who viewed agriculture as the mainstay of Russia's economy. She endowed the Society with funds for a library and a building on Palace Square; it was she who secretly suggested a famous essay competition on the subject "What is more beneficial to society -- that the peasant should have land as property, or only movable property, and how far should the right of property be extended?"

In this international competition, held in 1766, only five essays out of 160 were in Russian; some entries (including