Abstract: Personal texts written in French by Russian aristocratic women at the end of the 18th century contain numerous reflections on the weather, the role of women, language and religion. Two famous women are studied here in the light of their relationship to time – Historical time and the time they experienced – through their Memoirs as well as their reflections on their status as women at the heart of power or close to it : empress Catherine the 2nd and her contemporary, Princess Ekaterina Dachkova.
