Career
She was the daughter of Wassily von Engelhardt and his spouse Marfa Yelena Potemkin, and thus the niece of Grigory Potyomkin. They were initially uneducated and ignorant, but was soon given a sophisticated polish and made to be the most favored 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.
She became a lady in waiting in 1777, and for a time, Empress Catherine"s illegitimate son Bobrinskij was in love with her.