Catherine the Great
Empress Who Made Russia a European Power · 2 May 1729, Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia - 17 November 1796, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Born a minor Prussian princess, Catherine seized the Russian throne in a 1762 coup and ruled for thirty-four years, transforming Russia into one of the great powers of Europe. An enlightened despot who corresponded with Voltaire and expanded Russia's territory, she oversaw a cultural golden age and the founding of institutions that endure to this day.
Life and legacy
Catherine was born Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg on 2 May 1729 in Stettin, Pomerania (now Szczecin, Poland). Her father, Christian August, was a minor German prince in the service of the King of Prussia; her mother, Johanna Elisabeth, came from the House of Holstein-Gottorp. At the age of fifteen, Sophie was selected by Empress Elizabeth of Russia as a bride for the heir to the Russian throne, the future Peter III. She converted to Russian Orthodoxy, took the name Yekaterina (Catherine), and married Peter in 1745.
The marriage was deeply unhappy. Peter III proved erratic and incompetent, and after ascending the throne in January 1762, he quickly alienated the Russian military, the Orthodox Church, and his own court by his open admiration for Frederick the Great of Prussia and his withdrawal from the Seven Years' War. On 28 June 1762, Catherine, with the support of the Imperial Guard and her lover Grigory Orlov, staged a coup. Peter was forced to abdicate and died under mysterious circumstances days later. Catherine was proclaimed Empress of All the Russias.
Catherine's reign was the longest of any Russian female ruler and one of the most consequential in Russian history. She corresponded extensively with Voltaire, Diderot, and other Enlightenment philosophers, and aspired to govern as an "enlightened despot." She convened the Legislative Commission of 1767 to draft a new law code based on Enlightenment principles, though the project was never completed. She founded the Free Economic Society, reformed provincial administration, and expanded Russian education.
Under Catherine, Russia's territory grew enormously. Her armies defeated the Ottoman Empire in two wars (1768-1774 and 1787-1792), gaining access to the Black Sea and annexing Crimea in 1783. She participated in the three partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795), which erased Poland from the map of Europe. By the end of her reign, Russia had become an undeniable great power, stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific.
Catherine was also a patron of the arts and learning on a grand scale. She founded the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, initially as a private gallery for her personal art collection, which she built into one of the greatest in Europe. She corresponded with and hosted the French philosopher Denis Diderot, established the Russian Academy for the study of the Russian language, and encouraged architecture, theater, and literature. She died of a stroke on 17 November 1796 at the age of sixty-seven and was buried in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg.
Key accomplishments
- Ruled Russia for thirty-four years, transforming it into a major European power
- Expanded Russian territory to include Crimea, much of Poland, and access to the Black Sea
- Founded the Hermitage Museum, now one of the world's largest and most prestigious art museums
- Corresponded with Voltaire and Diderot, positioning Russia as part of the Enlightenment
- Reformed provincial administration and expanded education across the Russian Empire
Quotes
I shall be an autocrat: that's my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that's his.
Attributed; widely cited in biographical works, exact primary source uncertain