Today, we begin the series into one of the most fascinating women in world and Russian history, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova Dashkova. She would become friends with Catherine The Great, Voltaire, and even Benjamin Franklin.
Today, we begin the series into one of the most fascinating women in world and Russian history, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova Dashkova. She would become friends with Catherine The Great, Voltaire, and even Benjamin Franklin.
Episode 304 - Princess Ekaterina Dashkova – Part One
Last time, we discussed the events in Vladimir Lenin's life that shaped the man he would become. Today, we go back in time to discuss the life of one of the most remarkable women to ever live, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova Dashkova. I am unsure how many episodes this series will need, but her life story is so fascinating that I wanted to ensure I covered the topic thoroughly.
My primary source of information about the Princess is her own writing. Initially written in French, The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova was translated into English in 1958. It is truly a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it. It showcases her incredible education and provides powerful insight into what was going on in Russia and Europe in the late 18th century. So, aside from facts and thoughts, this episode will focus on Dashkova's personal recollections about her incredible life.
Born on March 28, 1743, to Roman Vorontsov and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina, Ekaterina would be one of the most famous members of the House of Vorontsov, an old and renowned branch of the Velyaminov family of Muscovite boyars, which claimed male-line descent from a Varangian nobleman named Šimon. Unfortunately for Ekaterina, her mother, Marfa, would pass away when she was just two years old.
Roman Vorontsov would turn out to be an absentee father, shipping his many children to different relatives. Ekaterina, along with her three sisters, would be sent to his brother Mikhail to live at the lavish Vorontsov Palace. Her uncle spared no expense in caring for his nieces, including the finest education money could buy. As I mentioned earlier, her memoir reflects that.
Her education comprised learning several languages, including Russian, French, Italian, and German, as well as mathematics and literature. Because her uncle was a Russian statesman and diplomat, Ekaterina could read correspondence between Mikhail and ambassadors to several countries. As she writes in her memoir, "All the strangers, artists, and men of letters, as well as the Ministers of foreign Courts residing in Petersburg who visited my uncle almost daily, were tormented by my relentless curiosity. I questioned them on their respective countries, their forms of GovernmentGovernment, and the comparisons which I made to my own country often made me ardently desire to travel."
To understand how high up the Vorontsovs were in 18th-century Russia, Ekaterina's godmother was none other than Empress Elizabeth. Her godfather would be the future Tsar, Peter III. This last fact would turn out to be a twist of faith as Ekaterina would be critical in the overthrow of Peter in 1762. It would be ironic that she would be involved in the coup d'etat as her father helped Elizabeth with her coup in 1741 when they ousted the ill-fated infant Ivan VI. For assisting the new Empress, Mikhail would be rewarded with several high court appointments, eventually becoming the Grand Chancellor. There will be a number of curious twists and turns throughout Dashkova's life, but we will get to many of them in due time.
To better understand who Ekaterina Dashkova would become, I’d like to share a quote from The Russian Journals of Martha and Catherine Wilmot, written between 1803 and 1808. "For my part, I think she (Dashkova) would be most in her element at the helm of the State, of Generalissimo of the Army, of Farmer General of the Empire. In fact, she was born for business on a large scale, which is not irreconcilable with the life of a woman who at the age of 18 headed a Revolution, and for 12 years afterward governed an Academy of Arts and Sciences."
While you may think her life was all peaches and cream, it really wasn't. Because her parents were either dead or too busy to raise her, she had it rough as a child. Dashkova writes, "And yet, what was done for the improvement of our hearts and minds? Nothing at all. My uncle had no time, and my aunt had neither the ability nor the inclination. I had a proud nature, allied in some way to a sensitive and inordinately affectionate character. Ever since I was a child, I craved for affection; I wanted the sympathy of those I loved, and when at the age of thirteen, I began to suspect neither, I was overcome with a feeling of loneliness. It was then I had an attack of measles, and that together with my peculiar character completed my education and made me what I am."
It was also interesting reading about Dashkova’s remembrance of her bout with measles. That and smallpox were two of the more dangerous diseases of the day. “An order-in-council forbade all communication with the Court to families whose houses there were cases of skin diseases such as smallpox or measles, for fear of infecting the Grand Duke (later Emperor) Pavel. At first the symptoms of measles I was, therefore, taken to the country, ten miles from Petersburg, accompanied by a German lady and by a major’s wife as well as by my maids; but this was not enough for my sensitive nature and for my loving heart (for I did not like these two ladies). Neither could it satisfy my ideas of happiness, which demanded the presence round me of affectionate friends and relations.”
If you remember back a couple of years, in episode 219, I did an interview with author Lucy Ward about her book The Empress and the English Doctor in which she described the inoculation of Catherine the Great and her son Paul, known to Dashkova as Pavel, for smallpox. This and measles sent shivers down the spine of many a person back then. Unfortunately for the Princess, measles affected her eyesight, which was incredibly distressing since her great love at the time was reading.
She writes, "I sat in deep dejection all day and brooded over myself and my family. And thus, from being lively, gay, mischievous even, I became serious-minded and studious, spoke little and even then only when sure of my facts." Dashkov further tells us, "As soon as my illness was over I threw myself into reading. Bayle, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Boileau were my favorite authors; I succeeded in proving to myself that time never drags even if one is alone, and I tried to acquire all the resources that are bestowed by courage, firmness, and inner repose. My brother Alexander had gone to Paris, and I thus had no one on whose affection I could rely to salve the wounds inflicted by the indifference that I perceived all around me. Reading soothed me and made me happy, music I enjoyed, and it moved me, but once outside my own room I became listless.”
Her voracious reading caused her to lose sleep and made her look ill. This concerned the Court, and especially her godmother, Empress Elizabeth, so doctors were called in to assess what was wrong. After examining her, the doctors believed that something was weighing on her mind and that, physically, she was fine.
Politics, as I alluded to earlier, was something that fascinated young Dashkova. While rummaging through the papers her uncle had collected, she distinctly remembered two fascinating items. In her words, "One was a letter from a Shah of Persia, addressed to Catherine I, wife of Peter I, on the occasion of her accession to the throne. After a few compliments, he wrote more or less as follows: 'I hope, my well-beloved sister, that God has not given you a love for strong drink. I, the writer of this letter, have eyes like rubies, a nose like a carbuncle, and cheeks like flaming fire and am compelled by this unfortunate propensity to pass my days as well as my nights groaning on a bed of pain.' The Empress's fairly well known taste for vodka lends even more point to this letter."
Dashkova further shares this with us: “An embassy to China – I forget under whose reign – to offer congratulations to an Emperor on his accession to the Chinese throne. The Russian ambassadors were not received any too well and came back ill-pleased with their mission. The GovernmentGovernment, however, deeming it bad policy to take note of the contempt of the Chinese monarch, sent other persons with letters thanking his Chinese Majesty for the flattering reception of its ambassadors and making proposals for a trade agreement. His Chinese Majesty's answer was this: 'You are very absurd to take pride in our reception of your ambassadors. Do you not know that when we ride on horseback in our streets there is not a beggar but has the right to look at us?’”
The next event that Princess Dashkova would write about was the most critical moment in her life, the time she would meet Grand Duchess Catherine, the future Catherine II. "The same winter, 1759, the Grand Duke, known afterward under the name of Peter III, and the Grand Duchess, later called – and with truth – Catherine the Great, came to have supper and spend the evening with us. The rather prejudiced description which strangers had given her of me and her conviction that I spent almost all of my time studying and reading, earned he my esteem, which subsequently had great effect on the whole of my life, and put me on a pedestal on which I never thought I should find myself. I could argue, perhaps, that as there were no other two women at the time, apart from the Grand Duchess and myself, who did any serious reading, we were mutually drawn toward each other; and the charm, which she knew how to exert whenever she wanted to win over anyone, was too powerful for an artless little girl like myself, who was not even fifteen, to refuse her the gift of my heart for evermore. And yet she had a powerful rival for the affections of my heart, in the person of Prince Dashkov to whom I was already betrothed. But soon he came to share my opinion of her, and all rivalry ceased.”
To put things into perspective, when Dashkova met Catherine, the future Empress was 30 and only three years away from her coup over her husband Peter, who was 31 at the time of this dinner. For someone who was fifteen years older than the Princess and very learned herself, it is remarkable that Catherine and Ekaterina would become such incredible friends. It testifies to how amazing of a person Dashkova was, even at the tender age of 15.
Another highly influential person the Princess was to meet in the fateful year of 1759 was her future husband, Prince Dashkov. Ekaterina was walking down the road from Madame Samarina’s home, out for what she called exercise. She recalls, "We had hardly taken a couple of steps before I saw a man – who appeared to me a giant – approaching us from a side street. She named him Prince Dashkov, whom I had never seen before. As the Samarins knew him, he entered into conversation with her and accompanied us on our walk. He only occasionally addressed himself to me, and when he did so it was with a shy politeness which appealed to me.”
During that era of Russian history, courtship and marriage had specific rules that had to be followed, especially amongst the nobility. Even though the Prince was 22 and Ekaterina was a mere 15, their courtship was well underway. Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Dashkov first had to ask permission from Ekaterina's family through a series of elaborate gyrations. As she recalls, "My family made no objection, and the Princess, his mother, who ardently wished him to do so, was delighted when she knew that he was about to marry, even though he had rejected her choice of a wife. She heartily approved of his own choice and was pleased with the connection he was forming with our family. As soon as the Prince felt that nothing but our union could make him happy and had obtained my permission to speak to my family, he requested Prince Golitsyn, the next time he went to Peterhof, to plead his cause with my uncle and my father, asking them, at the same time, to keep it secret until he had had time to make the journey to Moscow to obtain his mother's consent and blessing for our marriage."
Very shortly thereafter, Ekaterina’s godmother, Empress Elizabeth, gave her blessing for the union. Dashkova was overcome with emotions after the backing of her marriage that, as she put it, “The Empress tapped me gently on the shoulder, kissed my cheek and said: ‘Compose yourself, my child, otherwise they might think I have been scolding you.’ Never, never could I forget that scene which attached me still more to such a kind-hearted sovereign.”
What surprised me while reading Dashkova's memoirs was a line at the end of chapter one, "I spoke Russian badly and my mother-in-law spoke no other language, which added to my embarrassment. My husband's family consisted mostly of elderly people, and though they showed me great indulgence on account of their love for him – for they wanted him to marry because he was the last Prince Dashkov – I could see I appeared a stranger to them, and they all wished I were more of a Muscovite." I found it somewhat strange that she spoke Russian so poorly, but French was the semi-official language of the Court of the Russian rulers at the time.
The next chapter of Princess Ekaterina Dashkova was giving birth to her children. This was considered the primary responsibility of any wife, regardless of her standing in society. At sixteen, she would have her first child, Anastasia, and the following year, in 1761, she would give birth to Mikhail, who would unfortunately die in 1762. Her third child, Pavel, would be educated at the University of Edinburgh. He would serve on Grigory Potyomkin's staff and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society on February 8, 1781.
In 1761, the Prince and Princess moved to St. Petersburg. Here, Ekaterina began to become annoyed and threatened by the Grand Duke Paul. Paul was a bit jealous of his wife spending so much time with Ekaterina, especially since he was having an affair with her sister, Elizaveta. It was a time when Empress Elizabeth's health kept getting worse and worse. It was logical that Paul knew that he would eventually become Tsar. It was also a time when he was growing frustrated with his wife, Catherine.
There was a decided difference between how Catherine treated guests and how Paul did. Paul was viewed as childish, boorish, and, at times, quite rude. On the other hand, Catherine was, as Dashkova puts it: "What a difference I found in the way in which time was spent with the Grand Duchess! There wit, good taste, decorum, were the order of the day, my husband and I, too, became increasingly attached to that remarkable woman – remarkable alike for her mind, her wide knowledge, and the boldness and originality of her ideas."
One incident that the Princess recounted in her memoirs showed the attitude and childishness of Grand Duke Paul. It was at a dinner for eighty people in the palace. One of the ensigns, Mr. Chelishchev, was having an affair with Countess Gendrikova, a cousin of Empress Elizabeth. Grand Duke Paul commented that Chelishchev should be beheaded for being intimate with a maid-of-honor and relative of the Sovereign.
Dashkova remembers the conversation she had with Paul while the other sycophants nodded in agreement. "Never, Your Imperial Highness, have I heard of mutual love being punished in so tyrannic a fashion or so terrible a fate being visited on a lover who is a lover in return. 'You are a child," he replied, 'and you do not understand that failure to inflict the death penalty whenever necessary is a weakness which produces insubordination and all kinds of disorder.'"
She replied, “But, Your Imperial Highness, you are speaking in front of people in whose hearts must strike inexpressible terror, since no man has suffered the death penalty in this country within the lifetime of practically any of your guests, except that of your venerable generals.” Paul answered, “That means nothing, I must insist. In fact, that is precisely why disorder has grown and why there is no discipline and no subordination. I tell you; you are a child who cannot understand these things.”
Dashkova's response brought gasps from those who were present. "I readily admit, Your Imperial Highness, that I do not understand all this, but what I know, and feel is that Your Imperial Highness has forgotten that your aunt the Empress is still alive.” How he responded was by sticking out his tongue at Ekaterina. Paul also knew that it was unwise to displease the Empress and that she had indeed abolished the death penalty.
A few months later, with the Empress in failing health and worsening by the day, Dashkova felt the urgent need to visit Catherine late at night despite feeling ill. The Grand Duchess's gatekeeper, Katerina Ivanovna, allowed her through. Catherine questioned her. "What brings you here, my dear Princess, at this hour and at such a risk to your health, which you know to be precious to your husband and to me?" Ekaterina responded, "I can no longer endure the uncertainty of the dark clouds which are gathering around your head. For Heaven's sake, have confidence in me; I deserve it now, and I hope to deserve it even more in the future. Tell me what your plan is; what do you intend to do to ensure your safety? The Empress has but a few days, perhaps only a few more hours, to live – can you make use of me? I am yours to command – tell me what to do."
The banter between the two went on. “I am more grateful to you, my dear Princess, than I could possibly express, and it is with perfect truth and every confidence in you that I say to you now: I have formed no plan. I can undertake nothing, and I must and shall meet bravely whatever may befall me. God is my only hope and I put my trust in him.” Dashkova then said, “Well, then, Ma’am, your friends must act for you. For may part, I shall yield to none in zeal and in sacrifices I am ready to make for you.” “For Heaven’s sake, Princess, do not expose yourself to dangers for my sake. Do not bring upon your head misfortunes which I shall always regret. Besides, what can one do?”
Dashkova answered, "All I can tell you now, Ma'am, is that I shall do nothing to compromise you. I alone shall suffer if I must. My devotion will never be a cause of pain or misfortune to you personally, and you will have no reason to regret it." This conversation may or may not have happened the way the Princess shared. Part of the reason, as you will find out in the next episode, is that Catherine became a bit perturbed with Dashkova years later because she bragged about protecting the Grand Duchess from Paul's wrath.
Well, I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Join me next time when we cover the overthrow of Emperor Paul, the help that Dashkova presumably gives to the coup, and the breakdown in the relationship between Catherine and Ekaterina.
So, until next time, Dasvidania eh Spasiba za Vinyamineya.