Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova(March 17 (28), 1743, according to other sources 1744, St. Petersburg - January 4 (16), 1810, Moscow) - nee Countess Vorontsova, married Princess Dashkova. A friend and associate of Empress Catherine II, a participant in the coup d'état of 1762 (after the coup, Catherine II lost interest in her friend and Princess Dashkova did not play a significant role in the affairs of government). One of the prominent personalities of the Russian Enlightenment. Her memoirs contain valuable information about the reign of Peter III and about the accession of Catherine II ("Memoirs of Princess Dashkova", published in 1840 in London). Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova became the first woman in the world to manage the Academy of Sciences. At her suggestion, the Russian Academy was also opened (October 21, 1783), which had one of the main goals of the study of the Russian language, and Dashkova became its first president.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova is unique phenomenon in the history of Russia. What talents she did not possess! According to Catherine the Great, she was a pharmacist, a doctor, a carpenter, a merchant, and a judge. This woman could stop a production in the theater and start teaching actors how to play roles correctly. Dashkova composed plays, wrote articles, built roads, and milked cows on her own. This list can go on and on, since everything that she took on, Dashkova succeeded in the highest degree well.

Dashkova thought like a major statesman. It was this ability that made it possible for this woman to leave a significant mark in the history of the time of Catherine the Great. This was the first time in history when a woman who did not belong to the reigning dynasty (and she was a countess) could, without any fawning, take such an important place among the nobles.

There was a lot in common between Ekaterina Dashkova and Ekaterina Alekseevna. Their first meeting took place at the end of 1758. The conversation was lengthy. It turned out that they were both very well-read, well acquainted with the ideas of the Enlighteners of France. In general, they liked to communicate with each other.

There were many differences between Ekaterina Dashkova and Ekaterina Alekseevna. They showed up over time. For example, if Dashkova always spoke straightforwardly, then Catherine the Great could easily find a compromise with her interlocutor.

Dashkova was unattractive. For example, Diderot described her small stature, swollen cheeks, flattened nose, thick lips, and so on. Perhaps it was precisely because of the lack of grace that Ekaterina Romanovna devoted her young years to reading wise books, and not to staying in a young society. Nature generously rewarded Catherine with intelligence. It was during these years that such a purposeful character was formed in Dashkova.

Dashkova's marriage is covered in legend. Official version of this event says that Ekaterina Romanovna accidentally met Prince M.I. Dashkov - his future spouse. A modest wedding was celebrated soon after. The marriage was blessed both by the prince's mother and by the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna herself. But popular belief judged differently. More romantic. After Prince Dashkov began to talk kindly about Vorontsova (Ekaterina's maiden name), she was not at a loss and, having called her uncle, announced to him that Dashkova was asking for her hand. Therefore, the prince (after all, he could not tell the first dignitary of Russia that the words meant something completely different) simply had to marry Vorontsov.

Dashkova was happily married. She loved her husband, and he reciprocated. However, this idyll did not last long - Prince Dashkov, being a captain, was forced to go to serve in St. Petersburg.

The birth of a son was preceded by a small "adventure". Upon learning of the imminent addition to the family, Dashkov urgently went to Moscow, but on the way he became very ill and, in order not to upset his wife, stopped at his aunt. Catherine nevertheless found out about her husband's illness and, overcoming the pain, went to visit Dashkov. Seeing her husband (and he could not even talk), the princess fainted. Then, of course, she was sent home, where a child was born - son Pavel.

It was beneficial for Ekaterina Alekseevna to tie Dashkova to her. Why? Yes, very simple. Ekaterina Romanovna absorbed best ideas French enlighteners, also cherished the dream of the country's prosperity, but most importantly, she was convinced of the inability of the heir to govern the country well. And Dashkova herself was not opposed to maintaining relations with Ekaterina Alekseevna. She was afraid that the husband of her idol (Pyotr Fedorovich) would imprison Ekaterina Alekseevna in a monastery.

After the palace coup on June 28, 1762, a quarrel arose between the two Catherines. Its essence consisted in the evaluation of roles. The fact is that Dashkova said that she was the leader of the coup. This statement caused a chill in their relationship. After all, the newly-made empress was not pleased with the spreading version that she received the crown only thanks to an eighteen-year-old person.

The first blow to the pride of Ekaterina Romanovna was inflicted precisely after the coup. Opening the award list of persons who distinguished themselves in carrying out the coup, she was very surprised. Her surname was not in the first or even in the second place, but among the ordinary participants, who, in principle, were not remarkable in any way. The empress used this move to make it clear to the young lady that she herself was the leader of the coup that had taken place.

Dashkova did not approve of the violent death of Pyotr Fedorovich. Knowing that to her direct relation has Alexei Orlov, she did not want to know him for decades. The empress did not like the words spoken by Dashkova about the premature death of Pyotr Fedorovich.

Dashkova was among those who were not satisfied with possible marriage Catherine the Great with Orlov. Naturally, the empress did not like this very much. Ekaterina Romanovna, nevertheless, in her heart was very affectionate towards Catherine the Great, but she could afford sharp remarks about her and about Orlov. It got to the point that the empress wrote a letter to the husband of the princess. This meant the end of relations between the two Catherines. The couple reacted very negatively to this note. In addition, they were forced to go to the place where Dashkov's regiment was at that moment - to Riga.

The year 1754 turned out to be very difficult for Dashkova. In September, during a campaign against the Commonwealth, Mikhail Ivanovich died as a result of an illness. On the shoulders of Ekaterina Romanovna lay the care of the children (daughter and son) and the household. AT next year she moves to one of the villages near Moscow. Here she takes up the household very energetically and quickly achieves success - within five years she pays off all the debts that have passed to her after the death of her husband.

Ekaterina Romanovna still managed to break her pride. This is evidenced by two of her actions at once. First, while living abroad, she flatly refused to host Rulière, the author who described the events of the 1762 coup. The point is not in the coup itself, but in how he portrayed Catherine the Great on his pages - and he did this far from the best way. Secondly, when meeting with the French educator Diderot, Dashkova praised the Empress of Russia with all her might. She wasn't wrong. Diderot soon wrote about her devotion to Catherine II herself.

While traveling outside of Russia, Ekaterina Romanovna did not waste time in vain. She broadened her horizons a lot. A visit to each city was accompanied, firstly, by acquaintance with its sights, secondly, by visiting various art galleries, museums, theaters, and thirdly, by acquaintance and communication with the most well-known figures culture. Among the latter were Voltaire, Diderot, Gibner and others.

When Dashkova returned to Russia (1771), she was given great respect. The anger of the Empress was replaced by mercy. Catherine II even granted her the sum of sixty thousand rubles. The years spent outside the country were not in vain. Dashkova herself linked such a striking change in attitude towards her also with the loss of such a strong influence on the empress by the Orlovs. When Dashkova returned home from abroad for the third time, she was again gifted by Ekaterina Alekseevna. The subject of the gift was a house in St. Petersburg (its value was estimated by the standards of those times at thirty thousand rubles), as well as two and a half thousand serfs.

Ekaterina Dashkova did not immediately agree to be the director of the Academy of Sciences and Arts. She was very surprised by the offer of Catherine the Great (which she told her at the ball). Something forced Dashkova to write in a letter to the Empress that she was unable to manage the Academy. What exactly is not clear. Either Ekaterina Romanovna thus wanted to show her significance, or the truth considered herself unworthy. But given that the director of the Academy was the favorite of Elizaveta Petrovna K.G. Razumovsky, who definitely did not have the ability to manage, then the choice of Catherine II was quite justified - Dashkova's knowledge could not be denied. Already in 1786, Ekaterina Romanovna brought Catherine the Great a detailed report on her activities as director over the past three years. And the results of this activity were significant! New books appeared in the library, new fonts in the printing house, debts were closed, and the prices of books published at the academy dropped significantly. In addition, many loafers lost their jobs at the Academy, and only those who really had the ability to study the sciences were left as gymnasium students.

Ekaterina Dashkova was the initiator of the creation of the Russian Academy. It was established in 1783. The main and essential difference between the Russian Academy and the Academy of Sciences and Arts was the reliance on the development of the so-called humanitarian cycle (the Academy of Sciences relied more on the exact sciences). An interesting fact is that Ekaterina Romanovna again became the head of the new Academy, however, again against her will. Thus, whether Dashkova wanted it or not, she became the head of two important scientific institutions Russia.

Dashkova published the magazine "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word". Its content was somewhat reminiscent of the content of the Vsyakaya Vsyachina magazine published back in the sixties by Ekaterina Alekseevna. That is, in the "Interlocutor" such vices as deceit, contempt, double-mindedness, and the like were condemned. This magazine was published first at the Academy of Sciences and Arts, then at the Russian Academy.

Dashkova got along well with children. Rather, on the contrary. Her relationship with her son and daughter was poor. The princess herself is to blame for this. After all, even in her adult years, she arbitrarily supervised them: she literally controlled every step of her children. Dashkova's daughter, Anastasia, turned out to be an immoral person. She became "famous" for her indescribable extravagance and coquetry. Dashkova's son, Pavel, also did not please his mother. Serving with Potemkin, he led a very wild life. Having married without the blessing of his mother, he did not even tell her about it. Ekaterina Romanovna found out about her son's marriage only two months later, and even then from strangers.

In 1795 there was a new chill in relations between Dashkova and Catherine II. This was due to the publication of the tragedy "Vadim Novgorodsky" by Ekaterina Romanovna (author Knyaznin). Catherine the Great was informed that the content of this tragedy would not without harm affect the authority supreme power. And since Catherine II by this time had retreated from the path of liberalism, she was very dissatisfied with Dashkova.

"I wish you a happy journey," Empress Dashkova said at their last meeting. Ekaterina Romanovna herself came to the reception of the Empress to ask to be released from her duties. By this time, Catherine the Great was so negatively disposed towards Dashkova that instead of any gratitude for the work done in the past, she threw after her: "I wish you a happy journey."

Dashkova's life after the death of Catherine the Great cannot be called happy. The fact that Ekaterina Romanovna took an active part in the coup of 1762 was the reason for the persecution of the princess by Paul I. He took revenge on her for her father. Firstly, he released Dashkova from all posts, and secondly, he ordered her to move to the Novgorod province. The hut in which she settled was deprived of almost all amenities. True, after several petitions, Dashkova was allowed to move to her Kaluga estate. Summing up, it should be noted that although Dashkova faced many difficulties in life, she did not cave in under them.

Everything that the eighteenth century gave Russia, in the form of enlightenment, education, forgetting one's roots and returning to them, the development of new lands and new professions, finally, in the form of a frantic thirst for new knowledge, was embodied in the life of this strong and extremely talented woman. Her merits are great already in that everything she did was done by a woman, and in the eighteenth century there are few such examples. Her first biographer wrote about her: "Dashkova's noble zeal for the sciences and love for scientists cost her many efforts, and sometimes displeasures, but the obstacles did not deter her." Her life was formed according to the precepts of Peter the Great, who showed the world a Russian man, thirsty for knowledge, when learning new things, knowing the world became hallmark society for a whole century, determining the forward movement of Russian society, when it was customary to be able to do everything, having been saturated with knowledge, and apply it to life.

“I would very much like you to be able to look at the princess herself. Everything in her, her tongue and dress, everything is original; whatever she does, she definitely does not look like anyone. Not only have I never seen such a creature, but She teaches masons to lay walls, helps to make paths, goes to feed the cows, composes music, writes articles for the press, knows the church order to the end and corrects the priest if he does not pray like that, knows the theater to the end and corrects her domestic actors when they lose their role; she is a doctor, a pharmacist, a paramedic, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a judge, a lawyer; every day she does the most opposite things in the world - she is in correspondence with her brother, who occupies one of the first places in the empire, with scientists, with writers, with Jews, with her son, with all relatives. Her conversation, fascinating in its simplicity, sometimes reaches childish naivete. Without thinking at all, she speaks at once in French, Italian, Russian, English, confusing all languages nature. She was born to be a minister or a commander, her place is at the head of the state, "- this is how a friend, an Irish girl, who observed her in her old age and conquered by the breadth and beauty of this extraordinary Russian woman, Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, will write about her.

In the bright and resonant hall of the St. Petersburg Academy, which was born by the genius of Peter the Great, like everything that he created, grandiose, academics gathered. The academy experienced its worst of times- she was robbed by temporary workers from science to the skin, the genius of Lomonosov had long since rested, the academicians were insulted by court administrators ... And then a rumor spread that Empress Catherine II put a woman at the head of the academy, and her associate in an unseemly conspiracy against the legitimate tsar ... Truly inscrutable are the ways of the Lord... What even worse times await academics in the future?

A small woman in a black, closed, deaf dress with a sash over her shoulder came swiftly into the hall. And behind her, supported from two sides, a gray-haired academician. He was a famous mathematician and geometer, known not only in Russia but also in Europe, the pride of the Academy, an associate of Lomonosov, Leonhard Euler.

He was old, he had not attended academies for a long time, he was pathetic and uninterested in academic squabbles and official insults, but this little fragile woman managed to make him leave the house - she so passionately sought his support, her mind was so mathematically logical, so persistently and she vividly told the old academician about what she would do at the academy and what she should become for Russia.

The rumble in the hall subsided ... The woman approached the pulpit, her lips trembled slightly, betraying excitement when she began to deliver her speech. But gradually Princess Dashkova captured the attention of the audience, as she always knew how to do. Everyone listened to her in secret expectation. Maybe these hands, flying over the pulpit, will really be able to change something in the devastated academy?

"I told them that I had asked Euler to introduce me to the meeting, because, despite my own ignorance, I consider that by such an act I testify in the most solemn way of my respect for science and enlightenment."

The speech has been delivered. And everyone is seated in their places according to the long-established ranking. At that very moment, Dashkova discovers that some kind of "professor of allegory" is sitting next to the presiding seat, who himself is something like an "allegory" in science, but in high ranks. And then she utters words so appropriate and sharp as to put the interlocutor in his place. Turning to the well-deserved center of attention, to Euler, she says: "Sit where you like. Whatever place you choose, it will be the first from the minute you take it."

Ten years at the head of the Academy gave Ekaterina Romanovna the opportunity to realize many of her plans - she did not try to be a learned lady, but did everything to organize the life of the Academy at the most advanced level of education, and most importantly, to make it useful to the Fatherland.

In three years, much will change at the academy and Ekaterina Romanovna will sum up her affairs: the academy had a lot of debts - the academy paid all its debts; the fonts in the printing house were old, the presses were broken, which is why the books were not printed - new fonts were cast and ordered abroad; books on specialties were not bought - orders were given to purchase books; "gentlemen professors, burdened with affairs alien to their science, did not have time to deal with their specialties, which harmed the success of science" - now "each of them can engage in his science completely freely, without encountering any obstacles on my part; they deal directly with their affairs to me and get their quick permission, not obeying the red tape that frightened some of them"; the prices for maps and books were very high and no one could buy them, besides there was no catalog of these books - "books, maps and almanacs that have been on sale since my entry into the Academy are being sold for half their previous price", kicked out incompetent pupils and enrolled capable students in the gymnasium at the academy, the minutes of the meetings of the academy were put in order, book store at the academy was revised, the library was put in order, the physical instruments that had fallen into disrepair were replaced with new ones ordered abroad, the chemistry room was updated and new furnaces for experiments were installed, a professor of mineralogy, who was not at the academy, was discharged, "although Russia abounds mineral wealth", restored and corrected the famous Gottorp globe, which Peter the Great brought as a trophy Northern war; the work of the Geographic Department was improved, which, as a result, created new maps in three years; and in everything saving money, putting in order, control and accounting ...

But, perhaps, the most important thing that always sounds in her affairs on the arrangement of the academy is that "gentlemen academicians are engaged in work that brings immediate benefit to our fatherland."

There is no limit to her indignation: “Observations and discoveries made inside the country were reported abroad before they were published in Russia, and, to the shame of the Academy, they were used there earlier than here.

I ordered that it be entered in the journal that Messrs. academicians should no longer report such discoveries abroad until the Academy has extracted glory from them for itself by printing and until the state has taken advantage of them.

Having saved a fair amount in the economy of the Academy, she asks the empress for permission to open public courses in the main branches of science, and to deliver lectures for everyone "in Russian," Dashkova emphasizes. Such public lectures were given by the best academicians, and the princess will write down with satisfaction later: "I often attended lectures and saw with pleasure that the children of poor Russian nobles and young guard non-commissioned officers used them to supplement their education ...".

She contributed to the direction of various expeditions to study Russia, began printing the complete works of M.V. Lomonosov, comes out with her second edition of the "description of the land of Kamchatka" by Professor S.P. Krasheninnikov, the notes of Ivan Lepekhin's travels through various provinces of Russia, the Akademicheskie Izvestiya is being renewed, new maps of Russia are being printed, and a new educational journal, New Monthly Works, is being published. The academics call her "our valiant boss" with recognition.

But Ekaterina Romanovna's special love and concern was the language of the Russian Fatherland. Born in an environment where everyone spoke French, who learned this language almost earlier than Russian, even in her youth, having arrived as a young wife in a Moscow patriarchal house, she could not understand what her Moscow mother-in-law was telling her - she was so far from the language Motherland. But later he took for her the most important place in her heart, especially when traveling abroad. She wanted to convey the beauty of her native language to her eminent and learned interlocutors - she sang Russian songs and romances, riding a boat on which she strengthened the Russian flag, to her Swiss friends, when she was with Voltaire on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, she talked about Russian life and its device to the philosopher Diderot, his frequent interlocutor both in foreign travels and in letters.

While in Austria, at a meeting with the Viennese Chancellor Kaunitz at dinner, we talked about Peter the Great. The chancellor called him the creator of Russia and Russians. Dashkova immediately rushed to object to him, arguing that the state and cultural history Russia has incomparably more ancient origins. She knew this firsthand: before her trip abroad, she visited Kyiv, enjoyed looking at the frescoes and mosaics of the ancient St. Sophia of Kyiv, was in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, visited the academy. She admires the antiquity of Russian science and history: "Science penetrated Kyiv from Greece long before it appeared among some European nations, so readily calling Russian barbarians. The philosophy of Newton was taught in these schools at a time when the Catholic clergy forbade it in France."

And now again this European neglect of Russian history! Answering the chancellor, she was all covered with a blush, her eyes sparkled furiously:

"- 400 years ago, - I said, - churches covered with mosaics were devastated by Batu.

Don't you think, princess, - the chancellor objected, - that he brought Russia closer to Europe and that she was recognized only from the time of Peter I?

The great empire, the prince, which has inexhaustible sources of wealth and power, like Russia, does not need to get closer to anyone. Such a formidable mass as Russia, properly managed, attracts whomever it wants. If Russia remained unknown until the time you are talking about, Your Grace, this proves, forgive me, prince, only the ignorance or frivolity of European countries, ignoring such powerful state..."

Dashkova never disregarded even the slightest belittling of the merits of her Fatherland, being European-educated, she considered Europeans to be largely ignorant in relation to their Motherland, with all her passion she corrected this ignorance, enlightening her many influential European acquaintances in the field of science and politics. So we can consider her to some extent a talented diplomatic envoy, who for all her many trips abroad has greatly strengthened the authority of both Russia and Empress Catherine II. It is her long and detailed conversations about Russia with Denis Diderot, you can explain the desire of the famous enlightener to visit Russia, and the symbol of the era, Voltaire, a resident of the shores of Lake Geneva, parting with her, will write a letter after her: "The Alpine mountains will long echo your name - a name that will forever remain in my heart" .

During her first trip abroad in 1769, which Dashkova undertook under the name of Mrs. Mikhalkova to improve the health of her children, a curious incident happened, but it was quite indicative of her character. She arrived in Danzig and stayed at the Rossiya Hotel. To her amazement, in the lavish hall of the hotel, she discovers two huge, monumental canvases in which wounded and dying Russian soldiers beg for mercy from the victorious Prussians. And this is after the triumphant victory of the Russians in Seven Years' War when the troops of General Chernyshev took Berlin! Knowing that many Russians stop here, the princess is indignant that Alexei Orlov, who recently visited here, "did not buy and did not throw into the fire" these insulting pictures. Well, she comes up with her own move - she persuades the secretary of the Russian mission to buy her oil paints and repaints the picture in one night, repainting the uniforms from Russian to Prussian and vice versa. And so it turns out that the Prussians are now asking for mercy from the true winners - the Russians. The princess knew how to be decisive.

While in England, Dashkova visits Oxford, the center of science. Russian students come to her, the university vice-chancellor arrives in a solemn robe. Dashkova inspects the Oxford Library, is especially interested in Russian manuscripts, studies the Russian-Greek dictionary for a long time with grammar rules. Maybe it was then that the happy thought came to her about the need to compile Russian grammar and a Russian dictionary?

Much later, already as president of the Academy, Dashkov, in a conversation with the Empress, whom she now saw often on Academy business, expressed bewilderment that in Russia there is still no Academy of the Russian Language. In order to turn Special attention monarches, she compares that such academies have existed in France and Germany for half a century. Catherine is hurt that so worthy project did not occur to her: "I am sure that your energy will save you from delays in this matter, which, to my shame, has not yet been carried out." And then he instructs the princess to draw up a charter, appointing her president. The purpose of the Academy is to study the Russian language and draw up rules that "would eliminate the need to use foreign words and concepts, instead of Russian ones, are much more expressive.

With an enthusiasm worthy of her, the princess speaks at the opening of the academy, which is now called the Russian Academy, in contrast to the St. exact sciences, and which, dealing with the Russian language and literature, and henceforth, to our times, constitutes the second department of the Russian Academy of Sciences of the Russian Language and Literature. She does not forget to thank for such a wise decision the empress, noting that "the empress, a witness to so many of our blessings, now gives a new distinction of patronage to the Russian word, only the ruler of many languages."

Before delivering a speech, she is in a terrible excitement, reaching a spasm. But during the pronunciation, she is seized by more and more inspiration and the eloquence of the words becomes clear to the listeners, embraced by the same enthusiasm that is already heard in the sounds of the voice of the little princess:

"The establishment of this Imperial Russian Academy has been granted to perfect and exalt our Word ..."

To perfect and glorify the Word... What always occupied her, from early childhood, so unhappy - books, words, thoughts were almost the main consolation to a lonely heart.

The princess remembered the first years of her life. She was born in 1744 in nobility, belonging by birth to the highest clans of the Russian aristocracy - the family of Counts Vorontsov. Her successor from the font was Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, "Petrov's daughter", and her godfather was the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Peter III, in whose overthrow this girl, his goddaughter, would also be involved.

She lost her mother for two years, and therefore, apparently, there was so much masculine determination in her character. The father, obsessed with receiving secular pleasures, gave the girl to be raised in the house of her uncle, Vice-Chancellor Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, who was married to the Empress's cousin. The uncle did not distinguish his niece from his own daughter in any way; she often frolicked on the lap of the empress. She was given a decent upbringing at that time. "My uncle did not spare money for teachers. And we - in our time - received an excellent education: we spoke four languages, and in particular we spoke excellent French; we danced well and knew how to draw; a certain state adviser taught us Italian language, and when we expressed a desire to take Russian lessons, Bekhteev studied with us; we had refined and amiable manners, and therefore it was not surprising that we were known as well-bred girls. But what has been done to develop our mind and heart? Absolutely nothing..."

The thirst for knowledge and development of the mind and heart did not leave her throughout her life. And then, in childhood, this thirst helped to survive. As a fourteen-year-old girl, she fell ill with measles, and since this disease was contagious, and besides, even deadly, the Vorontsov family, being connected with the imperial court, considered it best to remove the girl to the village, to the estate, isolating her from everyone and assigning a companion - German. The injustice of loneliness is especially acutely perceived in childhood. And in order to drown out her melancholy, she finds books in the chancellor's house, into which she plunges headlong ... Reading is serious, and besides, seasoned with loneliness, it cultivates in her a thoughtful nature, not without pride, she comes to the conclusion that she must "achieve everything without outsiders help."

The girl reads serious literature, which, fortunately, was the Vice-Chancellor, not alien to the interest in education, a friend of Lomonosov. "My favorite authors were Bayle, Montesquieu, Voltaire and Boileau ..." - all the luminaries European century Enlightenment. The laws, customs, customs, injustices of the world find interest and nourishment in her young heart. She is observant, sharp on the tongue, wants to front. Refuses to whiten and blush, like other girls, thereby winning the right to be different from everyone else. Eagerly and inquisitively listens to the stories of everyone who visits her uncle's house.

"... I compared their countries with my homeland, and an ardent desire to travel arose in me; but I thought that I would never have the courage for this, and believed that my sensitivity and irritability of my nerves could not bear the burden of painful sensations of a wounded pride and deep sadness a heart that loves its homeland..."

By the age of 15, she already has her own library of 900 volumes, which she will then proudly show to everyone as her most important decoration, but for now, the acquisition of the Louis Moreri dictionary and the famous Encyclopedia brings her special joy: more enjoyment than these books."

Thirst for knowledge ... How it will be useful to her when creating the Russian Academy.

"Various antiquities scattered in the spaces of our fatherland, abundant chronicles, precious monuments of the deeds of our forefathers, which few of the European peoples that exist today can boast of, provide our exercises with a vast field ...

The famous deeds of our ancestors, and most of all the glorious age of Catherine II, will reveal to us objects for works worthy of our high-profile age; this evenly, like the composition of grammar and vocabulary, let it be our first exercise ... "

A clear, clear program for the development of the language, which is the first condition for the formation of the nation's self-awareness: the study of ancient chronicles and documents, the extraction of historical facts from them, the creation of modern literary works about past and present times, as well as the improvement of grammar and the creation of a dictionary ... Lomonosov logical and Government program, to which Princess Dashkova surrenders with all her passion: "Be sure that I will always burn with boundless zeal, flowing from my love for my dear fatherland, for everything that can be useful to our entire society, and that with vigilant diligence I will try to replace my shortcomings abilities..."

She becomes "a colleague of respectable writers", "lover of muses".

The Russian language, in beauty, abundance, importance and various kinds of measures in poetry, which are not in others, surpasses many European languages, and therefore it is regrettable that the Russians, neglecting such a strong and expressive language, zealously seek to speak or write imperfectly, with a language very low for the firmness of our spirit and abundant feelings of the heart. AT capital cities ladies are ashamed to speak Russian in large gatherings, but rare ones know how to write ... To what a flourishing state the Russians would bring their literature if they knew the price of their language! .. "

In her speech, she sang an ode in prose to the Russian word: “You know the vastness and richness of our language; it has the strong eloquence of Ciceron, the convincing sweetness of Demosthenov, the magnificent Virgilian importance, Ovid’s pleasant ornateness and the thundering Pindar lyre do not lose their dignity; the subtlest philosophical imaginations, many different family properties and changes have with us decent and expressive speech; however, with all these advantages, our language lacked the prescribed rules permanent definition sayings and indispensable words of signification. Hence came the diversity, in the conjugation of words unusual, or even disfiguring our language of speech, borrowed from foreign languages ​​... "

And all this was to become the task of the work of the Russian Academy. For more than 11 years, the princess directed it, "burning with boundless zeal." Of the 364 meetings, two thirds were chaired by her.

calling voice
I want to follow
To the sacred Parnassus
I'm looking for the old way.
Sweet to obey me
Music chairman.

Who is Russian loud glory
It is not convenient to sound the horn,
That tainted morals
Try to expose...
Sing, Rossky Muses, sing,
You have a confidante;
Praise, build lyres:
Entrusted to Dashkova Parnassus.

The poet Mikhail Kheraskov wrote about her.

The color of Russians is gathering around academic Parnassus Dashkova learned people. The members of the Russian Academy were scientists, educated clerics, statesmen and, for the first time, writers - Fonvizin, Derzhavin, Kheraskov, Knyaznin. Let us not forget in gratitude that in the 19th century Krylov, Zhukovsky, Pushkin will become members of the Russian Academy.

The soul of the entire academy, little princess Dashkova, developed incredible energy in carrying out the main task of the academy - compiling a dictionary, which will now forever go down in history under the name "Dashkova's Dictionary".

"Dictionary of the Russian Academy, arranged in a derivative order" is the first explanatory dictionary of the Russian language with elements of the etymological (it is branched from the roots of words, the words are not compiled alphabetically, but according to a common root, forming branched semantic nests). This is the great-great-grandfather of all dictionaries of the Russian language. From it it was possible to determine where the word came from, in addition, it included many new words in the Russian language, introduced, for example, by Lomonosov into science.

“The enlightened part of society gave me justice and realized that the establishment of the Russian Academy and the speed with which the compilation of our first dictionary moved depended on my patriotism and my energy. uncomfortable ... "(rather, it was the opposition of Dashkova's dictionary to the dictionary of the Empress herself, which she also began to compile according to a different principle).

But for us it is important, and above all, how highly A.S. Pushkin. He attended a meeting of the Russian Academy in 1836 and left us the testimony of grateful descendants. He writes in his report the following regarding the dictionary: "Catherine P founded the Russian Academy in 1783 and ordered Dashkova to be its chairman.

Catherine, striving to establish law and unshakable order in everything, wanted to give a code to the Russian language. The Academy, in obedience to her order, immediately set about compiling a dictionary. The empress took part in it not only in word, but also in deed, she often inquired about the success of the work begun, and, hearing several times that the dictionary had been brought to the letter H, once said with an air of some impatience: everything is Ours and Ours! when will you tell me: yours? The Academy redoubled its efforts. After a while, the empress asked the question: what is the dictionary? they answered her that the Academy had reached the letter P. The Empress smiled and remarked that it was time for the Academy to leave Peace.

Despite these jokes, the Academy was supposed to amaze the empress with the hasty execution of her highest will: the dictionary was completed within six years. Karamzin was rightly surprised by such a feat. " Complete Dictionary, published by the Academy, he says, is one of those phenomena with which Russia surprises attentive foreigners; our, no doubt, happy fate in all respects, there is some kind of extraordinary speed: we ripen not for centuries, but for decades.

At the same time, Pushkin notes that French Academy, founded in 1634 and since then has been continuously compiling its own dictionary, published it no earlier than in 1694. But by this time the dictionary had fallen into disrepair, they began to remake it, several years passed, and the Academy was still revising the letter A.

So, Catherine II signed a decree on the creation of the Russian Academy on October 21, 1783 "in order to perfect and glorify Russian word". At the head of the two academies, she appointed Ekaterina Dashkova as president, with whom by this time she was no longer so close, but she understood too much the breadth and level of the personality of the princess, who by that time was a well-known person in European scientific circles. The Empress, as always, did right choice, she knew how to choose associates.

For the first time, a woman has become the head of an important institution, and, moreover, for the first time not of royal origin!

The dictionary was written and published in the most as soon as possible: it was made for 11 years, published in 6 parts from 1789 to 1794. It included 43,257 words. It was a scientific, cultural, political feat. Even before the end of the publication, enthusiastic responses appeared about this work, which perpetuated all the changes in the Russian language, starting with transformative activities Peter the Great. The Czech Slavist I. Dobrovsky wrote that the dictionary is a monument that does great honor to the young Academy.

The creation of the dictionary was like a military campaign, where the army commander was Princess Dashkova.

Casanova, a pan-European rake who traveled the world in search of adventure, visited Russia and Dashkova, and was quite annoyed that a woman headed the academy: “It seems that Russia is a country where the relationship of both sexes is put completely upside down: women are at the head here boards, preside over academic institutions, manage state administration and higher politics. The country here lacks only one thing - and these Tatar beauties - only one advantage, namely: that they command the troops!

And she was in charge! And she worked tirelessly on her own. Ekaterina Romanovna took it upon herself to provide words with the letters C, Sh, Sh, as well as words related to hunting, government, words of a moral connotation. Words in G were collected and explained by Admiral I.L. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, on D - archpriest of St. Petersburg St. Isaac's Cathedral G.M. Pokrovsky, on E - physicist and astronomer, Vice-President of the Academy S.Ya. Rumovsky, who still described all the words associated with "star-gazing", on L - comedian D.I. Fonvizin, on T - piit and Prosecutor General G.R. Derzhavin, to the south - Count A.S. Stroganov, President of the Academy of Arts, on E - I.I. Shuvalov. Indeed, the whole color of society of that time.

Weekly discussions, meetings, collection of materials, an attempt to decide on the main thing, limiting the task to necessity, the selection of examples and sayings from all sources - this was how painstaking work went.

After the printing of the dictionary was finished, the empress instituted special gold medals for the creators. On the large gold medal, on one side was the image of Catherine II, and on the other, her monogram and the inscription: "The Russian word has brought excellent benefits."

Of the 35 members of the Academy who participated in the creation of the dictionary, ten people were awarded the gold medal. Moreover, E.R. Dashkova refused to be the first to receive the medal in 1784 and conceded it to the permanent secretary of the academy, Academician Ivan Lepekhin? diligent worker of the dictionary. She was awarded only in 1790.

The end of the dictionary coincided with the death of the great empress on November 6, 1796. The "Mother of the Fatherland" died, but the patroness Dashkova also died, although she did not always favor her, but appreciated her mind and merits. Paul I always hated her for participating in her mother's conspiracy against her father, and therefore he immediately removed her from business, exiled her into exile.

Emperor Alexander I did not favor her either. But she managed to complete the main work of her life.

President of two Russian academies, Dashkova was elected and a member of the Stockholm, Dublin and Erlanger academies, the St. Petersburg Free Economic Society, the Berlin Society of Nature Lovers and the Philadelphia Philadelphia Society.

Her literary works also gained fame. Even before the Russian Academy, "under the patronage of the Imperial Academy of Sciences" and the princess, the magazine "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word" was opened - the favorite brainchild of the princess. The main task is to print essays only Russian authors to "try hard about delivering good things to the public Russian compositions". All works were to be sent to the president of the academy, Princess Dashkova. The empress herself initially collaborated in the journal, sending her essays "There were also fables", "Notes regarding Russian history"and speaking on the pages anonymously. But E.R. Dashkova herself acted as an author on the pages of the Interlocutor, having published more than a dozen articles in the two years of its existence, she spoke in them both as a prose writer and as a poet. Dobrolyubov highly valued her articles , contrasting them with the writings of Catherine II: "These articles are strongly armed against what is generally low, nasty in a person and what was especially common in some sections of Russian society of that time - against double-mindedness, flattery, hypocrisy, vanity, fanfare, deceit contempt for humanity..."

The Russian Academy and the magazine "Russian Featr" were published, from where they drew the theatrical repertoire, and also with the active participation of the princess. She was the author of the comedy "Toisekov, or the Man with No Spine" which was shown at the Hermitage Theatre. This magazine also served to break off relations with the empress, when the princess published his tragedy "Vadim Novgorodsky" for the benefit of the children of the late playwright Knyazhnin, with the main character - a representative of the Novgorod freemen, vecha. She could not help but foresee the consequences, but nevertheless she decided on this act, which cost her the wrath of the empress. Dashkova asks for a two-year vacation in 1794, which she receives from the Empress along with a cold farewell. She never returned to court again.

In her personal destiny, she was more unhappy than happy. Catherine loved her husband, whom she married fifteen years old, but he died early, leaving her with two children and practically without a livelihood and with a lot of his debts. But she did everything to bring her children out of poverty and arranged her estate magnificently, spending several years in poverty and laboring to improve it. The children to whom she spent so much time, for whom she developed special program upbringing, turned out to be stupid and ungrateful, in fact, she did not communicate with either her daughter or her son in their maturity. In her old age, she received frank friendship and love for herself from two of her acquaintances, Irish women Wilmont, for whom she wrote her famous Notes.

She died in January 1810 at her Moscow home on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. She was buried in the Church of the Small Ascension, and she found her final resting place in the Church of the Holy Trinity in her estate Troitsky, which she loved so much and where she wanted to "live and die." Dashkova bequeathed to her friends to print her own "Notes", where, perhaps, she slightly exaggerated her role in Catherine's coup. But even after her death, her notes seemed very dangerous. They were printed only 30 years later. They were published by A. Herzen, who literally fell in love with both the heroine and her image: "What a woman! What a strong and rich existence!"

He, perhaps, most accurately defined its role in Russian history. “Dashkova’s Russian female personality, awakened by the defeat of Peter, comes out of her seclusion, declares her ability and demands participation in state affairs, in science, in the transformation of Russia, and boldly stands next to Catherine. yearned for a spacious life from under the mold of Moscow stagnation, something strong, versatile, active, Petrine, Lomonosov, but softened by aristocratic upbringing and femininity.

It was Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova who opened the way for a galaxy of Russian women who were famous for their intelligence, independence of judgment and decisive action who glorified not only their personalities, but also the Fatherland, dearly beloved by them. In her article "On the meaning of the word "education", E.R. Dashkova wrote that moral education, which she considered to be the most important, is to "instill in the heart of the pupil love for the fatherland and truth, respect for the laws, disgust for selfishness and conviction in the truth that one cannot be prosperous without fulfilling the duty of one's rank." Dashkova herself tried in every possible way to instill in her compatriots "love for the fatherland and truth", and by this she fully fulfilled "the duty of her title."

http://www.voskres.ru/school/ganitsheva.htm

Dashkova Ekaterina Romanovna (March 17 (28), 1743, according to other sources, 1744, St. Petersburg - January 4 (16), 1810, Moscow), nee Vorontsova, married Princess Dashkova.
A friend and associate of Empress Catherine II, a participant in the coup d'état of 1762 (after the coup, Catherine II lost interest in her friend and Princess Dashkova did not play a significant role in the affairs of government).
One of the prominent personalities of the Russian Enlightenment. Her memoirs contain valuable information about the reign of Peter III and the accession of Catherine II ("Mon Histoire, Mémoires de la princesse Dachkoff" published in French in Paris (1804-1805); "Memoirs of Princess Dashkova", published in 1840 . in London).
Ekaterina Vorontsova was the third daughter of Count Roman Vorontsov, a member of the Senate and general in chief.
Her uncle Mikhail Illarionovich and brother Alexander served as state advisers, brother Semyon was a well-known Anglophile.
Mother - Marfa Ivanovna, nee Surmina.
She was brought up in the house of her uncle, Vice-Chancellor Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov. “Excellent”, according to the concepts of that time, her upbringing was limited to teaching new languages, dancing and drawing. Only thanks to the desire to read Catherine became one of the most educated women of her time. Trips abroad and acquaintance with famous writers greatly contributed to her further education and development.
She was well versed in mathematics, which she studied at Moscow University. Her favorite writers were Montesquieu, Voltaire, Boileau and Helvetius.
Ekaterina demonstrated masculine qualities and masculine character from an early age, which made her career so unique.
At sixteen (in some sources - at fifteen) she married Prince Mikhail Dashkov, a famous aristocrat who traced his roots to the Rurikids, and moved with him to Moscow.
From an early age, Catherine was constantly occupied with political issues. Even as a child, she rummaged through her uncle's diplomatic papers and followed the course of Russian politics. A time of intrigue and quick coup d'état contributed to the development of her ambition and desire to play historical role. To some extent, Catherine succeeded.

While still a young girl, she was associated with the Court and became one of the leading personalities of the movement that supported Ekaterina Alekseevna when she ascended the throne.
Acquaintance with Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna (1758) and her personal disposition made Dashkova her most devoted supporter. They were also connected by literary interests.
The final rapprochement with Catherine took place at the end of 1761 after the accession to the throne of Peter III. She participated in the coup against Peter III, despite the fact that her sister Elizabeth was his favorite and could become his new wife.
Having conceived coup d'état, and at the same time wanting to remain in the shadows for the time being, Catherine chose Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov and Princess Dashkova as her main allies. The first promoted among the troops, the second - among the dignitaries and the aristocracy. Thanks to Ekaterina Dashkova, Count N. I. Panin, Count K. G. Razumovsky, I. I. Betskoy, Baryatinsky, A. I. Glebov, G. N. Teplov and others were attracted to the side of the Empress.
In an officer's uniform, in a famously pulled down cocked hat, looking like a fifteen-year-old youth - such was Dashkova on the most unforgettable day of her life - June 28, 1762. What happened was what the friends dreamed about, whispering, constantly looking back at the doors, in the ominous silence of the royal chambers. Now they are on horseback, Peter III has been removed from the throne, and behind them is an army of many thousands, ready for fire and water. It was said that Dashkova drew her sword several times that day.
The situation was not easy, and Ekaterina Dashkova took desperate risks to save her friend, to give Russia a strong and reasonable power. She risked her children, her adored husband, who was far from St. Petersburg during the palace coup.

When the coup took place, other persons, contrary to the expectations of Ekaterina Dashkova, took the first place at court and in state affairs; at the same time, the relationship of Empress Catherine II to Catherine Dashkova also cooled.
Some time after the death of her husband, foreman Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Dashkov (1764), Ekaterina Dashkova spent time in a village near Moscow. Until her last breath, the princess considered Mikhail's death the catastrophe of her life, and yet she was only twenty-two years old (!).
Fifteen days after receiving the news of her husband's death, Dashkova was in a coma. And only the children brought her back to reality.
Michael put the family on the brink of complete ruin. To pay off the numerous debts of her late husband, Ekaterina Dashkova had to sell the land, but for the sake of the future of her children, she went to the village and saved on everything, living in extreme poverty.
“If I had been told before my marriage that I, brought up in luxury and extravagance, would be able for several years ... to deprive myself of everything and wear the most modest clothes, I would not have believed it.”
Spartan existence bore fruit only five years later. The children grew up, and Dashkova decided to use the collected amount of money for a trip abroad with the aim of raising and educating her son Pavel and daughter Anastasia. This young woman, noble, very remarkable, neglected everything personal for the sake of the interests of her own children.
At 27, she looked forty, for her, passionate, addicted, passionate, there were no more men. Dashkova was now methodically studying education systems different countries. Of course, that the most advanced school in Europe at that time was English, but it did not quite satisfy the demanding Ekaterina Dashkova.
After the events of 1763, Dashkova did not have a very cordial relationship with Catherine II, although she remained very devoted to the empress. However, she often did not like the favorites of Catherine the Great, and often she became angry about the gifts and the attention they were given. Dashkova's straightforward manners, her undisguised contempt for palace favorites, and a sense of underestimation of her merits created an estrangement between her and Catherine II, which is why Dashkova asked permission to go abroad. Permission was given after a short time she left, remaining, however, a devoted comrade-in-arms and friend of Catherine the Great.
According to some information, real reason Dashkova's departure was the refusal of Empress Catherine to appoint her a colonel of the imperial guard.
In December 1769, she was allowed to travel abroad. Dashkova visited Germany, England, France, Switzerland for 3 years. During a long and thorough trip through Europe, she was received with great respect at foreign courts. Her literary and scientific reputation gave her access to the society of scientists and philosophers in the capitals of Europe. In Paris, she formed a strong friendship with Diderot and Voltaire.
1775-1782 Ekaterina Dashkova again spent abroad for the sake of raising her only son, who graduated from the course in Edinburgh University. She again visited Paris, Switzerland and Germany, as well as Italy. In England she met Robertson and Adam Smith. While she was in Edinburgh, she entrusted her son's education to the historian William Robertson.
In 1782 Dashkova returned to Russian capital and her relationship with Empress Catherine II improved again. Catherine II really liked Dashkova's literary taste, but mainly she was impressed by Ekaterina Dashkova's desire to elevate the Russian language to the rank of great literary languages Europe.

1770s
Artist P.S. Drozhdin.
Novosibirsk art gallery

The Empress, by decree of January 24, 1783, appointed Ekaterina Dashkova to the post of director Imperial Academy sciences and arts under the presidency of Count K.G. Razumovsky. Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova became the first woman in the world to manage the Academy of Sciences.
At her suggestion, the Russian Academy was also opened (October 21, 1783), which had one of the main goals of the study of the Russian language, and Dashkova became its first president.
Never before or since has a woman held such a high government position. Free-thinking Europe, and that could not resist amazement.
Giovanni Casanova wrote in his Memoirs: “It seems that Russia is a country where relations between both sexes are completely turned upside down: women here are at the head of the board, chair academic institutions, are in charge of state administration and high politics.
The local country lacks only one thing, and these Tatar beauties - only one advantage, namely: that they command the troops.
On a winter morning in 1783, Dashkova begged the famous mathematician Leonhard Euler to introduce her to respected scientists.
The picky academic public from the first minutes saw in Ekaterina Dashkova a fair and wise director: noticing that an incompetent scientist was trying to get into the place next to her, she stopped the rogue with an imperious gesture, turning to Elder Euler: “Sit where you like. Whichever seat you choose, it will be the first from the minute you take it.
Empress Catherine II was not mistaken in her choice. Dashkova literally revived Russian Academy from the ash…
Ekaterina Dashkova immediately refused the temptation to lead science, and preferred economic, publishing and scientific - educational activities, succeeding in all three at the same time. For almost 12 years of her presidency, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova restored the academic economy and she had to start literally with the preparation of firewood in order to put an end to the ugly practice, when pundits wrapped themselves in heavy fur coats at meetings from the cold.
Dashkova built a new building of the Academy, and although, according to contemporaries, she spoiled a lot of blood to the architect Quarenghi with her picky character, the princess remained in the memory of her descendants as a caring guardian of science and education. She restored the activities of the printing house and with great difficulty "knocked out" money for the organization of scientific expeditions ...
Upon her appointment as director of the Academy of Sciences, Dashkova expressed confidence in her speech that the sciences would not constitute the monopoly of the academy, but "would be appropriated to the entire fatherland and rooted, they would flourish." To this end, on her initiative, public lectures were organized at the academy (annually, during 4 summer months), which had big success and attracted big number listeners.
Ekaterina Dashkova increased the number of Academy scholarship students from 17 to 50, and students of the Academy of Arts - from 21 to 40. During the 11 years of Dashkova's leadership academic gymnasium manifested its activities not only on paper: several young people were sent to complete their education in Göttingen.
The establishment of the so-called "translation department" (instead of the "meeting of translators" or " Russian collection”) was aimed at giving Russian society the opportunity to read the best works foreign literatures in native language. It was at this time that he appeared whole line translations, mainly from classical languages.
At the initiative of Ekaterina Dashkova, the magazine "Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word" was founded, published in 1783 and 1784. (16 books) and was of a satirical and journalistic nature. The best literary forces participated in it: Derzhavin, Kheraskov, Kapnist, Fonvizin, Bogdanovich, Knyaznin. Here were placed "Notes on Russian History" by Empress Catherine II, her own "There were also fables", answers to questions from Fonvizin, "Felitsa" by Derzhavin.
Dashkova herself owns the inscription in verse to the portrait of Catherine II and the satirical "Message to the word: so."
Another, more serious, publication, New Monthly Works, began in 1786 and continued until 1796. Under Dashkova, new series memoirs of the academy, under the heading "Nova acta acad. scientiarum petropolitanae" (since 1783).
According to Ekaterina Dashkova, a collection was published at the academy: "The Russian Theatre".
The main scientific enterprise of the Russian Academy was the publication of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language. In this collective work, Dashkova owns the collection of words for the letters Ts, Sh, Sh, additions to many other letters; she also worked hard to explain words (mostly denoting moral qualities).
On November 29, 1783, at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterina Dashkova suggested using printed letter"Yo".
Saving many academic sums of money, skillful economic management Academy - this is the undoubted merit of Ekaterina Dashkova. The best assessment of it can be that in 1801, upon the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander I, the members of the Russian Academy unanimously decided to invite Ekaterina Dashkova to take the chair of the Academy again (Dashkova refused this proposal).

Dashkova, Ekaterina Romanovna. Dotted engraving
G.I. Skorodumova.
1777.

In addition to those mentioned literary works, Ekaterina Dashkova wrote poetry in Russian and French (mostly in letters to Empress Catherine II), translated “Experience on epic. poetry" by Voltaire ("Innocent exercise", 1763, and otd., St. Petersburg, 1781), translated from English. (in "Experience of the Works of the Free Russian Assembly", 1774), delivered several academic speeches (written under strong influence speeches of Lomonosov).
Some of her articles were published in the "Friend of Enlightenment" 1804 - 1806. and in New Monthly Writings.
Ekaterina Dashkova also owns the comedy "Toishiokov, or a spineless man", written at the request of Empress Catherine II for the Hermitage theater (1786), and the drama "Fabian's Marriage, or Punished Greed for Wealth" (a continuation of Kotzebue's drama: "Poverty and nobility of soul ").
In Toisiokov (a person who wants "and this and that") to see L. A. Naryshkin, with whom Dashkova did not get along at all, and in the heroine Reshimova, who is opposed to him in character, - the author of the comedy.
An important historical document is Dashkova's memoirs, first published in English by Mrs. Wilmot in 1840, with additions and changes. French text memoirs, undoubtedly belonging to Dashkova, appeared later (“Mon histoire”, in the “Archive of Prince Vorontsov”, book XXI).

Communicating a lot of valuable and interesting information about the coup of 1762, about own life abroad, court intrigues, etc., Princess Dashkova is not distinguished by impartiality and objectivity. While praising Empress Catherine, she gives almost no factual basis for such praise. Often sees through in the "Notes" and, as it were, the accusation of the empress of ingratitude.
But the facts are far from being justified by the emphasized disinterestedness of the author of the memoirs ...
Empress Catherine II Dashkova brought new displeasure by printing in " Russian theater"(published at the Academy) of the tragedy of Knyazhnin" Vadim "(1795). This tragedy was withdrawn from circulation.
In the same 1795, Dashkova left St. Petersburg and lived in Moscow and her village near Moscow. In 1796, immediately after ascending the throne, Emperor Paul I removed Dashkova from all her posts and ordered her to live in her Novgorod estate.
Only with the assistance of Empress Maria Feodorovna (widow of Emperor Paul I) Dashkova was allowed to settle in Kaluga province, and then in Moscow, where she lived no longer taking part in literary and political affairs.

From marriage with M.I. Dashkov, she had a daughter and two sons:
- Anastasia (1760-1831), received a brilliant home education, in 1776 she married Andrei Evdokimovich Shcherbinin. The couple lived apart for a long time, often quarreled and periodically diverged. Anastasia Mikhailovna was a brawler, spent money indiscriminately, and made debts. In 1807, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova disinherited her daughter and forbade her to let her in even for the last farewell.

- Michael (1761-1762)
- Pavel (1763-1807), later - the Moscow provincial marshal of the nobility; bequeathed his property to Count Ivan Illarionovich Vorontsov, whom Emperor Alexander I allowed to be called Vorontsov-Dashkov. He was married on January 14, 1788 to the unborn and untitled daughter of a merchant, Anna Semyonovna Alferova (1768-1809). The marriage of Pavel Mikhailovich was not happy, and the couple did not live together for long. Apparently, the remark of a contemporary, memoirist F. F. Vigel, that Prince Dashkov “did not think for a long time, took it and got married without even being seriously in love” is fair. Ekaterina Romanovna did not want to recognize her son's family and saw her daughter-in-law for the first time only after her son's death in 1807, 19 years after their wedding.
Even earlier, in anticipation of her death, the princess had made orders that, even here, indicated her efficiency. She tidied up her natural study, assembled for the most part while traveling in Europe, and presented it to Moscow University. In memory of herself, she sent various things to many people - several rarities to the emperor and two empresses, from whom she received friendly letters.
In anticipation of death, she also made her spiritual testament, in which she foresaw many practical issues. So, in a letter to the executors, she asked to invite only two priests with a confessor to the burial. “Give them at their discretion, but not more than 200 rubles. everyone, and bury the body in Troitskoe.

The princess gave vacation pay to the girls indicated in the spiritual, who served with her, “forever at will” and with an annual salary.
She disinherited her daughter Shcherbinina, assigning her only annual, rather modest cash payments. “And as for the temperament of my daughter Nastasya Mikhailovna Shcherbinina,” the will frankly explained, “who showed not only disrespect against me, but also allowed herself to inflict grief and annoyance on me for several months, then I from all my movable and immovable estate I will cut her off!"
In December, Dashkova, already ill and weak, moved to Moscow.
Dashkova died on January 4, 1810 and was buried in the church Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Troitskoye in the Kaluga province.
Times have changed, monarchs have changed. last request, addressed to the new Tsar Alexander, was the will of the dying: her daughter should not be allowed to go to the coffin. Completely alone, in poverty and desolation, abandoned by everyone, among the rats who became the only interlocutors, the most educated woman of her time, once known throughout Europe, ended her life. By the end of the 19th century, traces of the tombstone were practically lost ...
October 22, 1999 on the initiative of MGI. E.R. Dashkova's tombstone was restored and consecrated by Archbishop Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk.
The educational activities of Dashkova were highly appreciated by her contemporaries. In a biographical essay dedicated to her, A.I. Herzen wrote: “Dashkov’s Russian female personality, awakened by the defeat of Peter, comes out of her seclusion, declares her ability and demands participation in state affairs, in science, in the transformation of Russia ...” (Coll. Op. , vol. 12, 1957, pp. 361-362).
In any case, the image of the princess is marked by the seal of an undoubted mind and a thirst for more sublime pleasures, which is usually the lot of only selected natures ...
Pipes historical glory proclaimed her as a "learned man and president of two Russian academies." And if someone in the most pleasant dream could not dream of greater exaltation, if someone had to climb to the heights of earthly glory, peeling their nails to blood from exertion, then Ekaterina Dashkova, ironically, most of all wished for herself an ordinary female fate: a husband , children, family hearth, where love reigns, only love ...

(1743-1810) Russian public figure

Dashkova Ekaterina Romanovna went down in history as the first Russian woman who managed to occupy responsible scientific posts. She was simultaneously the director of the Academy of Sciences and the president of the Russian Academy. This fact can be considered unique in Russian history, because before it women were not allowed to participate in public affairs, with the exception of crowned persons: Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. In addition, she entered the history of Russian culture as a talented translator and outstanding writer.

Ekaterina Dashkova was the daughter of Count Vorontsov and the goddaughter of Empress Elizabeth. At the age of two, she lost her mother and was brought up in the house of Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, her uncle. She received a traditional education for the 18th century, where the main attention was paid to the study of foreign languages ​​and dances. Nevertheless, the gifted girl managed to find a path to knowledge, and thanks to the diligence and extensive library of the Vorontsovs, collected in different European countries, became one of the most educated people of her time.

Already at the age of fifteen, acquaintances called her a scientist. I must say that Dashkova studied almost all her life, expanding the scope of her interests. She got acquainted with history, was well versed in economics, received basic knowledge in geography, geology, and some practical disciplines, such as chemistry.

According to the description of contemporaries, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova was ugly, vertically challenged, with a flattened nose and thick cheeks. Therefore, she seemed older than her years. But all these external flaws were redeemed sharp mind and lively character.

In the autumn of 1758, Ekaterina Dashkova first met Catherine, then Grand Duchess. They liked each other and quickly became friends. True, they soon parted, because less than a year later, Ekaterina Vorontsova married Prince Dashkov and left with him for Moscow. It is curious that she practically could not communicate with her mother-in-law, since one knew French, and the other only Russian. And Dashkova had to learn her native language.

Two years later, she and her husband returned to St. Petersburg. By this time, Ekaterina Dashkova gave birth to her first child - daughter Anastasia, and then her second child - son Pavel. He was not in good health, and his mother took care of him for almost his entire life. Apparently, it was this child that was closer to her than others, since it is known that she quickly married her daughter, and information about her upbringing is minimal.

In St. Petersburg, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova immediately becomes an active participant in a conspiracy to depose Emperor Peter III. She involved her husband and his uncle, Count Panin, as well as officers of the Izmailovsky regiment, in the conspiracy. Together with Catherine, she made the transition to Peterhof at the head of a twenty thousandth army.

After accession to the throne of Catherine II, Dashkova was appointed lady of state. It was the highest court position that a woman could hold. But Catherine never brought Dashkova closer to her. We can say that the countess had a typical fate of a favorite. Apparently, Catherine's coldness was also caused by Dashkova's connection with Grigory Orlov, a passion for which the empress herself inflamed.

In 1764 Ekaterina Dashkova became a widow and soon after that she went abroad with her children. Her health was severely undermined by a difficult birth. She first came to Berlin, where she spent several weeks to recuperate. By order of the Prussian king, she was settled in one of the palaces. Several times she met with King Frederick II of Prussia.

From Germany, Dashkova went to England, and then to France. In Paris, she met the great French philosopher Denis Diderot. From France, Ekaterina Dashkova made a short trip to Switzerland to meet with Voltaire.

She described her travels in detail, and her extensive correspondence has also been preserved. So Russia learned about other countries not from the stories of pilgrims or merchants, but from the impressions of a secular lady.

Returning then to Russia, she again met with Catherine, who this time treated her former friend kindly. But Dashkova did not live long in St. Petersburg and, having married off her daughter, again went abroad. This time she wanted to educate her son. So she went to England, where she stayed while her son studied at the University of Edinburgh.

Interestingly, from her travels, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova brought many interesting finds. The samples of geological rocks she collected formed the basis for the future Mineralogical Museum in St. Petersburg.

Upon her return to Russia, she was first appointed director of the Academy of Sciences, and then became the first president of the Russian Academy. It was Dashkova who came up with the idea of ​​creating practically the first Russian literary magazine and first explanatory dictionary Russian language. It should also be remembered that the first Russian graduate school was also established under her.

Life of Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova - a prime example the fate of a person from secular circles who received an excellent education and failed to realize his abilities to the fullest. Envy, human hostility did not allow this woman to experience the glory of the first president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a brilliant publicist, and simply an outstanding person.

After the death of Catherine II, fate turned out to be even more unfavorable to this outstanding woman. Paul I deprived her of all posts and sent her to the family estate. But Ekaterina Dashkova did not reconcile herself and even continued to work there. She left the most interesting memories of her time. True, she wrote them in French, handed them over to England, where many decades later they were printed by Herzen.

In the minds of her contemporaries, she remained the favorite of one monarch and an exile under another. Only today, many facts of her biography are gradually being clarified, and her name has finally entered the galaxy of brilliant public and statesmen Russia.

Born in St. Petersburg. Daughter of Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov and Marfa Ivanovna, nee Surmina. Goddaughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and Peter Fedorovich. Until the age of four, she lived at her grandmother's estate. She was brought up in the house of her uncle, Chancellor Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov. She received an excellent education.

The unusually capable and intelligent Dashkova became one of the first women scientists Russia. Played a significant role in palace coup 1762, being a supporter of Catherine II. After the accession of Catherine II, she lived with her family in the palace. During the coronation, she was granted the title of lady of state. Endowed by nature with rare abilities, ambitious, she wanted to be the first in everything and believed that the empress owed her the throne. Not having received proper remuneration and recognition of her merits, Dashkova moved away from the court.

From 1762 to 1764 lost two close people, her husband and son Mikhail. Grieving the loss, she lived in solitude, not participating in public life. In 1769, together with her children, she went abroad, where she lived for a total of almost ten years. Traveled in Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Poland, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Prussia. Abroad, she met with Voltaire, Diderot, Smith, who spoke flatteringly about her. Diderot said about the princess: “She is serious in character, usually does not express what she thinks, but if she speaks, then simply and with true conviction ... her soul is shaken by misfortune. Her convictions are solid and her horizons are broad. She is brave and proud. It is imbued with an aversion to despotism and to what more or less resembles tyranny. She knows Russian statesmen well and frankly expresses her opinion about them, praising their virtues and at the same time speaking sharply about their shortcomings. She is as resolute in her hatred as in friendship, she has insight, composure, correct judgment.

Dashkova was accepted as a member of many scientific societies: she was a member of the Free economic society, Philadelphia Philosophical Society, Stockholm Academy of Sciences.

Upon her return to Russia in 1783, she received the post of director of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, becoming the only woman in the world in this position. She established a special Russian Academy for the study of the "Russian word". She founded two scientific and literary publications: “The Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word ...” and “New Monthly Works”, where G.R. Derzhavin, D.I. Fonvizin, Ya.B. Knyazhnin and others. Author of many literary works. Of particular interest are her memoirs.

During the accession of Paul I, Dashkova was removed from all positions. She was exiled to the village, where she lived until the death of the emperor.

From 1759 she was married to an officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Prince Mikhail (Kondrat) Ivanovich Dashkov. Had sons Paul and Michael (who died early); and daughter Anastasia, married to Andrey Evdokimovich Shcherbinin.

Ekaterina Romanovna was fond of music, she sang beautifully. Shortly before her death, she donated to Moscow University her “natural study”, collected during her travels.

The princess was buried in the church of the village of Troitsky, Moscow province.