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Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova Daschkova

(1744-1810)
Russian Princess

Paul Daschkov

Russian Prince

Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Daschkova was involved in the coup d'état which placed Catherine the Great on the throne of Russia in 1762. In spite of her influential and family connections she chose to spend many of the next twenty years abroad. From 1776 to 1779 she lived in apartments in the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh while her son, Prince Paul Daschkov studied at the University, graduating with an MA in 1779.

On his graduation he presented the Library with a copy of "Sobranie raznykh sochineniy", by Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (Moscow: 1757) and his mother presented to the University, via Professor John Robison, an important collection of 150 commemorative medals cast in copper; Robison had previously
held the Chair of Mathematics at the Imperial Naval Cadet Corps in Kronstadt.

Princess Daschkova returned to Russia in 1782 and was appointed Director of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in St Petersburg. In this capacity she awarded Principal William Robertson the honorary degree
of Doctor of Sacred Theology in the name of the Empress Catherine in 1783, and cemented a link with the University which was to last well into the 19th century.