Tatyana Yusupova

Princess Tatiana Vasilievna Yusupova, nee Engelhardt (12 (23 N.S.) January 1769 – 24 May (5 June N.S.) 1841) was a niece of Prince Grigory Potemkin and a maid of honour to Empress Catherine the Great. Life She was born into a poor family, to Vasili Andreevich Engelhardt, captain of the Smolensk gentry (1735-1794) and Martha (Elena) Alexandrovna Potemkina (1725-1775), the sister of Grigory Potemkin, lover and posible husband of Catherine the Great. Her siblings included Varvara, Catherine, Alexandra, and Vasili Engelhardt. Her childhood coincided with the rise of her uncle, so she and her sisters were provided with a bright future. Before the age of twelve, Tatiana had already becoe the maid of honour to Catherine II. At court, Tatiana attracted attention not only as the niece of the most powerful nobleman in Russia, but also due to her intelligence, beauty, and lively attitude. The Duchess of Kingston who visited Saint Petersburg and joined the court in 1777, became attached to the then fifteen-year-old Tatiana, treating her like a daughter. She offered to make her the heiress of her entire, vast fortune if she would leave with her and travel to England. Tatiana refused, not having needed funds since the family's rise to power. On 11 September 1785, Tatiana married a distand relative, 25 years her senior, Lieutenant General Mikhail Sergeevich Potemkin (1744-1791). The couple had two children Alexander and Catherine, who's godmother was the empress. Six years later in 1791, Mikhail Potemkin died suddenly. Widowed, Tatiana retired from court and only visited occasionally at the insistent requests of the empress herself.