Praskovya Uvarova

Countess Praskovya Sergeevna Uvarova (Russian: Прасковья Сергеевна Уварова), Princess Scherbatova (Щербатова); 9 April 1840, Bobriki, Kharkov Governorate – 30 June 1924, Dobrna, Slovenia) was a Russian archaeologist. In 1885, she became chairman of the and held that post until 1917. Life Uvarova was the daughter of Sergey Alexandrovich (1800-1864) and Princess Praskovya Borisovna (née Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya) (1818-1899). In the course of her education, she mastered French, German and English. In 1859, at 18, she married Count Aleksey Sergeyevich Uvarov (1818–1885), founder and chairman of the of Moscow and the historical museum. Soon after the wedding, the couple traveled to Rome, Naples and Florence where Uvarova introduced her husband to the splendors of Europe. When her husband died in 1885, she succeeded him as chairman of the Archaeological Society and presided over ten archaeological congresses for all of Russia. In 1895, Uvarova was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, becoming the first Russian woman to do so. (A Russian-born Swede Sofya Kovalevskaya was already a corresponding member of the academy.)