Early Life
Born Countess Catherine Vorontsova, she was the third daughter of Count Roman Vorontsov, a member of the Senate, distinguished for her intellectual gifts. Her uncle Mikhail Illarionovich and brother Alexander Romanovich both served as Imperial Chancellors, while her brother Semyon was Russian ambassador to Great Britain, and a celebrated Anglophile. She received an exceptionally good education, having displayed from very early age the abilities and tastes which made her whole career so singular. She was well versed in mathematics, which she studied at the University of Moscow. In general literature, her favorite authors were Bayle, Montesquieu, Boileau, Voltaire and Helvétius.
Read more about this topic: Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova
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