Memoirs of the Empress Catherine II. Written by Herself — Edition Insights

A Manuscript Under Seal

The preface establishes the memoir as a politically charged document. Herzen recounts how Catherine sealed the manuscript with an inscription to her son Paul, who kept it secret, sharing it only with Prince Alexander Kourakine. After Paul's death, copies circulated among nobles until Emperor Nicholas ordered the Secret Police to seize them—including one written by Pushkin. The original was then sealed with the great seal of state and placed in the imperial archives. This framing alerts the reader that the text was never intended for public circulation during Catherine's lifetime, and its survival involved a chain of trusted intermediaries.

The Empress's Displeasure at Mass

A key episode illustrates Catherine's vulnerability to imperial whim. During the anniversary of Elizabeth's coronation, Catherine describes being "quite blue, and frozen" in the cold cathedral, wearing only a court dress. The Empress sends word to put on a sable tippet, but Catherine has none. Elizabeth then brings her own tippet, puts it on her own neck, and ignores another in the box that Catherine expects to receive. Catherine interprets this as "a pretty evident sign of displeasure." The public slight continues when Elizabeth dines alone on the throne, excluding Catherine and her husband, who must return home "benumbed with cold and dying of hunger" after a fourteen-verste carriage ride. The passage reveals how ceremonial protocol could be weaponized to convey favor or disfavor.

A Conversation About Preference

In a remarkable scene, Madame Tchoglokoff—the court official responsible for Catherine's conduct—initiates a long preamble about marital attachment and "what was necessary for ensuring mutual love." She then abruptly offers Catherine a choice between two men: Sergius Soltikoff and Leon Narichkine. Catherine plays "the simpleton," denying any preference, but Tchoglokoff insists, saying, "if it be not Narichkine, it is Soltikoff." Catherine's silence is taken as confirmation. The episode is striking for its directness: a senior courtier openly facilitates an extramarital liaison, framing it as a matter of state interest. Catherine's narrative voice remains guarded, recording her own astonishment and uncertainty about whether it was "a snare."

Movement Between Town and Country

The memoirs repeatedly trace journeys between Moscow residences—the wooden palace at the Sloboda, the Kremlin, and the country estate at Liberitza. These movements are not merely geographical but mark shifts in court dynamics. After Easter, the court moves to the country, where Catherine notes that Elizabeth scolded her "several times" for her apparent naivety. The distances are measured precisely: fourteen or fifteen verstes from Moscow to Liberitza, seven verstes through the city to the cathedral. The physical cold of the church and the hunger of the return journey become metaphors for Catherine's precarious position. The narrative's rhythm—alternating between intimate conversations and elaborate public ceremonies—mirrors the dual life Catherine had to navigate as both a private individual and a political figure.

Readers should attend to the gaps in this memoir: it breaks off abruptly near the end of 1759, before Catherine's accession. The preface hints at detached notes that may have been burned by Paul. What remains is a carefully constructed self-portrait from the years when Catherine was still Grand Duchess, maneuvering within a court where every gesture—a tippet offered or withheld, a dinner invitation granted or denied—carried political weight. The text rewards attention to its silences and its strategic revelations.

I keep thinking about Catherine’s quiet arithmetic—every glance, every word weighed in the amber of court ceremony. Her loneliness inside all that formality stayed with me. It reminded me of how Drake’s Great Armada feels like watching someone steer through a storm, alone at the helm. Both are about the private cost of public composure. Drake's Great Armada — Key Ideas to Explore