She was born into a poor family, to Vasili Andreevich Engelhardt, captain of the Smolensk gentry (1735–1794) and Martha (Elena) Alexandrovna Potemkina (1725–1775), the sister of Grigory Potemkin, lover and possible husband of Catherine the Great. Her siblings included
Varvara,
Catherine,
Alexandra, and Vasili Engelhardt. Her childhood coincided with the rise of her uncle, so she and her sisters were provided with a bright future. Before the age of twelve, Tatiana had already become the maid of honour to Catherine II. At court, Tatiana attracted attention not only as the niece of the most powerful nobleman in Russia, but also due to her intelligence, beauty, and lively attitude. The
Duchess of Kingston who visited
Saint Petersburg and joined the court in 1777, became attached to the then fifteen-year-old Tatiana, treating her like a daughter. She offered to make her the heiress of her entire, vast fortune if she would leave with her and travel to
England. Tatiana refused, not having needed funds since the family's rise to power. On 11 September 1785, Tatiana married a distand relative, 25 years her senior, Lieutenant General Mikhail Sergeevich Potemkin (1744–1791). The couple had two children
Alexander and Catherine, whose godmother was the empress. Six years later in 1791, Mikhail Potemkin died suddenly. Widowed, Tatiana retired from court and only visited occasionally at the insistent requests of the empress herself. Soon she met nobleman Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, who had recently returned from
Italy where he was stationed at the embassy. With the blessing of Catherine II they were married in 1793. A year later their son Boris was born. However, the marriage was unhappy and the couple began to live separately. Tatiana left court again and devoted herself to raising her son. She hosted the famous St. Petersburg salon in her house on the
English Embankment. Her circle included
Gavrila Derzhavin,
Ivan Krylov,
Vasily Zhukovsky, and
Alexander Pushkin. She lived with Praskovya Grigorievna Lupolova, the daughter of an exiled man who had come to the capital to seek mercy for her father and found the patronage of Yusupovna, Daria Trubetskaya, and Avdotya Golitsina. At the Yusupov's house, Lupolova was introduced to Empress
Maria Feodorovna who was able to use her influence to have her father pardoned. (1797) Tatiana was skillful at managing the family's affairs, she herself managed the numerous estates of her husband and managed to increase the already huge fortune of the family, although her inheritance from Potemkin amounted to 18 million rubles. She was considered by society as an expert in financial matters and many turned to her for advice. Some mistook her modest lifestyle, simple dining, and dislike of luxury for stinginess. In reality, she donated large sums to charity, often anonymously. She took an active part in the fate of serf poet
Slepushkin by buying him and his family out of serfdom for 3,000 rubles. She was fond of collecting precious stones. Her collection included several world-famous pieces, such as the
Polar Star diamond,
Marie Antoinette's Diamond Earrings, the Al-debaran diamond, a large sapphire, the pearl and diamond diadem of
Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples, and the
Pelegrin pearl. She outlived her husband by ten years and died on 24 May 1841, "retaining her famous mind and charm to the end". She was buried in the
Annunciation Church,
Alexander Nevsky Lavra. == Legacy ==