By Cheryl Rychkova
Pragmatism, loyalty, and the _expression of a bold spirit were hallmarks of Princess Ekaterina Dashkova's personality. Not only did those attirbutes provide her with a fascinating and overall successful life, they also allowed her to survive and prevail within an Imperial court where the rise and fall of personal status and fortune matched in severity the swift and brutal changes of the Russian climate.
Born to a high-placed family and with a keen sense of how to present herself in the best possible light while at the same time appear to be utterly self-effacing, Dashkova learned early how to use cleverness not only for her own advantage, but also to promote those she supported. Chief among the latter was the woman who would become Katherine (Ekaterina) the Great. Dashkova's love and support to Katherine knew no bounds and was lifelong. As she recorded early in her memoirs: ...and thus there were established between Her Imperial Highness and myself a correspondence and a mutual confidence which were the happiness of my life, for such was my devotion to her that apart from my husband and children I would have sacrificed everything for her sake (46).
At no point during their long friendship were there two women closer and more devoted than the weeks and months leading up to the palace coup that would place Katherine on the throne of Russia. Dashkova played a major role in the conspiracy that led to the coup. Though her role was largely inflated (both in actuality and in her memoirs) as a precaution against directly involving Katherine (who was the actual mover and shaker of the coup), this was an astonishing feat for a young woman of 18, even for one of her considerable shrewdness.
Two qualities stand out with regard to her role in the coup: first, her ability to have the opposition (primarily Peter III and his court) almost entirely and utterly fooled, and second, her ability to convince officers, soldiers, and even the powerful Orlovs (who were no fans of Dashkova) to obey her orders. In the first instance, Dashkova recalled, "(It should be remembered that I always spoke to His Majesty in the tone of a stubborn child myself and called him Papa(" (53), and that he once answered her stubbornness with, "You are a little fool...and you always argue with me" (53).
Princess Dashkova
Dashkova never openly admits that she had Peter III eating out of her hand, but she comes close in the above passages. While the emperor and his dwindling supporters apparently never gave the motives of young Dashkova a second thought, the princess listened to what was said at Peter's court, and then rejoined her conspirators to plan the takeover.
Though her memoirs indicate that Katherine herself was only marginally involved, this seems more than a bit far-fetched. Dashkova did not seem to mind taking the credit for much of what occurred, however. She broadly suggested that she was, indeed, the ringleader of the conspiracy. If all ringleaders of conspiracies admitted how much chance and opportunity had contributed to the success of their various enterprises, they would have to come down from their lofty pinnacle. Personally, I am quite ready to own that though I had considered the subject...as any mind can at the age of eighteen (73).
On several occasions her memoirs indicate something beyond boldness and more in the realm of authoritarianism. Dashkova clearly was not afraid to take matters into her own hands. Once she stated, "I thought of making him the Empress's secretary..." (68) (a reference to a gentleman named Teplov, who did actually become Katherine's secretary) and then again when addressing the safety of the empress during the coup, "...I forced the issue by making the Empress come to town" (68). Such commentary may give a reader pause to wonder just who was empress after all.
Aside from being able to exercise her obvious need to control and bring about her perception of justice, the risks associated with the impending coup clearly weighed heavily on the young princess. She remembered that "...failure of the plans into which I had thrown myself heart and soul and which robbed me of sleep, underminded my health, and made me lose weight" (59).
Once the coup was successfully brought off and Katherine ascended the throne, the relationship between the two women changed, in some ways forever. While Daskhova was worldly enough to understand the tricky and unstable friendship of princes, she felt the pain of Katherine's coldness on a very personal level. Even though the empress had presented Dashkova with the Order of St. Katherine and elevated her status to that of lady-in-waiting, for a period of ten years (some would say during the Orlov years) Katherine remained mostly aloof to her loyal young friend. Dashkova presented evidence of the empress's feelings towards her when she remembered that upon the presentation of the formers' infant son (at which time Dashkova hovered near death), "...Her Majesty did not even inquire after my health" (106).
Katherine did warm up much later, once Gregorii Orlov had fallen from favor. At that time, Dashkova had once again become seriously ill, but reported that, "Her Majesty was kind enough to ask after me, and sent me 10,000 roubles for my immediate needs" (138).
Upon the heels of those roubles came Katherine's offer to buy Dashkova a house in the country. "I was astounded, for it was most unlike the manner in which I had been treated during the ten years that had passed since she had ascended the throne" (140).
The types of experiences Dashkova related are very much typical of the political and frequently vicious aspects of court life. Maintaining a high position at Katherine's court might be compared to running a daily gauntlet full of the dangers that can come from a misspoken word, from unknowingly standing next to someone who has just fallen out of favor, or the very much intentional vindictive behavior from jealous fellow courtiers. Dashkova believed that "worry and sorrow are the necessary outcome of a high position at Court..." (110).
On at least one occasion, the powerful (and jealous) Orlov brothers used Dashkova's gender in an attempt to humiliate her at Katherine's coronation. The princess wrote "...that was the precise time the Orlovs chose to try to humiliate me by suggesting to the Master of Ceremonies that the Order of St. Katherine (which was mine) did not entitle the holder to any special place" (100). While the slight was obviously intended to offend the person of Dashkova, the Order of St. Kathering had only been held by women and apparently was deemed of little consequence, despite the fact that the order had been created by Peter the Great and adorned the gowns of four previous Russian Empresses.[ KII young.jpg] (The photo below shows a young KII wearing the Order of St. Katherine)Forced then, to stand and watch the coronation from the position of an ordinary colonel's wife, Dashkova contented herself with the knowledge that she had been with Katherine only minutes before the ceremony began, and would be publicly elevated to the status of lady-in-waiting during the same ceremony.
The issue of gender came close to becoming a factor in Dashkova's life when Katherine insisted on appointing her to the directorship of the Russian Academy of Science. Interestingly, the offer was first made to Dashkova in public, surrounded by a number of courtiers. With her usual grace of sidestepping into self-effacement and pragmatism, the princess insisted that she was totally unsuited for the position, but that she might make for a fina Imperial washerwoman (200). The Empress, not to be outdone, insisted Dashkova was eminently qualified, and stated, "...let us leave it at that -- everyone is looking at us. As to your refusal, it has only confirmed my opinion that I could not have made a better choice" (201).
Young Catherine II
At the time of the above conversation, Dashkova was a mature woman, having buried a husband and a child. She had become a world traveler, raised two children (spending a decade abroad to insure a proper education for her son), and conversed and befriended a great number of people from many cultures, including famous French philosophers, kings and princes, and democratic Americans (including Benjamin Franklin).
She was keenly interested in all things academic, yet retained a deep loyalty to her Russian heritage. She was an ardent Russophile, defending her native culture against well meaning, but in her view, misinformed, westerners who would claim western influence as the driving force behind Russia's rise to world power and cultural developments (180-182). It was this love of learning and of country (along with an almost continual public demonstration of financial conservatism) that may have led to Katherine's insistence that Dashkova assume the role of director not only for the science academy but also for the newly formed (apparently suggested by Dashkova herself) Russian Academy. Dashkova worked tirelessly for both academies, frequently attending lectures, frugally managing available funds, raising the stipends of the professors and encouraging greater enrollment. It was largely through her efforts that the first Russian dictionary became published.
Despite her sharp intellect, or perhaps because of it, Dashkova was a country girl at heart. She loved gardening and improving her farms, villages, and estates. She was not afraid to join in the manual labor.
Such skills certainly came in handy upon the death of the Empress Katherine. The ascension of Katherine's son, Paul I, began with a storm of vengeful acts by the new emperor. Long resentful of his mother's power and influence, he sought out her supporters, attempted to destroy them socially and financially, and banished them either to remote estates or to far away Siberia.
Despite the fact that her health was poor, Dashkova was ordered to move to an estate far from the civilized life to which she was accustomed. In fact, for a time she lived a lifestyle very much similar to a peasant. She took great joy in the fact that the peasants of her estate held her in highest esteem. As one of the villagers told her, "...though we are sorry for you in the misfortune which has brought you here among us, it is a great happiness for us to see you, for it is as if we had been allowed to see an angel" (261).
Later, through the intercession of the new Empress, Paul was persuaded to permit Dashkova to return to one of her more developed estates, nearer to St. Petersburg. Even after this move, she still considered her life situation and those of her loved ones to be in peril. Other worries included the continued outrages of Paul's reign and the irresponsible behavior of her two grown children. Dashkova became weary and aged as a result.
The final chapters of her memoirs indicate a woman who is not bitter, but tired and sad. She seemed comforted with her memories of happier times and though modest about her participation in the memoirs project, seemed happy about an English friend's request that she write her life story (280).
The memoirs close on this optimistic moment, and the reader knows that Dashkkova survived the overthrow of Paul I and lived to see his son, Alexander I, take the throne. Though militaristic in his outlook, one might imagine that Dashkova was relieved that Katherine's grandson (who had been raised largely under Katherine's influence and in her own court) was in control. Ekaterina Dashkova died in 1810, the same year as her beloved son. Though she left the world in a much-reduced state than the one she arrived in, she left behind a legacy that future generations can admire. Though her noble birth opened many doors of opportunity, it is hard to believe that a spirit so bright and bold as Dashkova's could or would have been stoppable, regardless of her station in life. Her spirit of adventure mixed with her practical and diplomatic skills, along with her love of books and the intellectual life, make her a historical character worthy of study and even emulation. Many scholars insist that Russia entirely missed the European Renaissance. One cannot help but wonder if those scholars knew about Dashkova. For if a "Renaissance woman" ever lived, it was she.
Works cited: The Memoirs of Princess Dashkova, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, Translated by Kyril Fitzlyon. Published by Duke University Press, 1995.
