“Познавать самого себя, познавать людей…”: нравы в мемуарах Екатерины II

The article deals with the concept of the enlightened monarch, based on the description of the Russian court in Catherine the Great's memoirs. Catherine's manner of describing everyday life and various palace intrigues is often considered a truthful registration of events and facts. All episodes however are closely related to the main plots and ideas in the Empress's satirical writings and comedies. Furthermore, the memoirs project the ideal image of Catherine as a future ruler as opposed to the court in the vein of Marmontel's Bélisaire and Fénelon's Aventures de Télémaque.