Eight years after Catherine’s ascent, Dashkova asked the sovereign for permission to leave Russia. From 1770-71 and 1775-82 she traveled widely in
The move was prompted by Dashkova’s disappointed with some of Catherine’s policies and tempestuous love affairs. Despite the obvious strain in their relations, Dashkova continued to extol the new Empress as an ideal model of an empowered female and the two women enjoyed friendly relations until Catherine’s death in November of 1796.
Whatever the motives, the trips abroad gave Dashkova an opportunity to befriend many intellectual luminaries of the day. She began a sustained correspondence with