Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova(1743 — 1810)

In 1762, at just nineteen years old, Catherine Dashkova took part in the plot that overthrew Emperor Peter III to place Catherine II on the throne. The ultimate paradox: her own sister, Elizabeth Vorontsova, was at the time the favorite of the deposed emperor. The family was thus torn between both sides of the coup.

During her travels in Europe, the princess met Diderot in Paris in 1770 and spent entire evenings debating philosophy, serfdom, and politics with him. The philosopher, charmed by her intelligence, left an admiring portrait of her in his writings. She also visited Voltaire at his retreat in Ferney.

In 1783, Catherine II appointed her director of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg: she thus became the first woman in the world to head a national scientific academy. A truly exceptional position for a woman in the 18th century.

That same year, she founded and presided over the Russian Academy, devoted to the language. Under her leadership, the institution published the first great dictionary of the Russian language, whose words were arranged by roots rather than alphabetically, an original method for the time.

Upon the death of Catherine II in 1796, the new emperor Paul I, who despised his mother's entourage, abruptly dismissed her from all her duties and exiled her to a remote village in the North. She was only able to return after the accession of Alexander I in 1801.