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# Byron in “Don Juan” describes the 62-year-old Catherine II as a woman in the bloom of maturity
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/konechno-ozhireniia-sledy-litso-ee-priiatnoe-nosilo-vsem-eidzhistam-predlagaiu-prochitat-baironovskoe-opisanie-ekateriny-ii-tsarstvennoi-liubovnitsy-don-zhuana/
- Published: 2022-03-29T06:09:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:59:53.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Monarchies, Observations, Mores

"Of course, her pleasant face bore traces of obesity": I suggest that all ageists read Byron's description of Catherine II, the imperial mistress of Don Juan. It might seem a not especially flattering beginning. But in fact Byron is kind and benevolent towards the 62-year-old Empress of All the Russias, speaking of her years as maturity and the very height of bloom: "her lively, luscious flowering... her smile, the smoothness of her plenitude, and the royal whim of preference... all this together, needless to say, could turn a boy's head."