Anne Sophie Swetchine known as Madame Swetchine, was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n mystic

Mysticism

Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...

, born in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, and famous for her salon

Salon (gathering)

A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...

 in Paris.
Sofia Petrovna Soimonov, daughter of Secretary of State Peter Alexandrovich Soimonov (1734 - 1801) from his marriage with Katherine Boltin (1756 - 1790) was born November 22 1782 in Moscow.

She spent her early years at the court of empress Catherine II, as her father was one of the empress's closest advisors.