Notes

Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova is an outstanding figure in Russian culture, one of the most educated women of her time, who greatly contributed to the flourishing of Russian Enlightenment. For over ten years (1783–1796) she headed the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Arts and became one of the founders of the Russian Academy, which is best known for creating the first explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. Dashkova actively participated in the organization of the state coup of 1762, which brought Catherine II to the throne. Subsequently, spending about eight years abroad, she met with Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Adam Smith, and other figures of science and culture of that time. Her "Notes" are a vivid, firsthand account of events in the second half of the 18th century.