Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II the Great
Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias
Reign
June 28, 1762 – November 17,
1796 (regnant)
25 December 1761 – 28 June
1762 (consort)
Coronation
September 12, 1762
Predecessor Peter III
Successor
Paul
Consort to
Peter III
Issue
Paul
Aleksey Bobrinsky
Father
Christian Augustus, Prince of
Anhalt-Zerbst
Mother
Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-
Gottorp
Born
May 2, 1729(1729-05-02)
Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia, HRE
Died
6 November 1796 (aged 67)
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Burial
Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint
Petersburg
Catherine II, called Catherine the Great
(Russian: Екатерина II Великая, Yekaterina
II Velikaya; 2 May
[O.S. 21 April] 1729 –
reigned as Empress of Russia from 9 July
[O.S. 28 June] 1762 until 17 November [O.S. 6
November] 1796). Under her direct auspices
the Russian Empire expanded, improved its
administration, and continued to modernize.
Catherine’s rule re-vitalised Russia, which
grew ever stronger and became recognized
as one of the great powers of Europe. Her
successes in complex foreign policy and her
sometimes brutal reprisals in the wake of re-
bellion (most notably Pugachev’s Rebellion)
complemented her hectic private life. She
frequently occasioned scandal — given her
propensity for relationships which often res-
ulted in gossip flourishing within more than
one European court.
Catherine took power after a conspiracy
deposed her husband, Peter III (1728–1762),
and her reign saw the high point in the influ-
ence of the Russian nobility. Peter III, under
pressure from the nobility, had already in-
creased the authority of the great landed pro-
prietors over their muzhiks and serfs. In spite
of the duties imposed on the nobles by the
first prominent "modernizer" of Russia, Tsar
Peter I (1672–1725), and despite Catherine’s
friendships with
the western European
thinkers of the Enlightenment (in particular
Denis Diderot, Voltaire and Montesquieu)
Catherine found it impractical to improve the
lot of her poorest subjects, who continued to
suffer (for example) m