{{Short description|Russian lady-in-waiting and noblewoman (1761–1829)}} {{Infobox nobility | name = Yekaterina von Engelhardt | image = File:Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun - Portrait of countess Yekaterina Skavronskaya.jpg | caption = Portrait by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1790. The same artist also painted her in 1796. | CoA = | tenure = | predecessor = | successor = | birth_name = Yekaterina Vasilievna Engelhardt | birth_date = 1761 | death_date = 1829 | death_place = Saint Petersburg, Russia | noble family = Engelhardt | spouse = Count Pavel Martinovich Skavronsky<br/>Count Giulio Renato Litta | issue = Catherine Bagration<br/>Maria Skavronskya | father = Vasili von Engelhardt | mother = Elena Alexandrovna Potemkina | occupation = Lady-in-waiting to Catherine the Great }}
'''Yekaterina von Engelhardt''' ({{langx|ru|Екатерина Васильевна Энгельгардт}}; 1761–1829) was a Russian lady-in-waiting and noblewoman. She was the niece and lover of Grigory Potyomkin, and the favored lady-in-waiting of Catherine the Great. Alongside her sisters, she was given a favored position at the Russian imperial court during the reign of Catherine, where they were described as "Almost Grand Duchesses",<ref name=SSM>Simon Sebag Montefiore (2006).</ref> the jewels of the court and honorary members of the imperial family.
==Early life== She was the daughter of Wassily von Engelhardt (1720–1794), member of the Baltic German nobility and his spouse Yelena Alexandrovna ''Marfa'' Potemkin ({{died in|1775}}), niece of Grigory Potyomkin.<ref name=SSM />
==Biography== She was introduced to the Russian court with her five sisters (and her brother) in 1775.<ref name=SSM /> They were initially uneducated and ignorant, but were soon given a sophisticated polish and made to be the most favoured women at the Russian court; they were treated almost as if they were a part of the imperial family, and were to be known as : "almost Grand Duchesses" and as the "jewels" and ornaments of the Russian court. Potemkin gave them large dowries and had Catherine appoint them ladies-in-waiting. They were alleged to be the lovers of their uncle,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodden |first=Angelica |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Miss_Angel.html?id=XherJFG-nIkC#v=onepage&q=Potemkin%20Engelhardt&f=false |title=Miss Angel: The Art and World of Angelica Kauffman, Eighteenth-Century Icon |date=2011-05-31 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-4464-4835-9 |language=en}}</ref> which was one of the most known gossip subjects and scandals of the age.<ref name=SSM />
She became a lady-in-waiting in 1777, and for a time, Empress Catherine's illegitimate son Bobrinskij was in love with her. Her relationship with Bobrinskij took place after his affair with her sister Aleksandra was ended in 1779, and was to continue on and off sporadically for the rest of his life.<ref name=SSM /> In 1780, she spent some time in the countryside with her sister Varvara, and it is possible that she gave birth to her uncle's child.<ref name=SSM />
In 1781, Potemkin arranged for her to marry Count Pavel Martinovich Skavronsky,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Montefiore |first=Simon Sebag |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Catherine_the_Great_Potemkin.html?id=t1c2EAAAQBAJ#v=onepage&q=Yekaterina%20Engelhardt&f=false |title=Catherine the Great & Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair |date=2021-08-04 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-593-46791-6 |pages=237 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Baillio |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Vig%C3%A9e_Le_Brun.html?id=YLqzCwAAQBAJ#v=onepage&q=Potemkin%20Engelhardt&f=false |title=Vigée Le Brun |last2=Baetjer |first2=Katharine |last3=Lang |first3=Paul |date=2016-02-15 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-1-58839-581-8 |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref> who died in 1793. In 1798, she was married for love to Count Giulio Renato Litta (1763–1839). She was described as sweet, kind, passive and indolent.<ref name=SSM />
She was painted by artists such as Vigée Le Brun. <ref name=":0" />
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== * {{cite book |author=Simon Sebag Montefiore |title=Potemkin och Katarina den stora – en kejserlig förbindelse |trans-title=Potemkin and Catherine the Great – an Imperial commitment |publisher=prisma |isbn=978-91-518-4497-8 |year=2006 |language=sv}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelhardt, Yekaterina von}} Category:1761 births Category:1829 deaths Category:Burials at the Dukhovskaya Church Yekaterina Category:18th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Category:19th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Category:Ladies-in-waiting from the Russian Empire Category:Socialites from the Russian Empire Category:Court of Catherine the Great