was neither a philological faculty, nor even a department of the Russian language. But Ekaterina Romanovna, traveling abroad, saw in France and other countries national academies engaged in the compilation of national dictionaries and philological research in the field of their national languages. It was clear that the question of establishing such an academy in Russia was already ripe. About how this idea was born, according to Dashkova, and how it was realized, we will find in her “Notes”: “Once I was walking with the empress in the Tsarskoye Selo garden. The conversation turned to the beauty and richness of the Russian language. I expressed surprise why the Empress, who was able to appreciate his dignity and was a writer herself, had never thought of founding a Russian Academy. I noticed that only rules and a good dictionary are needed to put our language in an independent position from foreign words and expressions that have neither the energy nor the power inherent in our word.

I myself wonder, - said Ekaterina, - why this idea has not yet been carried out. Such an institution for the improvement of the Russian language has often occupied me, and I have already given orders regarding it.

This is truly amazing,” I continued. Nothing could be easier than to carry out this plan. There are a lot of samples for him, and you just have to choose the best one from them.

Please present me, princess, some essay.

The princess tried to shift this work to the secretaries of the empress, but Catherine insisted on the performance of this work by the princess Dashkova and by decree appointed her state lady president of the future Russian Academy. The Empress knew that Princess Dashkova would successfully open a new academy and be able to organize work in it as it should, and perhaps even better.

The empress was right. Ekaterina Romanovna was a very smart person and a talented leader. Starting the work of the President of the Russian Academy, Dashkova first of all bought a house for her, repaired it and furnished it with the necessary furniture. Being engaged in the restoration of the first Academy, she gained experience in arranging the necessary premises for the work of academic scientists and their staff, for acquiring the necessary books and all kinds of stationery. Therefore, it was not difficult for her to buy a suitable house, and to repair it, and to place in it premises for the work of scientists, for a lecture hall, for a library and other necessary needs, where the purchased equipment could be placed.

It would seem that the financial side was also provided, because the Empress herself took care of her. However, the economical Dashkova believed that the Russian Academy should also be able to earn money on its own. Ekaterina Romanovna, on the basis of the printing house, expanded her business, which brings a good income. She again, as in the first Academy, organized a group of translators, printed both the classics of French, German and English literature translated into Russian, as well as foreign literary novelties, concluded agreements with book sellers and successfully sold these books. So the clever leadership of the princess made it possible to establish a new Russian Academy rather quickly.

On October 21, 1783, the grand opening of the Imperial Russian Academy took place in St. Petersburg under the chairmanship of Princess E. R. Dashkova. Poets, playwrights, historians and publicists were invited as members of the Academy: G. R. Derzhavin, M. M. Kheraskov, V. I. Maikov, E. I. Kostrov, I. F. Bogdanovich, I. I. Khemnitser, M. M. Shcherbatov and others. In addition to regular meetings on the Russian language, literature and the principles of creating a dictionary, giving lectures, including public ones, holding debates on philological topics, the Russian Academy set its main task to create the first explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. After a long debate about the choice of principles for selecting material and its presentation in the dictionary, Dashkova organized a dictionary group of scientists, divided the proposed work alphabetically and distributed the creation of parts of the dictionary by letters among the members of the group. Ekaterina Romanovna, leading the group as a whole, also took the trouble to write part of the dictionary (two letters). The dictionary had to be sensible and built according to the root nesting principle, that is, as follows: a headword was chosen, consisting only of a stem (for example, "san", "tree", etc.), and then all available words were included in the dictionary entry with this root, that is, derivatives of this root: dignitary, dignitary, dignitary, posture, and so on. Each word was given its interpretation.

After the opening of the Academy began to work without delay. A month later, on November 18, 1783, at a meeting of the Russian Academy, Dashkova proposed introducing the letter “ё” into the Russian alphabet, which was approved by all members of the Academy.

Work on the dictionary continued for eleven years and ended in 1794. The publication of the "Dictionary of the Russian Academy" turned out to be a real sensation for the Russian enlightened public. It seemed to be a triumph for Princess Dashkova. However, Catherine II did not like the dictionary, because it was built according to the nesting principle. Dashkova immediately determined that Catherine was saying this under the influence of her favorite Zubov, who hated the favorite Princess Ekaterina Romanovna and therefore allowed herself to speak out against everything that Dashkova did. But Dashkova also answered him with the same “reciprocity”.

And by the way, after almost 100 years, Vladimir Ivanovich Dal published the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, using the same nested principle of presenting material. Professor of Kazan University Baudouin de Courtenay, already at the beginning of the 20th century, having cleared the Dalev dictionary of purely regional, local words, left the same principle of combining words into a root nest, than, as it were, secondarily, after Dahl, approved the method proposed by Dashkova for creating the first Russian explanatory dictionary .

Some modern authors write that Dashkova "with great difficulty sought to allocate money for the organization of scientific expeditions." Perhaps Ekaterina Romanovna had in her plans the organization of scientific expeditions, but she did not organize a single expedition. During the reign of Catherine II, they were mainly engaged in annexing new lands to Russia: Crimea, Kuban, Taman, Eastern Georgia and even America. In 1784, the Irkutsk merchant of the 1st guild, Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov, who successfully traded with the American Indians, began the Russian development (settlement) of Alaska and the Pacific coast of California. But such expeditions as, for example, the Great Northern Expedition (Second Kamchatka) of 1733-1743 with the participation of V. I. Bering, S. I. Chelyuskin and the Laptev brothers, which began under Anna Ioannovna, and ended under Elizabeth Petrovna, in the reign of Catherine II was not carried out. Most likely, Ekaterina Romanovna, in the conditions of constant wars that require huge funds, did not achieve money for the expedition.

A gymnasium was organized at the academies, in addition, the Smolny Institute and many other educational institutions already existed, and Princess Dashkova, who for many years developed education and training programs for her son and daughter, having practical pedagogical experience, could not refuse to draw up new programs for academic gymnasium. These programs and Dashkova's methodological proposals were discussed at meetings of the Academy, which were attended by teachers of institutes, boarding schools for noble maidens and cadet corps, therefore, they were also partially applied at the Smolny Institute.

The President of the Russian Academy also founded a magazine, whose name "Interlocutor of lovers of the Russian word" showed its direction. The magazine united famous writers, poets, playwrights, journalists; both Catherine II and Dashkova herself wrote articles for this magazine.

Catherine II, having given the reins of government in many economic and political areas to Platon Zubov, a stupid, but cunning, greedy and unfriendly favorite of people, in her last love completely betrayed both soul and body to the young adventurer and his brother Valerian. Potemkin tried to explain to her that Zubov was pursuing a treacherous policy towards her, trying to establish his service to the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Catherine did not even listen to him, and he left for his Southern Army to make peace with the Turks with a contrite heart and great sadness. On October 5, 1791, His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin died, hurrying to negotiate with the Turks to conclude peace. This was the only favorite of the Empress, who was not an enemy of Dashkova, but, on the contrary, helped her in many ways.

It must be said that Dashkova in court circles was known as a special person with an "eccentric character." She could not stand Catherine's favorites, and with the very first of them - Grigory Orlov - she immediately entered into hostile relations, which caused the newly-baked empress to cool off towards her friend. She also had a collision with Lansky. He was affectionate, polite and delicate with everyone, with Dashkova, according to her reviews, he was rude. The favorite-enemy was for Dashkova and Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov. She hated and considered her enemy Zubov, who more than once arranged vile provocations for her and angered the empress against her. Even during the last meeting of the Empress with Dashkova during her resignation from the post of President of the two Academies in August 1794, Zubov tried his best to disrupt this meeting, and the Empress, under his influence, did not even want to say goodbye to her favorite in a friendly way, who had served her faithfully for so many years. like no other state lady at her court.

In her memoirs, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna wrote: “I always kept myself on guard with Catherine's lovers; with some of them I was completely at odds, which prompted them to put me in an ambiguous position in relation to the empress, to fan enmity between us, and I, due to my innate irascibility, was often forgotten and caused deserved indignation on her part.

Between my favorite enemies was Count Momonov, who, like his predecessors, wanted to quarrel me with Catherine. Being more cunning than his brothers, he noticed that I would not fall for an ordinary bait, so he chose the most successful way - to use me and my son for his own purpose. Fortunately, my attachment to the empress was based on respect. Experience has shown me how little I owed to the benevolence of the royal harem. Far from bowing, like the rest of the herd, to lovers when they were in power, I did not want to recognize their influence either. At the same time, I could clearly see when Catherine acted towards me under the influence of their intrigues, and when she obeyed the suggestions of her own heart.

Ekaterina did not like Dashkova. Even then, when Dashkova began to act, wanting to elevate her friend (and she believed that this was her closest friend) to the throne, Catherine and her close circle showed great caution towards her: is this “a decoy duck”? And indeed, Peter III is Dashkova's godfather, his favorite Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova, for whom he wants to send his wife to a monastery, her own (!) Sister, and she herself is 19 years old, though well-read, but not versed in people , not in politics and a lot of talking nonsense among people. And Dashkova’s attack on the favorite Grigory Orlov showed that she does not understand politics in general, she cuts everything from the shoulder, she cannot understand that Catherine owes the throne to this rude dork and, until she has established herself on the throne, she must rely on him, or rather, on his guard bayonets. After the coup, Dashkova began to behave like a mistress: make caustic remarks about the favorite, show her displeasure to the empress. And most importantly - to tell everyone that it was thanks to her efforts that Catherine was able to sit on the throne. All this alienated Dashkova from the empress for a long time, but by no means completely: Dashkova, who has matured, is smart, has increased her education and maturity of thought with her children abroad, can be useful not in friendly, but in state affairs. So Dashkova again found herself in favor. And she paid a hundredfold for the trust of the empress with her essentially state affairs, which raised the prestige of Russia in the scientist, and to a greater extent in the cultural world.

Dashkova was always sincere to the empress and was always faithful to her; she loved Catherine, considered her an extraordinary woman, and was happy when it seemed to her that Catherine also loved her.

The death of the empress found Dashkova in her estate Troitskoye. They did not see Catherine for about two years, so the death of the Empress was unexpected for the princess. Knowing Paul's disposition, Ekaterina Romanovna began to wait for bad news, and they were not slow to appear. Pavel urgently demanded that Dashkova be evicted from Troitsky and be sent into exile in a remote village that belonged to her son. He hated Dashkova because she elevated his mother to the throne and was her associate. He did not understand that it was the elevation of his mother to the throne that made him the Heir. After all, if Peter III had exiled Catherine to a monastery and married Elizabeth Vorontsova, then the son of Elizabeth, and not he, Pavel, would have become the heir. Dashkova with her daughter Anastasia and servants spent about a year in exile in difficult, unusual conditions for her. Her friends remained at the court, who incessantly fussed about her return. At their request, Empress Maria Feodorovna, the wife of Paul I, and his favorite Nelidova joined in these troubles, and they managed to soften Paul's heart: he allowed Dashkova to return to Troitskoye, but in no case be close to the august family.

In 1798, Prince Pavel Dashkov found himself in favor with Emperor Paul. Paul I was attracted by his ability to make strategic drawings and plans. Prince Dashkov also helped to remove some of the bonds from his mother. But, as was the custom of a nervous and therefore unpredictable emperor, a year later Prince Dashkov fell out of favor with Paul and was dismissed from his post.

Dashkova lived in her estate Troitskoye, repaired and improved it, planted fruit trees and enjoyed nature. Now it is difficult to imagine this, because today Troitskoye is a scientific town, and there is not a trace left of the former life of Princess Dashkova.

As you know, Paul I reigned only 4 years and less than 5 months, and on the night of March 11-12, 1801, he was strangled in his bedroom by conspirators. The coming to power of Alexander I for Dashkova was marked by an invitation from the tsar to return to the court. Dashkova proudly writes about the coronation of Alexander I, when she rode in the coronation procession in the same carriage with Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna as the senior lady of state of the Imperial Court. But Dashkova could no longer be at court all the time: the atmosphere of the court had completely changed, and she did not want to look alien and old-fashioned, and age and illness dictated a different, calm life.

Emperor Alexander, feeling reverence for her great merits, tried to make her life easier and, just like his grandmother Catherine II, helped her financially, for example, paid off the bank loan she had taken in full.

Dashkova lived in Troitskoye, wrote her memoirs, or "Notes of the Princess", which, as you have noticed, dear readers, were quoted in abundance in this book. She was visited by English ladies whom she knew during her travels, and whose friendship she greatly valued. In honor of one of them, Lady Hamilton, she even named one of her villages - Hamilton. And to her other English friend, Miss Wilmot, she dedicated her work - "Notes of the Princess" with a letter of dedication.

Of blessed memory, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, nee Vorontsova, died on January 4, 1810, outliving her Empress Catherine II by almost 14 years, exactly as much as she was younger than her empress.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, one of the favorites of Catherine the Great, entered the history of Russia as the most educated, talented woman of her era, who raised Russia's glory in the eyes of Western Europe and the whole world in the field of education, culture, science and the scientific study of the Russian language.

Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya (née Engelhardt)(1754–1838). Alexandra Vasilievna Engelhardt, married Countess Branitskaya, became the favorite of Catherine II, maid of honor, lady of state, and then chamberlain of the Highest Court thanks to her uncle, favorite of Empress Catherine II - Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin.

The sister of His Serene Highness Prince G. A. Potemkin - Elena Alexandrovna - was married to the captain of the Smolensk gentry - Vasily Andreevich Engelhardt. Elena Alexandrovna died early, still a young woman, leaving her three daughters - Alexandra, Ekaterina and Varvara - in the care of her mother, who lived in a remote estate in one of the districts of the Smolensk province.

The girls were treated kindly by their grandmother, but, living in the wilderness, they did not receive either the proper upbringing of the nobility, or the education necessary for the noblewomen.

When, in 1775, Potemkin, already a favorite, returned to the court of Catherine II after completing the assignment - the capture of Pugachev, he turned to his benefactress with a request to take his three nieces to the court, by which time they had already become girls. The Empress gave such permission, and the three sisters - Alexandra, Catherine and Varvara, summoned by Uncle Gregory to Moscow, where the court was at that time, appeared before the eyes of Empress Catherine II. The Empress liked the Engelhardt sisters, all of them, including Alexandra, received a maid of honor cipher and went to St. Petersburg together with the court. To serve at the Imperial Court, the newly-made ladies-in-waiting had to fill in the gaps in their upbringing and education.

Alexandra, like her sisters, was an uneducated girl, completely unfamiliar with the etiquette of the brilliant Catherine's court, had no idea about its customs and mores, but she was smart, knew how to quickly navigate the circumstances and even, as her later life showed, was in very talented.

And here, at court, she turned out to be the most diligent of the sisters. Alexandra was seriously and tirelessly engaged in her self-education, with special care and speed she carried out the orders of the empress, and in the order of self-education - in clothes, in gait, in a manner of speaking, in dealing with people, she took an example from the empress she adored. Alexandra's diligence, her noticeable success in education aroused special sympathy from Catherine II, who always respected those who strive for culture. Catherine did not leave her grace and her two sisters - Catherine and Barbara.

2 years have passed since the arrival of the maid of honor Alexandra Engelhardt to the court, and in view of her visible success in this field, on November 24, 1777, she was granted the highest title of chamber maid of honor with the right to wear on the left side of her chest, at the shoulder, on a blue moire bow, strewn with diamonds portrait of the empress.

The court accepted her promotion favorably, which was facilitated by the gracious attitude of the august benefactress towards her and the presence of a powerful uncle nearby, a favorite of Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, who was always on the side of the interests of his nieces, especially Alexandra, and generously presented them all.

Alexandra fit into the life of the court well. Her regal gait, always friendly expression on her face, affectionate, kind treatment of people, and thanks to the imitation of the empress, her ability to dress impeccably - all this showed that she fully corresponded to the title of chamber maid of honor.

Looking ahead, it must be said that Alexandra Vasilyevna went through the entire hierarchical ladder of the Russian imperial court: first with the rank of maid of honor of the Highest Court (1775), then chamber maid of honor (1777), then ladies of state (1781) and, finally, the highest rank - Her Excellency Chief Chamberlain of the Imperial Court (1824). She also had the title of “Cavalry Lady of the Grand Cross”, that is, the 1st degree of the Order of St. Catherine, and she received this order not “in view of the merits of her husband”, as many ladies of large and small courts received, but for her personal merits.

There were rumors in high society that Potemkin made all his nieces his mistresses. Now it's hard to tell if that was true. But somehow I can’t believe that, having apartments connected with the apartments of the empress, in the palace where her ladies-in-waiting lived, favorite Potemkin would allow himself such debauchery, which even goes beyond the rules of favoritism. It is unlikely that Catherine would have allowed such a love mixture in front of her and her court.

In those days, the words “favorite”, “favorite” were not yet known, and the word “lover” was used in the meanings of both “darling” and “lover”. Perhaps one of the nobles used the expression "favorite nieces", and evil tongues turned it into "lover nieces".

Yes, Potemkin loved his nieces very much, he always felt responsible for them as orphans of his dead sister, he took care of them and supported and gave them gifts in every possible way. But most of all he loved Alexandra, because he was connected with her not only by family ties, but also by business: he cooperated with her as a business partner, both in politics and in commerce. Alexandra was close to Grigory Alexandrovich both in spirit and in a sense of civic duty. Having no parents, she treated him like her own father, always took care of him, of his health, especially after he ceased to be the favorite - the lover of Catherine II, but retained the title of favorite and became a statesman, the empress's main assistant in administration of the Russian Empire. In 1780, together with the Empress, he decided on Polish affairs, especially the question of the second partition of Poland. This was a difficult issue, which had to be resolved in the conditions of the weak power of the Polish king August-Stanislav (the former lover of Catherine II, who was placed on the Polish throne by her), serious disagreements in the Sejm and the willfulness of the gentry. At the same time, a religious struggle was constantly waged for the Catholicization of the population of the Commonwealth. Therefore, it was in the interests of Russia to involve as many noble, authoritative gentry as possible in cooperation.

Noticing a special interest in Alexandra Vasilievna Engelhardt on the part of the Crown Great Polish Hetman Count Xavier Petrovich Branitsky, Potemkin, on his own behalf and on behalf of the Empress, turned to Alexandra with a request not to reject Branitsky's courtship, but, on the contrary, to be especially kind to him. Alexandra Vasilyevna understood the political importance of attracting the great crown (that is, having the right to the crown) hetman to the Russian service and, not thinking about her feelings and her personal happiness, accepted Branitsky's proposal and, with the approval of Catherine II, married him. Count Xavier Branitsky was accepted into the Russian service with the rank of General-in-Chief (And the class of the Table of Ranks), Alexandra Vasilievna became Countess Branitskaya. From their marriage was born a daughter, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, by the husband of Vorontsov, the famous love of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who dedicated five brilliant love poems to her.

On the wedding day of Sashenka Engeldardt, November 12, 1781, Catherine II granted her favorite, from now on Countess Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya, the title of lady of state.

Since that time, Alexandra lived in the summer in the Alexandria estate donated to her by her husband or in the estate of her husband Belaya Tserkov, and in the winter - to fulfill her duties as a state lady - in the St. table” (food) and the right to dine at the table of the Empress. It cost the court office 400 rubles a year.

As a lady of state of the Imperial Court, Countess Branitskaya in 1783 accompanied the empress on her journey along the Dnieper to the Crimea on Potemkin's Bug galley. She was present at the first meeting of Catherine II with Emperor Joseph II, who took part in a trip to the Crimea and across the Crimea. And as the wife of the Crown Grand Hetman Count Xavier Branitsky, she accompanied her husband to the Polish Sejm, which was of great importance for Russian-Polish relations under the conditions of the Second Partition of Poland.

Count Xavier Branitsky, although he was "great and crowned", was almost ruined. Nevertheless, he gave his young wife an estate near the White Church, which he named Alexandria in her honor. And in Belaya Tserkov there was an estate that belonged to him - alas! - heavily indebted. Alexandra Vasilievna, as we know, did not have any education, especially economics, but taking on the management of the economy of Alexandria and the economy of her husband in Belaya Tserkov, she showed herself as an experienced and talented economist, and in modern terms, as a successful business lady. With her frugality, financial prudence, business-like economic foresight, Alexandra Vasilievna more than once saved Count Branitsky from complete ruin. Successfully, with good profit, she also conducted partnerships with Field Marshal of the Southern Army G. A. Potemkin, who sent her orders for the supply of various kinds of goods for the army in the Russian-Turkish war. The goods supplied by her arrived on time and were of high quality, which completely satisfied the Field Marshal, who cared about his soldiers and officers, and not just about his beloved niece. The financial affairs of Countess Branitskaya went so well that she tripled her husband's fortune, and raised her fortune to 28 million rubles.

The prosperity of the Branitsky estates attracted the owners of neighboring and even distant estates to Alexandra Vasilievna, who wanted her to share her successful experience with them, and the countess willingly shared her economic secrets with them, thereby helping to save their estates from ruin.

The true passion of Countess Branicka was the cultivation of trees, the creation of parks. Around her estate Alexandria and in the estate of Belaya Tserkov, Alexandra Vasilievna planted magnificent parks with various trees, among which there were many rare species that she ordered from abroad. She herself took care of the trees, planted them, watered them, fed them, saved them from frost, heat and insects.

Alexandria Park, to the delight of botanists, is still alive. With its beauty and splendor, it attracts many tourists who admire its park architecture, its age-old trees, especially trees of rare species.

Despite her millionaire fortune, the countess lived in a modest wooden house on her estate and led a modest and economical lifestyle. Among the people, she was known as a hoarder, because few people knew what huge amounts of money she spends on anonymous charity.

In the autumn of 1791, having learned that her beloved uncle returned from St. Petersburg to his headquarters completely ill, Alexandra Vasilyevna hurried to Nikolaev to look after him. But he considered it his duty to correct the mistake of N.I. Panin, who in the preliminary peace treaty with the Turks did not adequately take into account the interests of Russia, to make significant amendments to the final version of the Russian-Turkish peace treaty. Alexandra Vasilievna went with Potemkin to negotiate in Iasi, but on the road, 40 kilometers from Iasi, Potemkin became ill. He was taken out of the carriage and laid on the grass, but he literally died in the arms of his niece. At the place of his death, Alexandra Vasilievna erected a monument in the form of a marble column. She commissioned the painter Francesco Casanova to paint a painting depicting the death of Potemkin. An engraving was made from this painting by the artist Skorodumov. Casanova's painting has not come down to us, so its content is known only from the engraving by Skorodumov. According to Potemkin's will, Countess Branitskaya inherited most of his estates and estates. In memory of her uncle, His Serene Highness Prince G. A. Potemkin, a great statesman, she established a hospital for all classes, naming it Grigorievskaya in his honor. She donated 200 thousand rubles to ransom poor people, insolvent debtors from prison.

A little over a year after the death of Uncle Grigory Alexandrovich, on September 8, 1792, the Branitsky couple had a daughter, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, who went down in Russian history thanks to Pushkin's love for her. Alexandra Vasilievna brought up her daughter in strictness and gave her initially a very good, but home education, which took place either in Alexandria or in the White Church.

Looking ahead, let's say that in 1807, fifteen-year-old Elizabeth was granted the maid of honor of the small court of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. However, in reality, Elizabeth continued to live either on her father's estate or on her mother's estate. Alexandra Vasilievna did not want her daughter to be at court before marriage, in an atmosphere of favoritism, in fact permissiveness. She highly appreciated and respected Alexander I, but she knew well that he was a great conqueror of the hearts of beautiful girls. And her Elizabeth, though not a beauty, but a very attractive girl, captivated by her charming smile and gentle look of small, honey-colored eyes. “In addition, Polish coquetry made its way through her great modesty, to which her Russian mother taught her from childhood, which made her even more attractive.” Therefore, having identified her daughter as a lady-in-waiting at court, Alexandra Vasilyevna immediately secured a long leave for her "to complete her upbringing and education."

Alexandra Vasilievna had another son, Alexander Ksaverievich Branitsky, who served at court from September 15, 1801 as a chamber junker, and from January 1, 1804 he was granted a full chamberlain. But already on January 15, 1804, Alexander I "deigned to order, according to the request of the lady of state Countess Alexandra Vasilyevna Branitskaya, to leave her youngest son, the actual chamberlain Count Alexander Ksaverievich Branitsky, with his parent until improvement in science."

But back to 1796. Five years after the death of Potemkin, also in the autumn, the benefactor of the favorite, the lady of state Branitskaya, Empress Catherine II, died. Alexandra Vasilievna experienced her death as deeply as the death of her uncle. She has now lost all interest in the imperial court, which used to be her home, in the winter of 1797. She left in the winter of 1797 for the estate of Belaya Tserkov, and in the spring of the following year - to Alexandria, to her parks, to her trees, to their peace and quiet. Communication with the imperial court remained only in correspondence with the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, the widow of Paul I, in constant participation in charitable affairs of the "Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna", and in rare visits by Alexander I to her estate Alexandria.

Knowing about the help of Alexandra Vasilievna to the Russian throne in international politics, Emperor Alexander I treated Countess Branitskaya with great respect and every time he visited Alexandria, he invariably called her to return to St. Petersburg.

The invasion of the Napoleonic troops was aimed at capturing Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia, and therefore passed by the side of the Branitsky estates. However, General-in-Chief Count Xavier Petrovich Branitsky participated in the war of 1812, and then in the Foreign Campaign of 1813-1814, freeing his native Poland from Napoleon. After the liberation of both Russia and Europe from Napoleon, the international prestige of Russia increased significantly. At the Congress of Vienna, convened in September 1814 at the initiative of Russia as the main winner in the Napoleonic Wars, Alexander I was literally recognized as a hero. The Congress continued until June 1815, and all this time, in addition to very heated debates due to the claims of the powers (England, Austria , Prussia) in the territory, especially Polish, nevertheless, the time also passed in balls, concerts, opera and drama performances. 216 representatives of all European powers, including Russia, were invited to the congress along with their families. Among others, General-in-Chief Count Xavier Petrovich Branitsky was invited with his wife and daughter. There, in Vienna, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna met Count Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign battles of 1813-1814. Elizabeth, who at that time was 23 years old, was fresh and very good. Count Vorontsov, a brilliant young general, was very fond of her, but was in no hurry to offer her a hand and heart: he was afraid that her connection through her father with the Polish magnates might interfere with his future career. Branicki returned home without receiving an offer from the groom.

Years passed, but Alexandra Vasilyevna continued to take care of the trees, and when Count Branitsky began to get sick, she took care of her husband as well. In early 1819, her husband, the Polish Crown Hetman Count Xavier Petrovich Branitsky, General-in-Chief of the Russian army, died. Elizabeth Ksaveryevna at that time was already in her 27th year. And then she received an offer from Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov to marry him. The proposal was accepted, and on April 20, 1819, the wedding took place in Paris. Countess Elizaveta Ksaveryevna brought her husband a very large dowry.

Russian troops still remained in France, Count Vorontsov commanded the troops in Paris, so the young couple after the wedding was forced to live in Paris until the order to return. The order was received in 1823, and the Vorontsovs returned to their homeland. Count Vorontsov was appointed governor-general of Novorossia and, in connection with such a high position, the title of prince, and Elizabeth Vorontsova, who became princess, was granted, in view of her husband's important merits, to the state ladies of the Highest Court with the award of the Order of St. Catherine II degree, which gave her rank of cavalry lady of the Small Cross.

Five years after the death of her husband, on January 1, 1824, Countess Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya, State Lady of the Imperial Court, Cavalier Lady of the Order of St. Catherine I of the Grand Cross, heeding the invitations of the emperor, returned to St. Petersburg to the court. Alexander I granted her the highest court rank of Chief Chamberlain of the Imperial Court. But she was a lady of the Catherine's court, and the new order of the Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna and the new way of life of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna were alien to her. She continued to imitate her mistress Catherine the Great in her gait, in clothes, in communication with the courtiers, but a new fashion came in everything, and Alexandra Vasilievna looked very old-fashioned against this background. Chief Chamberlain Branitskaya was no longer young: she was already in her eighties. It was already too late to accept new orders, new fashion, new views on the life of the court, and Countess Branitskaya, having completely lost interest in the imperial court, resigned.

For many years, the place of Chief Chamberlain of the Highest Court remained unoccupied. And only on February 2, 1885, Emperor Alexander III granted the rank and position of Chief Chamberlain of the Highest Court to the chamberlain, cavalry lady Princess Elena Pavlovna Kochubey, after whose death in 1888 he was no longer in this rank nobody complained.

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The period of the reign of Empress Catherine II was overshadowed by both the mass of social problems that arose in the Russian Empire and the unprecedented scale of favoritism. The young boyfriends who surrounded the empress had a sharply negative impact on the domestic and foreign policy of the state. Representatives of the upper strata of the nobility began to seek personal gain through flattery to the new favorites of Catherine the Great, thereby undermining all moral norms and social foundations of that time. Naturally, one cannot underestimate in any way the great importance in the development of Russia that the era of the reign of the empress has. However, we will not describe in detail the state acts and exploits of Catherine II, but will try to talk about the personal life of a woman who left a truly indelible mark on the history of our country.

Princess Fike

The future "Empress and Autocrat of All Russia by the grace of God" Catherine, who had already received the title "Great" from her contemporaries, was born on April 21, 1729 in the Prussian town of Stettin. Major General, Colonel Christian August Anhalt-Zerbst and his wife, Johanna Elizaveta, gave their first-born daughter a beautiful German name - Sophia Augusta Frederick. Despite the fact that the girl’s parents were related to many royal houses of Europe (her father had the title of prince and even later became the owner of the German principality of Zerbst, and her mother was a nee princess of Holstein-Gottorp), her childhood was little like the life of a person of “royal blood” . Living in an ordinary German house, Fike, as her parents affectionately called her daughter, received the usual home education for a girl from a bourgeois family of that time, which necessarily included the ability to cook and clean.

The beginning of the "royal" path

In 1744, under the patronage of the Prussian King Frederick the Great, Sophia Augusta and her mother were summoned by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who was looking for a bride for her son, to St. Petersburg. In Russia, the German princess was baptized and, according to Orthodox custom, received a name. In 1745, she married Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III. young from the very beginning was unsatisfactory. The heir to the throne, either because of his infantilism or dementia, or simply because of "dislike" was very cold with his wife. Even on their wedding night, he did not pay any attention to the young bride. She, distinguished by her indefatigable sexual temperament, simply needed male attention and, according to contemporaries, immediately after the wedding she began to openly flirt with gentlemen.

First serious love

Even during the life of her husband, the future empress had a secret lover. They became Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov (1726-1765), a noble nobleman of the grand ducal family, who had the rank of chamberlain under the Grand Duke. Saltykov at the time of their acquaintance was 26 years old. He became the first favorite of Catherine II and the only one who was older than her. The connection between young people lasted from 1752 to 1754, until the birth of Catherine's son, the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich. Many contemporaries attributed the true paternity of Pavel to Saltykov. Like it or not, it is not known for certain, the empress herself never denied these rumors. As for Sergei Vasilyevich, in the same year he was sent as an envoy to Europe, from where he corresponded with his beloved for a long time. It is from Saltykov that the favorites of Catherine the Great begin their countdown, whose portraits are well preserved to this day.

Second love: a young Pole

Ekaterina, being a young, cheerful and very passionate woman, simply could not remain alone. In 1756 she had a new lover. They became Stanislaw August Poniatowski (1732-1798), a well-educated diplomat who soon became the Polish ambassador in St. Petersburg. According to rumors, it was from this connection that the future empress gave birth in 1757 to her daughter Anna, who died at the age of two. It is known that Pyotr Fedorovich knew about the relationship of his wife with the young Pole, and moreover, he supported them. The only significant opponent of Catherine's "adventures" was the ruling empress - In 1758, she found out about the vicious relationship of her daughter-in-law, was very angry and ordered to immediately send the envoy back to Poland. Catherine kept the memory of her beloved even after the forced separation. In 1764, being already an empress, she helped Stanisław August to ascend the throne of the Commonwealth.

Grigory Orlov (1734-1783)

What role did Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov play in the fate of this woman? What does history tell us? The future favorite of Catherine the Great was born on October 17, 1734 in the family of a retired major general - Grigory Ivanovich Orlov. The childhood of Gregory and his four brothers passed in an atmosphere of love, harmony and warmth. The head of the family, who was an indisputable authority, never allowed any quarrels or scandals in the family. The Orlovs received the usual home education for people of their circle, where special attention was paid to military affairs and physical training. The brothers differed from most of their peers in tall stature, a heroic article and tremendous strength. In 1749, Grigory entered the St. Petersburg land cadet corps, after which he was immediately enlisted in the elite guards. The young man was very handsome, loved by women and had a passion for amorous adventures. At the same time, he was distinguished by courage and fearlessness, which allowed him to quickly rise to the rank of lieutenant and go as part of the army in the Seven Years' War.

feats of arms

On the battlefield, the future favorite of Catherine II, Orlov, showed himself to be a very brave warrior. Glory to Gregory was brought by a bloody battle near the German village of Zorndorf, where the Russian army met with the troops of the Prussian king Frederick II. During the battle, the desperate cavalry guard showed brilliant courage, amazing composure and great endurance. Being wounded three times, he remained in the ranks, rushed into the thick of the battle and tirelessly smashed the enemy. The news of the hero's exploits spread through the soldiers' ranks, inspiring all Russian soldiers, and the Prussian army was defeated and put to flight. For the courage and courage shown in the battle, Grigory Orlov was elevated to the rank of captain, and the war ended for him. The fact is that during the Battle of Zorndorf, Friedrich's adjutant, Count von Schwerin, was captured. The responsible mission of delivering the prisoner to the court of Empress Elizabeth was entrusted to the young guardsman.

Acquaintance with the future empress

In the spring of 1759, Grigory arrived in the northern capital, where he was immediately met by his brothers, Alexei and Fedor, who served as lieutenants of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky guards regiments, respectively. The trinity had a fun time, indulging in fun feasts, love adventures and card games. However, in 1760, Gregory was transferred from the guard to the artillery and appointed adjutant of a very influential nobleman - Count Peter Ivanovich Shuvalov. Once in the center of court life, the handsome Orlov meets thirty-year-old Catherine, attractive and sophisticated in love affairs, but at the same time an unhappy woman suffering from loneliness and humiliation from her husband. Grigory Grigoryevich charmed the future empress with his youth, passion and adventurism. For a long time, lovers managed to hide their relationship from strangers.

Conspiracy against the Emperor

The Orlovs, who were known as brave and decent people, enjoyed great prestige in the guards regiments, which represented a serious power and support of tsarist power. The brothers, in conversations with friends, began to create the image of a martyr for the Grand Duchess, gradually attracting an increasing number of nobles and military men to their side. The arrogant behavior of the heir to the throne himself, Peter, also did not contribute to his popularity. The first opportunity to make a coup for the conspirators, which included the current (G. Orlov) and future (G. Potemkin) favorites of Catherine 2, was presented on December 25, 1761, on the day of the death of Empress Elizabeth. However, the Grand Duchess herself was completely at a loss, panicked terribly, and the moment was lost. However, the reason for Catherine's confusion soon became known. She was in her fifth month of pregnancy, and all the courtiers were aware that it was Gregory who was the father of the child. The boy was born in April 1762, was named Alexei, received the title of count and became the founder of the noble Bobrinsky family.

Palace coup

The first "steps" of Emperor Peter III (making peace with Prussia and disbanding the guard, which was the main support of the Russian troops) caused great discontent in society. The Orlov brothers, having united the indignant military, decided to carry out a coup on the night of June 27-28, the purpose of which was to overthrow the emperor. brought Catherine from Peterhof to the capital, where they were met by Grigory and his associates. The Guards regiments swore allegiance to the future autocrat, and from 9 o'clock in the morning the rite of her coronation began in the Kazan Cathedral. Peter III, while in Oranienbaum, was well aware of the hopelessness of his position and dutifully signed his abdication. The Empress was well aware of the enormous role of the brothers in her enthronement and later repeated more than once that she owed a lot to the Orlovs.

Grigory Orlov - favorite of Catherine the Great

After the coronation, Catherine, showering all her assistants with titles, titles and awards, moved to the Winter Palace. Orlov, despite the estates donated by the empress, preferred to live next to his beloved. It was a truly wonderful time for him. Raised to the dignity of a count, received the rank of major general, Grigory Grigorievich began to wield tremendous power, he was always well received by the empress, and she discussed all state affairs with him. Catherine II passionately loved her favorite and even seriously intended to marry Orlov. With great difficulty, but nevertheless, Count Nikita Panin managed to dissuade the autocrat from such a step. Historians know his words: “Mother, we all obey the command of the Empress, but who will obey Countess Orlova?” Gregory, according to eyewitnesses, also loved Catherine very much and gave her expensive gifts, the most famous of which is a huge diamond.

Life at court

Grigory Grigorievich always supported the empress's undertakings and, to the best of his ability, tried to help her in governing the state. He did not have a thirst for power, which was experienced by many favorites of Catherine the Great, and contemporaries spoke of him as a generous, trusting and good-natured person. Count Orlov was interested in science and philosophy, poetry and art. He provided support and patronage to the great Lomonosov, and after his death he was able to buy all the works of the scientist and save them for posterity. He was one of the initiators of the campaign against the Turks with the aim of gaining access to the Black Sea. Although the empress did not let her lover go to war, he quickly found a use. Grigory Orlov, a favorite of Catherine the Great, was sent to Moscow to fight the plague. He managed to show his organizational skills there and cleanse the city of a terrible infection in a month. Catherine met her lover as a hero, ordered the Arc de Triomphe to be erected in his honor and a medal with a portrait of the count cast.

Sunset bright star

On April 18, 1772, Gregory was sent to Romania to negotiate with the Turks. During this trip, Orlov learned that Catherine II had a new favorite. It turned out to be Aleksey Semenovich Vasilchikov (1746-1813) - cornet of the Life Guards Horse Regiment, who belonged to a well-known noble family. On August 28, Gregory interrupted the conference and rushed to Petersburg, wanting to meet with the Empress. Catherine at that time had already received a report from Orlov with the news that Orlov had failed negotiations, and decided to finally break with him. The empress refused her former lover an audience and sent him on a yearly "vacation", endowing him with a rich annual allowance, as well as thousands of serfs. In 1777, the count married his cousin, who soon fell ill with tuberculosis and died. Grigory Grigoryevich could not stand her death, became mentally damaged and died on April 24, 1783.

Life doesn't stand still

Alexey Vasilchikov did not have such outstanding data that the previous favorites of Catherine the Great had. Although he was 17 years younger than the empress, he was distinguished by a lack of education and quickly got bored with the empress. Of his virtues, only disinterestedness and the fact that he did not use his position at all can be distinguished. He was replaced in 1774 by Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, who became one of the most famous people of his time, from whom Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth Grigoryevna. The offspring of a poor noble family, Potemkin became a great statesman, friend and de facto co-ruler of the Empress. At the "post" of the favorite, Grigory Alexandrovich was replaced by Pyotr Vasilyevich Zavadovsky, who also became a prominent dignitary. During the reign of Alexander I, the grandson of Catherine, he received the post of Minister of Public Education.

A few words in conclusion

The favorites of Catherine 2, who were mainly adjutants of His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin, began to replace one another. Some of them, like the future hero of the Patriotic War, Yermolov, gained fame and popular love. The majority, as Sorotokina N.M. writes in her book “Favorites of Catherine the Great”, were engaged in outright money-grubbing, corruption, and devastated the state treasury. And the phenomenon of favoritism lay a dark spot on the entire history of the Russian state.

The most famous favorites of Catherine the Great

You can see photos of some of them in our article. Although this is not all favorites of the Empress. Favorites of Catherine 2, who received the greatest fame: Alexei Petrovich Yermolov (future hero of the war with Napoleon), Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin (great statesman of that era) and the last favorite of the Empress.

Catherine the Great had many favorites, because first of all she was a woman who needed to have a heart-to-heart talk with someone, keep secrets about love adventures, and discuss state affairs with someone. Who were these court ladies who were able to make friends with the Empress and become more than just ladies-in-waiting for her?

Anna Protasova, faithful and ugly

Anna Protasova, the niece of Grigory Orlov, who made her patronage, appeared at court at the age of 17. Anna was an ugly girl, besides, she came from a poor family, so her personal life did not work out. Even the plans of Catherine II to marry Protasova to the diplomat Arkady Morkov were not successful.

Not having received the desired female happiness, Protasova made every effort to become a significant figure at court. When she entered adulthood, she was granted the honorary title of chamber maid of honor. Catherine II, who favored her, provided Anna with luxurious apartments next to her bedroom. Protasova was a faithful companion in Catherine's travels, received a very good salary and even dined with the Empress.

Anna Protasova monitored the behavior and work of the ladies-in-waiting and pages, and was very strict with them. They feared this woman, sought her disposition, respected her. She was with Catherine until the death of the empress, supported the empress and was always faithful to her. Pavel 1 granted Protasova the Order of St. Catherine, and she was also presented with serfs in the amount of one hundred souls and a large pension was assigned.

Marya Perekusikhina, keeper of secrets and best friend

The Empress did not have many close friends. One of them is Maria Savvishna Perekusikhina, a simple girl from the Ryazan province. How she, an uneducated girl from a family of poor nobles, managed to be close to Catherine II is unknown today. But one thing is clear - the empress became attached to her with all her heart and considered her the most sincere, wise and devoted friend.

There was no such family or love secret that Catherine would not have shared with her beloved Savvishna. Perekusikhina was the first adviser, both in court affairs and in everyday life. When Marya was in the rank of chamber Jungfrau, she served Catherine when dressing, later Savvishna was appointed chamber maid of honor and received the right to dispose of the morning toilet, she also prepared a bed for the empress.

Savvishna and Catherine II were inseparable, always together, both on the road and at court. This woman was very influential, so she was often approached with requests. It was in her power to help someone arrange a marriage, she could get an appointment with the empress, promote a person up the career ladder, she was allowed to ask Catherine for money. When Catherine II was struck by a stroke, and it happened in 1796, Marya was the first to find her friend, the Empress, and until the very last minutes she was always there. After the death of Catherine, she was excommunicated by Paul I from the court with the appointment of a large pension.

Ekaterina Dashkova, brilliant mind and quarrel with Ekaterina

Ekaterina Vorontsova was the most educated woman. This lady knew four languages, was on "you" with mathematics, danced and drew superbly.

Her uncle was Chancellor Mikhail Vorontsov; in her younger years, Catherine often visited and lived with him, absorbing books one after another, which Vorontsov had in abundance. That is why Catherine II reacted with interest to her namesake, when in 1758 she was presented not yet to the empress, but to the Grand Duchess. The women experienced mutual sympathy and were pleasantly surprised by the unity of interests and tastes.

Vorontsova married Prince Mikhail Dashkov and became Ekaterina Dashkova. Dashkova considered the ascension to the throne of Peter III a big mistake, because she took an active part in organizing the coup d'état. The flexible mind of Dashkova made it possible to attract very worthy people to Catherine's side, including Count Razumovsky, Prince Baryatinsky, Ivan Betskoy and others. However, Catherine II did not appreciate the merits of Dashkova, and after her ascension to the throne in 1762, mutual understanding between women began to disappear. The friendship finally broke up when rumors reached the Empress that Ekaterina Dashkova had a negative attitude towards the marriage of Catherine II and Grigory Orlov.

Anna Naryshkina, who knew everything about love affairs

With the young Anna Naryshkina, then Rumyantseva, Catherine II met in 1749, at the wedding of Anna and Alexander Naryshkin, who was then chamberlain of Catherine's small court. The rules at that time were Elizaveta Petrovna, who introduced the women by asking Ekaterina to help the girl Rumyantseva in the chores before the wedding.

Anna and Catherine felt mutual sympathy, they were both young, cheerful, dreaming of adventure and love affairs. Countess Naryshkina became an understanding and devoted friend, she always helped Catherine in organizing meetings with her favorites. The husband and wife of the Naryshkins took an active part in preparing the coup, after which Catherine became Empress. When Catherine II died, by the decision of Paul 1, Anna Naryshkina was granted the position of chamberlain.

Alexandra Branitskaya, beloved maid of honor

One of the favorites of Catherine II was Grigory Potemkin. He introduced his niece, Alexandra Branitskaya, to the Empress, and later helped her become a maid of honor. Smart and wise Branitskaya, despite her lack of education, was able to win over the Empress and soon, having received the title of maid of honor, became Catherine's close associate. She behaved so subtly and intelligently that the empress considered her practically a member of the family. Branitskaya was a real favorite, she loved to dress beautifully and eat deliciously. An unprecedented amount was spent on gourmet dinners for the countess - almost 400 rubles daily.

The Empress granted her chambers not far from her own, often taking Alexandra with her on trips. And in 1787, Branitskaya received the Order of St. Catherine. When the Empress died, Branitskaya, whom Paul 1 did not like and did not want to endure, was forced to leave her estate and spend the rest of her days there.

Amazing stories are connected with favorites and favorites. One of them is about
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Plan
Introduction
1 Feature
2 Chronological listings
2.1 Husbands, lovers and favorites
2.2 Children

3 In books, film and propaganda
4 See also
5 Bibliography
Bibliography

Introduction

The list of men of Catherine II includes men who figured in the intimate life of Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), including her spouses (legitimate and possibly morganatic; highlighted in purple in the table), official favorites and lovers.

Catherine is notorious because of her connections with numerous lovers, however, the number of names actually known from the memoirs of contemporaries reaches only 23 (according to the list of Catherine's scholar P. I. Bartenev with additions by Ya. L. Barskov; there are discrepancies). Only 10 of them officially occupied the post of favorite with all its privileges and duties, and therefore information about the others is rather vague, in particular, it is not always clear to what stage their relationship with the empress reached and how long they lasted, and for several it is not known exact surnames (highlighted in green in the table).

The most famous of her favorites were Grigory Orlov, Grigory Potemkin and Platon Zubov. After the death of her husband Peter III in 1762, she planned a marriage with Orlov, but on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea, and with Potemkin, most likely, Catherine was secretly married in 1775 (see Wedding of Catherine II and Potemkin) - with these two men, as well as with the early deceased Alexander Lansky, she was connected by the strongest feelings. Three or four children were born to Catherine, and two or three more are attributed to her (see separate table).

1. Feature

In 1778, the Frenchman Corberon informed his government that “in Russia, at times, a kind of interregnum in affairs is noticed, which coincides with the displacement of one favorite and the appearance of a new one. This event overshadows all others. It concentrates on itself all interests and directs them in one direction; even ministers, to whom this general mood responds, suspend business until the final choice of a temporary worker brings everyone back to normal and gives the government machine its usual course.

Usually (with the exception of a short period in 1778-1780, when she was under fifty, and she changed several lovers in a short time), Catherine spent several years with her favorites, parting with them usually due to incompatibility of characters, poor education of favorites, their betrayal or misbehavior (problems for the favorites arose due to the large age difference with the empress, the rigid schedule of her day and control over their schedule, and the need to pay respect to Potemkin). The surviving correspondence of Catherine with her lovers betrays “her unbridled sensuality”, but “as far as we know, she never entered into a relationship without love. There is no evidence that she has ever approached a man, not believing that she is entering into a long and serious relationship. Probably, there were both "transitional cases" and "one-night dates" in search of a suitable companion, but they were inevitably rare, since it was almost impossible to bring someone into the palace and take them out without passing numerous servants, guards and courtiers who invariably noticed and commented any actions of the empress (information about a potential future favorite was valuable - letters from foreign diplomats to their homeland indicate that they carefully collected such rumors).

Catherine's relationship with her favorites was the warmest, she actually passionately fell in love with each of them, surrounding each with care and attention. The novel usually began "with an outburst of her maternal love, German sentimentality and admiration for the beauty of her new lover". She admired the current favorite in communication with others, and when it became necessary to part with him, she fell into depression and sometimes abandoned business for several weeks. None of the lovers who lost her favor, even those who cheated on her, were not subjected to serious disgrace, they were usually sent from the capital with large gifts to the bestowed estates. Contemporaries and historians (especially Soviet ones) calculated the amounts that Catherine spent on gifts to her beloved during the period of favor, and called colossal numbers.

Potemkin shortly before his death, April 1791

Almost all of her favorites after Potemkin were introduced to Catherine by him personally (except for Zubov) and defended his interests. Apparently, after the crisis caused by the appearance of the next favorite after Potemkin, Zavadovsky, an “tacit agreement” was concluded between Catherine and Potemkin: each favorite should protect the interests of the prince at court. She demanded unquestioning obedience to Potemkin from the favorites, and if this rule was violated, the favorite was fired. The favorites of the empress were young people who had neither wealth nor influential relatives, who owed their rise entirely to Potemkin and Catherine and did not subsequently play an independent role. Potemkin's biographer writes that historians often overlooked the triangle "Catherine - Potemkin - young favorite", but it was precisely such a triangle that made up the "family" of the empress. Potemkin's rooms were still connected to the apartments of the Empress, he had the right to enter without a report, and the current favorite at any moment could be faced with the need to endure his company or even retire. Apparently, Ekaterina and Potemkin did not interrupt their “marital relations” until the end of their lives. Some memoirists call him "favorite-anshef", and the rest - "Unter favorites".

2. Chronological lists

2.1. Husbands, lovers and favorites

№	Name	Portrait	The beginning of a relationship	End of a relationship	Status	Note
1	Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich (Emperor Peter III) (1728-1762)	1745, August 21 (September 1) - wedding	June 28 (July 9), 1762 - death of Peter III	legal spouse	His children, according to the Romanov tree: Pavel Petrovich(1754) (according to one version, his father is Sergei Saltykov) and officially - Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna(1757-1759, most likely the daughter of Stanisław Poniatowski). Suffered, if you believe the rumors, some kind of impotence associated with the deformation of the penis - possibly phimosis, and in the early years did not have marital relations with her. Then this problem was solved with the help of a surgical operation, and in order to perform it, Saltykov got Peter drunk.
2	Saltykov, Sergei Vasilievich (1726-1765)	1752. Since this period, it has been at the "small court" of the Grand Dukes Ekaterina Alekseevna and Pyotr Fedorovich. The beginning of the novel is probably the spring of that year.	1754, October. 2 weeks after birth led. book. Paul hastily sent as an envoy to Sweden. A few months earlier, when the signs of Catherine's pregnancy became noticeable, he was no longer allowed to see her and she suffered from separation.	secret lover	The only known male of the Empress is older than her. Catherine II, wanting to discredit her son Pavel, did not refute the rumors that Saltykov was his father. After the story with Catherine, he remained at foreign courts almost all his life.
3	Stanislav August Poniatowski (1732-1798)	1756. Catherine, recovering from childbirth and separation from her beloved Saltykov, fell in love again with a young Pole who came to Russia in the retinue of the English ambassador Williams.	1758. After the fall of Chancellor Bestuzhev, Williams and Poniatowski were forced to leave Petersburg.	secret lover	Officially recognized Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna(1757-1759), most likely, was the daughter of Poniatowski, as Grand Duke Pyotr Fedorovich himself believed, who, judging by Catherine's Notes, said: “God knows where my wife gets pregnant from; I don’t know for sure if this child is mine and if I should recognize him as mine. ” In the future, Catherine will make him King of Poland, and then annex Poland and annex it to Russia. The only foreigner on the list of beloved Catherine, a nee German princess: such an addiction to Russian beauties pleased her subjects, who remembered the “German dominance” of favorites Anna Ioannovna and Anna Leopoldovna.
4	Orlov, Grigory Grigorievich (1734-1783)	1759 or 1760. In the spring of 1759, Count Schwerin, the aide-de-camp of Frederick II, arrived in St. Petersburg, who was captured in the Battle of Zorndorf, to which Orlov was assigned as a guard. Orlov gained fame by repulsing his mistress from Pyotr Shuvalov.	1772. In total, the couple was together for 12 years, after the death of her husband, Catherine even wanted to marry him, but she was dissuaded. In parallel, he had many mistresses, of which Catherine was aware. Finally, at the beginning of 1772, he left for a peace congress with the Turks in Focsani, and in his absence the star of the favorite went down, as Catherine drew attention to Vasilchikov.	Secret lover, then official favorite (since 1762).	Bobrinsky, Alexey Grigorievich- the son of Ekaterina and Orlov, was born on April 22, 1762, a few months after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna. It is reported that on the day when she began giving birth, her faithful servant Shkurin set fire to his house, and Peter rushed off to look at the fire. Orlov and his passionate brothers contributed to the overthrow of Peter and Catherine's accession to the throne. Having lost favor, he married his cousin Ekaterina Zinovieva, and after her death he went crazy.
5	Vasilchikov, Alexander Semyonovich (1746-1803/1813)	1772, September. In the spring and summer of this year, he often stood on guard at Tsarskoe Selo, where he attracted the attention of the empress and soon received a golden snuffbox "for the maintenance of the guards." Then he occupied the rooms in the palace in which Orlov lived, and out of fear of the sudden return of the former favorite, a guard was placed at the door of his premises. Such a change in favorite, after the Oryol decade, was a novelty and caused great commotion at court.	1774, March 20. Vasilchikov, in connection with the rise of Potemkin, was sent an imperial order to go to Moscow.	Official favorite	The first of Catherine's favorites is much younger than her in age (14 years difference), distinguished by beauty. He was disinterested and made little use of his position. Catherine, however, felt his emptiness and lack of education and considered him boring. After his resignation, he settled in Moscow with his brother, did not marry.
6	Potemkin, Grigory Alexandrovich (1739-1791)	1774, spring. An old acquaintance of Catherine, who took part in the coup	1776. In April 1776, he went on vacation to revise the Novgorod province, at which time Zavadovsky, whom the Empress "had her eye on", took his place.	The official favorite, apparently, the morganatic spouse since 1775 (see Wedding of Catherine II and Potemkin)	Catherine gave birth to Potemkin's daughter - Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina. Despite the gap in his personal life, thanks to his abilities, he maintained the friendship and respect of Catherine and for many years remained the second person in the state. He was not married, his personal life consisted of the "enlightenment" of his young nieces, including Ekaterina Engelgart (see).
7	Zavadovsky, Pyotr Vasilievich (1739-1812)	1776 November. He was under Rumyantsev, was introduced to the Empress as the author of reports and reports on the affairs of Little Russia in the summer of 1775 during her stay in Moscow. He interested her as a person "quieter and more peaceful" than Potemkin.	1777, July. He joined the party of the Orlovs and Count Rumyantsev, did not suit Potemkin and was replaced by his efforts. In May 1777, after Catherine met Zorich, Zavadovsky was given a 6-month official leave.	Official favorite	Born Little Russian. Since his retirement, he has held prominent positions in the administration. He loved the empress “like a woman” and was truly jealous of her, which hurt him in her eyes. I could not forget her even after parting. He left for the Lyalichi estate granted to him, in 1777 he was recalled by the empress back to the capital, since 1780 he has been engaged in administrative activities on her behalf. He became the first minister of public education. He married Vera Nikolaevna Apraksina, daughter of S. O. Apraksina, niece and master of Kirill Razumovsky. Considered next in ability after Potemkin among Catherine's favorites; the only one, besides him, whom she allowed to return and instructed to engage in state activities.
8	Zorich, Semyon Gavrilovich (1743/1745-1799)	1777, June. Potemkin, wanting to remove Zavadovsky, was looking for a replacement for him and took Zorich to his adjutant, and then appointed him commander of the life hussar squadron - Catherine's personal bodyguard.	1778, June. He aroused the displeasure of the empress with an immoderate card game, and Potemkin's dissatisfaction with his unwillingness to reckon with his interests, in a fit of temper he uttered a bunch of insolence to the prince. Was expelled from Petersburg.	Official favorite	A handsome hussar of Serbian origin, 14 years younger than the Empress. Catherine was unhappy with his poor education and the fact that he did not share her cultural interests, she always expected that he could "do something dirty." As a result, he was dismissed with a large reward, granted by 7 thousand peasants and settled in the town of Shklov presented to him by Catherine II, where he founded the Shklov noble school at his own expense. Entangled in debt and was suspected of counterfeiting.
9	Rimsky-Korsakov, Ivan Nikolaevich (1754-1831)	1778, June. Noticed by Potemkin, who was looking for a replacement for Zorich, and distinguished by him due to his beauty, as well as ignorance and lack of serious abilities that could make him a political rival. Potemkin introduced him to the Empress among three officers (including Bergman, Rontsov). On June 1, he was appointed adjutant wing to the Empress.	1779, October 10. Removed from the court, after the Empress found him in the arms of Countess Praskovya Bruce, Field Marshal Rumyantsev's sister. This intrigue of Potemkin had as its goal the removal not of Korsakov, but of Bruce herself.	Official favorite	25 years younger than the empress; Catherine was attracted by his announced "innocence". He was very handsome and had an excellent voice (for the sake of it, Catherine invited world-famous musicians to Russia). After losing favor, he first stayed in St. Petersburg and talked about his connection with the empress in the living rooms, which hurt her pride. In addition, he left Bruce and began an affair with Countess Ekaterina Stroganova (he was 10 years younger than her). This turned out to be too much, and Catherine sent him to Moscow. In the end, her husband divorced Stroganova. Korsakov lived with her until the end of her life, they had a son and two daughters.
1778/1779 was a chaotic year in Catherine's personal life, she could not choose a permanent lover for herself. Perhaps this was due to the blow from Korsakov's betrayal. Information about men of this period is contradictory. .				Chronology of the "interregnum" (according to Kazimir Valishevsky):· 1778, June - the rise of Korsakov · 1778, August - rivals are trying to beat off the favors of the empress from him, they are supported by Potemkin (on the one hand) and Panin and Orlov (on the other) · 1778, September - Strakhov prevails over his rivals · 4 months later - the rise of Levashov. A young man patronized by Countess Bruce, Sveikovsky (or Svihovsky), pierced himself with a sword in desperation that this officer was preferred to him. · Rimsky-Korsakov briefly returns to his previous position · Rimsky-Korsakov fights Stoyanov
10	Stakhiev (Fear)	1778; 1779, June.	1779, October.	According to the description of contemporaries, "a jester of the lowest sort." Strakhov was a protégé of Count N.I. Panin Strakhov may be Ivan Varfolomeevich Strakhov(1750-1793), in this case, he was not the lover of the Empress, but a man whom Panin considered insane, and who, when Catherine once told him that he could ask her for some kind of favor, threw himself on his knees and asked her hands, after which she began to avoid him.
11	Stoyanov (Stanov) Perhaps two separate people.	1778	1778	Potemkin's henchman
12	Rantsov (Rontsov), Ivan Romanovich (1755-1791)	1779. Mentioned among those who participated in the "competition", it is not entirely clear whether he managed to visit the empress's alcove	1780	One of the illegitimate sons of Count R. I. Vorontsov, half-brother of Dashkova. A year later, he led the London crowd in the riots organized by Lord George Gordon.
13	Levashov, Vasily Ivanovich (1740(?) - 1804)	1779 October	1779 October	Major of the Semyonovsky regiment, a young man patronized by Countess Bruce. He was witty and funny. The uncle of one of the subsequent favorites is Ermolova. He was not married, but had 6 "pupils" from a student of the theater school Akulina Semyonova, who were granted the dignity of nobility and his surname.
14	Vysotsky, Nikolai Petrovich (1751-1827)	1780, March. Potemkin's nephew	1780 March
15	Lanskoy, Alexander Dmitrievich (1758-1784)	1780, April. He was introduced to Catherine by Chief of Police P. I. Tolstoy, she drew attention to him, but he did not become a favorite. Levashev turned to Potemkin for help, he made him his adjutant and led his court education for about six months, after which in the spring of 1780 he recommended him to the empress as a cordial friend.	1784, 25 July. Died after a five-day illness with toad and fever	Official favorite	29 years younger than the 54-year-old at the time of the beginning of the relationship of the empress. The only one of the favorites who did not interfere in politics and refused influence, ranks, and orders. He shared Catherine's interest in the sciences and, under her guidance, studied French and got acquainted with philosophy. Enjoyed universal sympathy. He sincerely adored the empress and tried his best to keep peace with Potemkin. If Catherine began to flirt with someone else, Lanskoy “did not get jealous, didn’t cheat on her, didn’t dare, but so touching […] he lamented her disgrace and suffered so sincerely that he won her love again.”
16	Mordvinov	1781 May. For a short time, Catherine drew attention to the young man, which almost cost the resignation of the favorite of the Empress A. D. Lansky.	1781 June	Probably, Mordvinov, Nikolai Semyonovich(1754-1845). The admiral's son, the same age as Grand Duke Paul, was brought up with him. The episode was not reflected in his biography, usually not mentioned. Became a famous naval commander. Lermontov's relative
17	Ermolov, Alexander Petrovich (1754-1834)	1785, February. The officer, Potemkin's adjutant, was introduced to them. Gelbig reports that Potemkin specially arranged a holiday to introduce Yermolov to the Empress. Only 9 months after the death of Lansky, whose loss hit her hard, Catherine resumed her personal life. Before he got into the "case", he had to carry out a difficult fight with other rivals, of which the most serious was 22-year-old Pavel Mikhailovich Dashkov, Dashkova's son.	1786, June 28. He decided to act against Potemkin (the Crimean Khan Sahib-Girey was supposed to receive large sums from Potemkin, but they were detained, and the khan turned to Yermolov for help), in addition, the empress cooled off. He was expelled from St. Petersburg - he was "allowed to go abroad for three years."	Official favorite	In 1767, while traveling along the Volga, Catherine stopped at his father's estate and took the 13-year-old boy to St. Petersburg. Potemkin took him into his retinue, and almost 20 years later he proposed a candidate as a favorite. He was tall and slender, blond, sullen, taciturn, honest and too simple. With letters of recommendation from Chancellor Count Bezborodko, he left for Germany and Italy. Everywhere he kept himself very modest. After his resignation, he settled in Moscow and married Elizaveta Mikhailovna Golitsyna, with whom he had children. The nephew of the previous favorite is Vasily Levashov. Then he left for Austria, where he bought a rich and profitable Frosdorf estate near Vienna, where he died at the age of 82.
18	Dmitriev-Mamonov, Alexander Matveevich (1758-1803)	1786, July. A distant relative of Potemkin and his adjutant. Presented to the Empress the day after Yermolov's departure.	1789 November. Fell in love with the maid of honor, Princess Darya Feodorovna Shcherbatova, which was reported to Catherine. “... Before the evening exit, Her Majesty herself deigned to betroth Count A. M. Mamonov to Princess Shcherbatova; they, on their knees, asked for forgiveness and are forgiven. The groom was presented with gifts and ordered to leave St. Petersburg the very next day after the wedding on July 12.	Official favorite	28-year-old at the time of the beginning of the relationship. He was tall and intelligent. He wrote poetry and plays. He did not interfere in the administration of the state. Being married in Moscow, he repeatedly applied to Empress Catherine II with a request to allow him to return to St. Petersburg, but was refused. As Golovkin remarked: “He was neither this nor that, and nothing at all; he had only one entertainment - to harass his wife, whom he endlessly accused of being the culprit of his complete insignificance. She bore him 4 children, eventually dispersed.
19	Miloradovich	1789 He was among the candidates who were proposed after Dmitriev's resignation. They also included the retired second-major of the Preobrazhensky regiment of Kazarinov, Baron Mengden - all young handsome men, behind each of whom were influential courtiers (Potyomkin, Bezborodko, Naryshkin, Vorontsov and Zavadovsky).	1789	Probably, Miloradovich, Mikhail Andreevich(1771-1825). The famous general, was killed on the Senate Square by the Decembrist Kakhovsky. The episode of a possible favor with Catherine is usually not mentioned in the biography. According to the instructions of Ya. L. Barskov, he is included in the Don Juan list of Catherine.
20	Miklashevsky	1787.	1787. Miklashevsky was a candidate, but did not become a favorite.	According to the evidence, during the trip of Catherine II in 1787 to the Crimea, among the candidates for favorites was some Miklashevsky. Perhaps it was Miklashevsky, Mikhail Pavlovich(1756-1847), who was part of Potemkin's retinue as an adjutant (the first step towards favor), but it is not clear from what year .. In 1798, Mikhail Miklashevsky was appointed Little Russian governor, but was soon dismissed. In the biography, the episode with Catherine is usually not mentioned.
21	Zubov, Platon Alexandrovich (1767-1822)	1789, July. He was a protege of Field Marshal Prince N. I. Saltykov, the main educator of Catherine's grandchildren.	1796 November 6th. The last favorite of Catherine. The relationship ended with her death.	Official favorite	22-year-old at the time of the beginning of relations with the 60-year-old empress. The first official favorite since the time of Potemkin, who was not his adjutant. Behind him were N. I. Saltykov and A. N. Naryshkina, and Perekusikhina also fussed for him. He enjoyed great influence, practically managed to oust Potemkin, who threatened to “come and snatch tooth". Later participated in the assassination of Emperor Paul. Shortly before his death, he married a young, humble and poor Polish beauty and was terribly jealous of her.

In the distant 18th century, this was called the beautiful word "favorites". Catherine II is considered the absolute record holder in their number among Russian empresses. She is credited with relationships with more than 20 men. At court they were called "Casual".

On April 19, 1822, the last favorite of Catherine II, Platon Zubov, died. The young man was 38 years younger than the empress. Their relationship lasted until her death.

Catherine was distinguished, to put it mildly, by an amorous character. However, not all of her favorites left at least some trace in the life and history of Russia. Let's take a look at the most significant of them.

Actually the husband

Let's start with how Catherine II got to Russia in general. Then Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was looking for a profitable match for the heir to the throne, Peter Fedorovich. All the candidates who were around did not fit, since they would not have been able to get any political benefits from their parents. Those who were ideal (in political terms, of course) weren't eager to go to Russia themselves. As a result, the gaze of Elizabeth Petrovna settled on Sophia Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbst, whose father was in the service of the Prussian king.

In 1745, the girl was brought to Russia. During the "view" (of course, it was not Peter III who looked closely, but Elizabeth Petrovna) Sofia showed herself from the right side: she memorized a few phrases in Russian, traditions, norms of behavior. The girl was absolutely healthy and very pretty (this is the question of the birth of children). In general - approached. Then, in 1745, the wedding of Peter Fedorovich and Sophia took place, which, when baptized into Orthodoxy, was named Ekaterina Alekseevna.

There was no love between them. The future emperor paid attention to the ladies-in-waiting of Elizabeth and Catherine's assistants, but most of all he was occupied with playing soldiers (however, instead of tin figures there were living people). Meanwhile, Catherine II actively studied Russian, and also studied the traditions and fundamentals of the culture of the country, which has now become her fatherland. She found his behavior, to put it mildly, strange. Well, how would you react if your husband told you that he had executed a rat?

This rat climbed the ramparts of the cardboard fortress and ate two starch sentries. The sniffer dog caught the culprit. She is being judged according to the laws of wartime, - Peter calmly stated to his wife's question what a dead rat was doing in his room.

Historians are silent about the intimate side of Catherine's relationship with what seems to be a crazy hubby. However, in 1754 they had a son named Paul. However, whether Peter III really is his father is still unclear.

In June 1762, Catherine, with the support of the guards, staged a palace coup and took the throne. The husband, who by that time ruled the country for about six months, was killed.

Oh crazy

Catherine also had favorites during her marriage to Peter III. However, in this regard, everything was absolutely mutual. He has mistresses, she has favorites.

The most memorable, one might say, was the chamberlain of her husband Sergei Saltykov. The novel began to spin in the spring of 1752 and ended only in 1754, shortly before the birth of Catherine's son. By the way, it is he who is called the probable father of Paul I. Allegedly, Elizaveta Petrovna, seeing that there was no need to wait for an heir from this couple, took matters into her own hands. It seems like she personally found a suitable outwardly party for Catherine and arranged everything. However, whether this is true is now impossible to verify.

How exactly the romance began is not known for certain, however, judging by the diaries of Catherine II, the chamberlain more often began to turn to the then-future empress on various issues that "only she could solve."

He was beautiful as day, and, of course, no one could compare with him, either in a large court, and even more so in ours. He had no lack of intelligence or that stock of knowledge. He was 25; in general, both by birth and by many other qualities, he was an outstanding cavalier, the future empress wrote.

He confessed his love to her on the hunt, where both the heir to the Russian throne and his wife went. A new novel was being discussed at court. Husband? And what about her husband - he had a lady-in-waiting, Elizaveta Vorontsova. The novel lasted a little over a year and ended on October 1, 1754, when Catherine II gave birth to a boy.

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But Elizabeth suspected Catherine of conspiring against her and set up surveillance. She was informed that Poniatowski was sneaking into the chambers of the heir's wife. Upon learning of this, Pyotr Fedorovich, according to rumors, personally asked not to execute anyone. And bring the wife's lover down the stairs.

So Poniatowski was forced to return to Poland, leaving literally on the same night. After the shameful parting, they did not maintain correspondence, but, having learned about the coup, Stanislav nevertheless sent a letter to Catherine, where he spoke about his intention to return to St. Petersburg. And... got resigned. The Empress categorically asked not to do this.

But she found a way to thank her once-romantic favourite. After the death of King August III in October 1763, he was nominated to the throne of the Commonwealth by the Czartoryski party. In 1764, Catherine II expressed strong support for this issue. The rest is a matter of technique, and in this case, diplomats.

Grigory Orlov

Stories about the famous hero Grigory Orlov, who during the Seven Years' War received three wounds at Zorndorf (1757), but did not leave the battlefield, conquered, perhaps, the whole of St. Petersburg. This information could not pass by Catherine either. A hero, a handsome man - at court there was only talk about Orlov.

In 1760, General Feldzeugmeister Count Pyotr Shuvalov took him as an adjutant. But the noble rake charmed Shuvalov's beloved Elena Kurakina. The intrigue was revealed, and Orlov was kicked out vzashey.

Of course, the scandalous military man instantly found a place in the grenadier regiment. It was there that Catherine noticed the handsome man. "To fall in love is like a queen," Orlov apparently reasoned. And he began to do everything so that the one he loved became this queen. A stormy romance broke out between them. During the meetings, they discussed not only themselves, but also how to throw Peter III off the throne. And then it turned out that Catherine was pregnant.

What abortion? On the street XVIII century, what are you talking about? They desperately tried to convince Peter III that he was the father of the unborn child. The husband himself, who by that time had occupied the imperial throne, shouted that he would send his wife to a monastery, since he had nothing to do with the baby.

In April 1762, childbirth began. It was necessary to get him out of the palace. Historians point out that for this they set fire somewhere on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Liked to try on the role of a fireman, the emperor did not let this pass and left. And Catherine had a boy named Alexei. The emperor was told that the child had died. In fact, the newborn was given to the wardrobe master Vasily Shkurin. He was raised on a par with his other children. At the age of 11, the boy with his older "brothers" was sent to study abroad.

Meanwhile, the threat of the monastery hung over Catherine's head. The husband promised to marry his favorite Elizaveta Vorontsova. It was necessary to act immediately. As a result, Gregory, together with his brothers, with the support of the guards, on June 28, 1762, literally brought Catherine to the throne.

After the coup and the coronation, Orlov spoke more than once or twice about the wedding, but Catherine stopped this topic, recalling that it was Romanov, not Orlov, who was now on the throne. And Orlova will be thrown off this throne. And so they lived: both in the palace, everyone knows about their relationship, but officially there was nothing.

Feelings between them cooled down after a couple of years, but Catherine still needed an ally. Contemporaries pointed out that he behaved too freely with her, so the empress either sent her lover to fight the plague in Moscow, or appointed him to high positions that required a huge investment of time.

And in 1768, the Russian-Turkish war also began. If Alexei Orlov, in fact, was responsible for the fleet, then Grigory drew up a plan of action for the Russian army. Of course, Catherine did not always listen to him. But the beloved was always busy!

By 1772, Catherine's relationship with Grigory Orlov had deteriorated completely. The last straw was the failure of the Russian-Turkish peace negotiations in 1772. As soon as Orlov left for them, Count Nikita Panin, together with Catherine's son Pavel, spoke about Orlov's mistress, Princess Golitsyna.

Favorite of this, of course, reported. As historians point out, he wanted to return to Russia as soon as possible in order to again win the favor of the empress. Allegedly, therefore, he stated the requirements to the Turks in an ultimatum form. Those in response refused to negotiate.

As a result, the war with Turkey dragged on for another two years. And Catherine suggested that Grigory Orlov retire to the Gatchina Palace, specially built for him, "or wherever he himself wishes."

And soon after the "resignation" that she gave to Orlov, the Empress wrote a long letter to the new favorite candidate Grigory Potemkin, where she clearly made her attitude towards him clear and demanded to return to St. Petersburg, "because she is worried."

Grigory Potemkin

Grigory Potemkin was an active participant in the palace coup, thanks to which Catherine took the throne. The ruler then found the officer "rude, sharp-tongued and ridiculously imitating the voices of animals." After the coup, the empress promoted him, ordering him to be appointed second lieutenant ("one rank from the sergeant major"). The military was invited to a couple of assemblies in 1762, which greatly angered Catherine's favorite Grigory Orlov at the time.

According to legend, the Orlov brothers noticed that the second lieutenant was "looking" at the empress and, being drunk, got into a fight with him, in which Potemkin allegedly lost his eye. Later, however, he said that he fell ill, turned to the healer, who treated him with some kind of ointment, and this was the reason.

The officer even retired to a remote village for several months and thought about entering a monastery. Here the empress intervened. According to legend, at one of the receptions she asked where Grigory Potemkin was and why he was not present. And then she ordered Orlov to personally inform that with his absence he upsets the empress.

By 1765, Potemkin returned to St. Petersburg, took the post of deputy chief prosecutor of the synod, and soon the prosecutor. In April 1765 he was appointed treasurer of the Life Guards Horse Regiment. So Potemkin moved up the career ladder at court until the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war in 1768. Then he asked to go to the front. Later, Field Marshal Pyotr Rumyantsev regularly reported on the exploits of Potemkin in his letters to the Empress.

Against the background of Grigory Orlov, who by that time was mainly building not always successful offensive plans and drinking a lot, Potemkin, who fought on the battlefield, seemed like a true hero. They maintained a correspondence since 1770, but then purely official.

However, after Orlov's resignation and an open demand to come urgently, the relationship seemed to take on a different dimension. But in the capital it turned out that the Empress had another man - Alexander Vasilchakov, who was 17 years younger than her.

Potemkin, on the other hand, was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment (the empress herself was a colonel). Soon he became vice-president of the Military Collegium.

At the beginning of 1774, Gregory "revolted" and asked for an audience with the Empress. The request was soon granted. Historians are sure that it was then that the empress promised to announce Potemkin as the official favorite in the near future. Vasilchakov was quickly resigned.

Potemkin, according to rumors, secretly married Catherine in July 1774. They lived in the Winter.

circumcised surnames" were given to Russian bastards. Pregnancy, of course, was carefully hidden from the whole court: a couple of times the empress was "poisoned", for two weeks she "fell ill" - therefore she did not go to receptions.

This did not reconcile the lovers, but, it seems, quarreled even more. In any case, at the end of 1775, at a ball in St. Petersburg, Potemkin personally introduces Peter Zavadovsky to Catherine, who was to become her office secretary. At some point, the empress passes through the entire hall, hands Zavadovsky a ring, which was considered a sign of the empress's highest praise. Guess who's the next favorite? However, the relationship did not last long, about six months, under the close attention of Potemkin. Historians are still arguing whether the favorite once personally picked up new lovers for the Empress.

Platon Zubov

The last favorite of Catherine II, Platon Zubov, was 38 years younger than his royal mistress. But this did not prevent their relationship from lasting seven years - until the death of the Empress. The ruler first drew attention to him when the second captain of the Cavalry Army in 1789 persuaded the authorities to give him command of the convoy that accompanied Catherine II from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo. All the way, 22-year-old Zubov desperately tried to attract the attention of the ruler with his helpfulness and jokes. And yes, it did. The 60-year-old empress invited the young man to dinner, they saw each other several times, allegedly on official business. It all ended with the fact that he occupied the "favorite" chambers that had been in the palace since the time of Orlov.

From the first days, Zubov desperately tried to gain a foothold in some state post, however, the empress in this regard fulfilled any whim. As a result, having no special abilities for anything other than protecting the royal person, he occupied 36 posts at once: Governor General, member of both the Academy of Arts and the College of Foreign Affairs ... Awards were not spared for him either. Already in the first year in favor, he received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Order of St. Anna, the Order of the Black and Red Eagles, the Polish Orders of St. Stanislav and the White Eagle. Either a coincidence, or really, through the efforts of Zubov, they removed Potemkin from the court, closer than which in all respects, it seemed, the Empress did not have.

His fortune over the years of relations was estimated in millions (note that the average salary at that time was 20 rubles), not to mention the palaces on the Black Sea coast, in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area.

who will remember the old "and said that Plato would not fall into any disgrace. However, within a couple of months he changed his mind, first sending some of Zubov's associates in the palace to the Peter and Paul Fortress, and then advising him to go abroad. All the estates and untold wealth from the last favorite was selected. By 1798, the emperor had mercy and allowed him to return, gave away part of the property and allowed him to settle in his estate in the Vladimir province. "In gratitude" Zubov took part in the conspiracy and the murder of Paul I on March 24, 1801.

Horse

Not only people appear in stories about a loving ruler. There is a legend that Catherine II died shortly after sexual intercourse with a horse. Most historians are inclined to believe that this is nonsense. In fact, the author of such a legend was the Polish historian Kazimir Valiszewski, known for his works on Russia in the 18th century, and it was supplemented already at the French court.

As a result, the following legend emerged: the Empress tried to sleep with a horse, which was piled on her with ropes. Shortly thereafter, she allegedly died of ruptured organs.

Note that, except for the Polish historian and the French courtiers, no one talks about this rather strange page in the biography of Catherine II. The official version says that Catherine fainted in the toilet room. When her valet on duty, Zakhar Zotov, who was worried about the long absence of the ruler, looked at her, he saw the empress with half-open eyes and a pale face.

They tried to transfer the ruler to the bed, but she became so heavy that six healthy men could not cope with her. As a result, they put a mattress next to the bed. The official cause of death is apoplexy. In modern terms - a hemorrhage in the brain.

More than 20 names appear on the list of Catherine's lovers, and these are only those who are known. There are legends that the Empress could afford to have fun in taverns on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Moscow (on the road) or other Russian cities. Allegedly, she came to the tavern, disguised as almost a peasant woman, and found herself "adventure". However, there are no actual confirmations, records, or even large donations to taverns (which could indirectly indicate a "good evening").