1973.01

Charles B. Lawrence

Portrait

1973.01.01

H-29 W-24 inches

Evgeniia Osipovna was the wife of Andrei I. Dashkov, Russian Consul General in Philadelphia. She married Andrei Dashkov in 1809 and the couple arrived in Philadelphia July 1, 1809, after just a few months of marriage. While Andrei was busy acting as Russian Consul General, Charge d'Affairs for Congress, and correspondent of the Russian-American Company Evgeniia was socializing with prominent Philadelphia women. It is believed that she was extremely close with First Lady Dolly Madison and was often among the guests at their Spruce Street home. Evgeniia Osipovna Dashkov was a well-respected lady within the Philadelphia Aristocratic circle. She lived from 1780 to 1870, and was a widow for 39 years when Andrei passed away in 1831.

Many of the Athenaeum's earliest books on Russia and maps of the country were donated by the Dashkovs, who were visitors to the Athenaeum in 1816.

Her portrait is attributed to Charles B. Lawrence, a portraitist and landscape painter from New Jersey. Evgeniia was an early patron of Lawrence and this portrait, completed in 1813, was presented to Mrs. William Biddle, daughter of Judge Joseph Hopkinson, a close friend of the Dashkovs. Emily Hopkinson, a descendent of Athenaeum member Judge Hopkinson, gave her portrait to the Athenaeum. A portrait of her husband is also on display; both can be found in the Conference Room.