Yekaterina Gagarina

Her father, Pyotr Soymonov (1737-1800), was a senator and a full Privy Councillor, and her mother Yekaterina (1756-1790) was a daughter of Gen. Ivan Boltin, a famous historian, a member of the Russian Academy.

Yekaterina's childhood passed among the strife between father and grandmother from her mother side, who wanted to take her granddaughter to his upbringing.

The reason for this was the love affair of Grigory Gagarin with a famous beauty Maria Naryshkina.

In 1822, Prince Gagarin returned to the diplomatic service, holding the post of ambassador in Rome, and in the years 1833-1837 in Munich.

Yekaterina was all the time with her husband, served as a diplomat's wife, hold an open house.

Her house was visited by Orest Kiprensky, Karl Bryullov, Vasily Zhukovsky, A. Turgenev, Fyodor Tyutchev.