Aleksandra von Engelhardt

Countess Alexandra Branitskaya née von Engelhardt, also known as Sanecka and Countess Branicka, was a leading Russian courtier. She was the niece, confidante, and possibly lover, of Grigory Potemkin, and Catherine the Great's favourite lady-in-waiting. She was one of the most notable socialites at the Russian Imperial court during Catherine's reign, and was conspicuously treated as a virtual member of the Imperial family. Through her marriage to Branicki she became administrator of the immense estate of Biała Cerkiew in the Kiev Oblast of Ukraine.