Helene Dolgoruki

The girl-wife returned to her parents in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro), in Ukraine, and it was there that Helena was born, prematurely, on the night of August 12, 1831 (July 30, on the Julian calendar).

(G. Williams) Helene Dolgoruki supervised, not only the education of her two granddaughters by her deceased daughter Helena, but also that of her grandson Count Sergei Witte who "learned his letters at her knee."

She corresponded with distinguished men in many fields; Sir Roderick Murchison, an English geologist and founder of the Royal Geographical Society named a fossil shell for her, the Venus Fadeef.

She devoted an entire wing of her palace to an important collected of Caucasian flora, each labelled with Latin names and scientific descriptions.

It has been reported that a constant visitor at this time was Prince Alexander Golitsyn (cousin of the wife of the Viceroy), who is said to have been paying court to the granddaughter Helena.