Anna Protasova

Who was Anna Protasova?

Countess Anna Stepanovna Protasova was a Russian lady-in-waiting and noble, confidant of empress Catherine the Great.

She was daughter of Senator Stepan Feodorovich Protasov and Anisya Nikitishna, née Orlova, and the cousin of Alexej Orlov, with whom she was reported to have had a relationship. She was the foster parent of a couple girls rumored to have had Orlov as their biological father and either Catherine or Protasova as their biological mother.

She replaced Countess Praskovja Bruce as confidante and first maid-of-honor in 1779. She became lady-in-waiting in 1785. Catherine entrusted her with her most intimate personal affairs. She is most known in history as the "l'éprouveuse", the role she played in Catherine's love life. According to legend, she was to "test" the prospective lovers sexually before they became the lovers of Catherine, after they had been suggested by Potemkin, chosen by Catherine, and examined by a doctor for venereal disease. This very same unconfirmed role has also been attributed to her predecessor as lady-in-waiting, Praskovja Bruce. She accompanied Catherine on all her trips and journeys. Protasova is mentioned as "l'éprouveuse" in the poems of Byron.