Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Kniazhnina (russian: Екатерина Александровна Княжнина, 1746–6 June 1797) was an 18th-century

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

poet. Her surname also appears as Knyazhnina. The daughter of

Alexander Sumarokov Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Сумаро́ков; , Moscow – , Moscow) was a Russian poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia, thus assisting Mikhail Lomonos ...

, she was born and lived in

St. 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 ...

. She married Yakov Knyazhnin in 1770. She was one of the first Russian women to have poetry published in Russian journals. Kniazhnina was the hostess of an important

literary salon A salon is a gathering of people held by an inspiring host. During the gathering they amuse one another and increase their knowledge through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "ei ...

. She was the first Russian woman to write an

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

and is considered by Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary to be "the first Russian woman writer". as she, together with and were the first women to see their works printed in Russian journals.

Ivan Krylov Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (russian: Ива́н Андре́евич Крыло́в; 13 February 1769 – 21 November 1844) is Russia's best-known fabulist and probably the most epigrammatic of all Russian authors. Formerly a dramatist and journali ...

wrote a parody about Kniazhnina and her husband in 1787, ''Prokazniki'' (The trouble-makers).

References

1746 births 1797 deaths Poets from the Russian Empire Women writers from the Russian Empire Russian women poets 18th-century women writers from the Russian Empire 18th-century poets from the Russian Empire Writers from Saint Petersburg {{Russia-poet-stub