Hedvig Elizabeth von Biron

She was the Hofmeisterin of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia and an influential person at the Russian court.

When her father became Duke of Courland in 1737, she was given the status of a royal princess and her own personal court.

She converted to Russian Orthodoxy in Moscow, took the name Ekaterina Ivanovna and was given a place as lady in waiting.

At court, she was a confidante of the heir of the throne, Peter, whose interests for everything German she shared.

[citation needed] In 1753, the empress arranged for her to marry Baron Alexander Ivanovitj Cherkasov (1728–1788).