Natalia Nikolaevna Goncharova, also known as Pushkina Lansky, was born on September 8, 1812, in the Karyan estate of the Tambov province. Her family, the noble Goncharovs, was forced to leave Moscow due to Napoleon's invasion. Natalia was the sixth child and youngest daughter of Nikolai Afanasyevich Goncharov. Her mother, Natalia Ivanovna Zagryazhskaya, was renowned for her beauty in her youth.

Natalia was raised by her grandfather, Afanasy Nikolaevich, who did not allow her to be taken from Polotnyany Zavod, the ancestral estate of the Goncharovs near Kaluga, to Moscow, where the family spent winters, until she was six years old. Natalia received an excellent home education, was fluent in French, German, and English, knew grammar, the basics of history and geography, and was well-versed in literature. She could also knit, sew, dance, play the piano and chess, ride horseback, and manage horses.

In the winter of 1829, at a ball hosted by the dance master Iogel in Moscow, Natalia met Alexander Pushkin. She was considered the most beautiful woman in Moscow. In April of that year, the poet proposed to her, but her mother responded ambiguously, believing her daughter too young for marriage and worrying about Pushkin's political reputation. However, there was no final refusal.

In April 1830, Pushkin proposed again, and this time it was accepted. A year later, they were married in the Ascension Church in Moscow. After the wedding, Natalia made a strong impression in the social circles of St. Petersburg and shone at balls. During their six years of marriage, they had four children: Maria, Alexander, Grigory, and Natalia. In the winter of 1836, rumors circulated in St. Petersburg about Natalia's affair with the Tsar and Baron Dantes, who was courting her.

Pushkin challenged Dantes to a duel, which took place on February 8, 1837, at the Black River, where the poet was mortally wounded and died two days later. Two weeks after his death, Natalia left for Polotnyany Zavod with her children and sister, where she lived for almost two years before returning to St. Petersburg, focusing on raising her children and managing the household. She visited Mikhailovskoye and established a monument at Pushkin's grave.

In 1844, seven years after Pushkin's death, Natalia married General Peter Lansky, commander of the Horse Guards regiment. She was 32 years old, and Lansky was 45 and had never been married before. They had three daughters: Alexandra, Elizabeth, and Sophia.

In the autumn of 1863, Natalia fell ill with pneumonia and passed away on December 8. She was buried at the Lazarevskoye Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.