Princess Sofia Andreyevna Gagarina (Russian: Софья Андреевна Гагарина), née Dashkova (25 June 1822 – 10 December 1908) was a maid of honour, later state lady,[1] and wife of the Chief Chamberlain of Prince Grigory Gagarin.

Sweet and pleasant in appearance,[3] Dashkova enjoyed success in the world and was the subject of the most ardent passion of Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich.

[citation needed] Having received permission from the emperor, Prince Gagarin proposed and on 17 August 1847 in Darmstadt he married Sofia Dashkova.

The poet Fyodor Tyutchev reported to his wife:[5] "Today Zhukovsky is attending the wedding of Grigory Gagarin, who is marrying the darkest girl I have ever seen."

She was also an assistant trustee in the orphanage founded in the memory of Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, and served under the Empress as a lecturer, and was listed alongside her husband as an honorary member of the Academy of Arts.

Having carefully stored all the artistic material left after the death of her husband, as well as his library, she donated it in 1898 to the newly opened Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III.