Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova (28 March [17 March o.s.] 1743 – 15 January [4 January o.s.] 1810, though her memoirs list her birth date as 1744, they are footnoted as a "slip of the pen") was the closest female friend of Empress Catherine the Great

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

 and a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment

Russian Enlightenment

The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences. This time gave birth to the first Russian university, library, theatre, public museum, and relatively independent press...

. Her name was often spelt in English as Princess Dashkov.
Born Countess Catherine Vorontsova, she was the third daughter of Count Roman Vorontsov, a member of the Senate

Governing Senate

The Governing Senate was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Ober-Procurator...

, distinguished for her intellectual gifts.