Born: 17 December 1785, Russia
Died: 27 January 1857
Country most active: International
Also known as: Princess Katharina Alexandra Dorothea Lieven, Дарья Христофоровна Ливен, Dar’ya Khristoforovna Liven, née Freiin, von Benckendorff
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Dorothea, Princess of Lieven, a Russian diplomatist. Her mother was a favorite of the empress of Paul I, and Dorothea received a brilliant education.
At an early age she married the Prince Christoph Lieven, who was ambassador in 1811 – 1812 at the court of Prussia. Here the remarkable aptitude of the princess in dealing with public affairs, and her eminent social qualities found full display, and she not only controlled the main springs of political action in Berlin, but succeeded in shaping the opinions of the court of St. Petersburg by her extensive official and private correspondence.
When her husband was transferred to the court of St.James, she became as conspicuous as she had been in Berlin, and until 1834 held a leading position in the highest social and political circles of England.
After the death of her husband, she took up her residence in Paris, and her house became a favorite resort of the chief political, literary, artistic and social celebrities of that metropolis. The principal business of the Russian embassy was done in her boudoirs, and she was on terms of personal friendship with almost every eminent statesman of her time.