Countess Ekaterina Sergeevna Samoilova with two of her children (Grigory & Elena) by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1797
Ekaterina was the daughter of prince Sergey Alekseyevich Trubetskoy and Yelena Nesvitskaya and in 1786 married General count Aleksandr Samoylov, nephew of Potemkin. In 1782 she became one of Empress Catherine the Great‘s ladies-in-waiting. During her stay with her spouse in Bender in 1787–91, she was rumoured to have had an affair with Potemkin. She was the role model of the capital’s aristocracy, known for her love affairs — some of her children were not considered to have been her husband’s — and for setting fashion trends. She had five children:Countess Ekaterina Sergeevna Samoilova/Yekaterina Samoylova, née Trubetskaya (1763-1830) was a Russian noble and lady-in-waiting. She was a leading figure of Saint Petersburg society and frequently mentioned in the literature, diaries and memoirs of the period.
- Grigory Alexandrovich (1792-1811), Commander of the Order of Malta; killed in the Turkish war.
- Nikolai Alexandrovich (1800-1842), was married to Countess Julia Samoilova (née Yuliya von der Pahlen) => see my posts here.
- Mikhail Alexandrovich (1796 / 1800-24.09.1820), lieutenant of the Life Guards Regiment, died unmarried.
- Elena Alexandrovna (1787-23 August 1843), was married to millionaire Dmitry Andreyevich Donets-Zakharzhevskaya (1784-1871)
- Sofia /Sophia Alexandrovna Bobrinskaya née Samoilova (1797-1866) – married to Count AA Bobrinsky (grandson of Catherine II and Grigory Orlov) => see my posts here.
source: WikiCommons, Google Books