The name of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is known to all, but the surname Gagarin was heard in Russia as early as the 19th century thanks to Praskovya Gagarina (by her second husband Kologrivova), the first Russian aeronaut.

In the autumn of 1803, she made a flight in a hot air balloon piloted by inspector of the French revolutionary army André Jacques Garnerin. As his assistant, he chose the noblewoman Praskovya Kologrivova. Few were willing to rise to such heights, but Kologrivova captivated Garnerin with her courage and beauty. The balloon ascended into the evening sky and after an hour, having flown about 30 km, landed at the estate of Ostafyevo, owned by Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky. They were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at the landing site. The "heavenly gondola" was kept for a long time in the Ostafyevo estate of the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky, who joked that he became famous thanks to Kologrivova's landing at his estate.

Moreover, Praskovya Yuryevna was the first beauty of Moscow. She was courted by the historian Karamzin and the poet Ivan Dolgorukov, but she chose the simple hussar Pyotr Kologrivov. The Decembrist Zavalishin noted that Praskovya Yuryevna "became famous for the fact that her husband, once asked at a ball who he was, was taken aback and replied that he was the husband of Praskovya Yuryevna, believing that this title was more important than all his titles."

Their mansion was always open to guests, they hosted dinner parties and evenings, and the hospitable hostess with her "eternal laughter" knew how to entertain her guests. In February 1818, Kologrivova hosted Emperor Alexander I in her home.