叶卡捷琳娜生在德国,后来又成为俄国女皇,但她一生却与法国有着不解之缘。她自幼便熟习法语,在婚后的苦闷岁月中,也曾接触过启蒙思想家的作品;并与伏尔泰、狄德罗等人有着密切的思想交流;甚至登基后,曾一度尝试以启蒙理念为指导的“开明专制”改革。在这错综复杂的现象背后,不难发现,将启蒙付诸实践的盎然兴致,不仅是女皇阅读积淀的使然,更关乎叶卡捷琳娜自身帝王形象的塑造。 Ekaterina was born in Germany, and later became the Russian Empress, but her life has a bond with France. She was familiar with French since childhood and had been exposed to the Enlightenment thinkers during the bitter years of her marriage. She also had close exchanges of thought with Voltaire, Diderot, and others and even once tried to enlighten Philosophy as a guide “enlightened despotism ” reform. Behind this intricate phenomenon, it is not hard to find that the enchanting interest in putting Enlightenment into practice is not only the result of the accumulation of Queen’s reading, but also the shaping of Ekaterina’s own emperor’s image.