Ekaterina Dmitrievna Golitsyna, ''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Cantemir (russian: Екатерина Дмитриевна Голицына; 4 November 1720 - 2 November 1761), was a Russian noblewoman of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

n ancestry.

Biography

Born as Ekaterina Dmitrievna Cantemir in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

on 4 November 1720, she was the daughter of the Moldavian prince Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723). In 1711, her father accepted

Russian citizenship Russian citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Russia. The primary law governing citizenship requirements is the federal law "On Citizenship of the Russian Federation", which came into force on 1 July 2002. ...

and moved to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He received, from

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

, the title of

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...

and in 1717 married Princess Anastasiya Ivanovna Trubetskaya. They had three children, but only Ekaterina reached adulthood, later losing her father when she was only four years old. In 1744 she became maid of honor, one of the most beautiful, charming and famous women in the entourage of Empress

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

. In 1745, together with her mother, she went abroad to join her mother's second husband,

Ludwig Gruno of Hesse-Homburg Ludwig Johann Wilhelm Gruno Erbprinz von Hessen-Homburg (15 January 1705 – 23 October 1745) was hereditary prince of Hesse-Homburg, member of the House of Hesse and an Imperial Russian field marshal. Early life He was the eldest survivin ...

. After his death in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the mother and daughter did not immediately return home. They traveled extensively, lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for a few years, and, only with the death of their grandfather in 1750, returned to Russia.

Marriage

Her childhood was very painful, and probably from a young age she knew that she could not have children. For a long time she refused all offers of marriage, and only late in life she married Prince

Dmitry Golitsyn Prince Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn (russian: Князь Дмитрий Владимирович Голицын; 29 October 177127 March 1844, Paris) was an Imperial Russian cavalry general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars, statesman and mi ...

, captain of the Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment. The wedding took place on the 28 January 1751 at the imperial court, a lavish wedding and in the presence of Empress Elizabeth. On the day following the wedding a dinner and ball took place to which 200 people were invited. In 1755 his mother died. In 1757 they left Russia with their uncle,

Ivan Betskoy Ivan Ivanovich Betskoi or Betskoy (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Бе́цкой; ) was an educational reformer in the Russian Empire who served as Catherine II's advisor on education and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts for thir ...

, arriving in

. In 1760, Prince Dmitry Golitsyn was appointed Russian ambassador to

, and Ekaterina became one of the leading women at the royal palace in

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

and Paris.

Death

In 1761 Dmitry Golitsyn obtained a new diplomatic post in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. However, he was unable to accept the post due to his wife's serious illness. She died in Paris on 2 November 1761. The following year, the princess' remains were transferred to

and buried in the Church of the Annunciation of the

Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Al ...

Related items

Cantemirești The House of Cantemirești or House of Cantemir was a Moldavian ruling boyar family. History The family was of Tatar origin, and came from Crimea in the 17th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries it brought forth several Voivodes of Moldavia ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golitsyn, Ekaterina Dmitrievna 1720 births 1761 deaths Golitsyn family Cantemirești family Russian people of Romanian descent Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Nobility from Saint Petersburg