 Catherine's father married for a third time and provided her with three half-brothers, including Stanislaw Rzewuski, who became a novelist and literary critic.The Rzewuski was a family of notable writers, including Catherine's great-great-grandfather Wacław Rzewuski, her uncle Henryk and her aunts
Ewelina, wife of Honoré de Balzac, and Karolina, who kept a literary salon in Paris.Catherine was educated under the supervision of her stern father in his large estates in central Ukraine.