Catherine II

Empress of Russia (1762-96). Born Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, on May 2, 1729, in Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland). At the age of 16, she married Grand Duke Peter of Holstein, the grandson of Peter the Great and the heir to the Russian throne (later Peter III). Their marriage was an unhappy one, and Catherine (now baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church under that name) spent much of her time preparing for her future reign and engaging in extramarital affairs.

Supported by the Russian military, Catherine overthrew Peter III in 1762. Eight days later, Peter III was assassinated and Catherine was proclaimed empress of Russia under the title Catherine II. During her 34-year reign, Catherine carried out an energetic foreign policy. She extended the Russian Empire to the Black Sea as a result of two successful wars against Turkey (which lasted from 1768-1774 and from 1787-1792), while also bringing about the three partitions of Poland.

Despite pretensions to enlightened ideas, Catherine's domestic policies achieved little for the mass of the Russian people, though great cultural advances were made among the nobility. In 1774, she suppressed the popular rebellion led by Yemelyan Pugachev, and later actively persecuted members of the progressive-minded nobility.

Catherine died from an unexpected stroke on November 17, 1796, at the age of 67. She was succeeded by her son Paul.