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Names
German: Sophia Augusta Frederica/Sophie Auguste Friederike Russian: \u0415\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0435\u0435\u0432\u043d\u0430 \u0420\u043e\u043c\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430, romanized: Yekaterina Alekseyevna Romanova English: Catherine Alexeievna Romanova
Regnal name
Catherine II

House

Ascania (by birth)
Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (by marriage)

Father

Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst

Mother

Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp

Religion

Russian Orthodox (1744\u20131796)
prev. Lutheran (1729\u20131744)

Signature

$\"Catherine$

Catherine II^[a] (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796),^[b] most commonly known as Catherine the Great,^[c] was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.\n

In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was annexed following victories over the Bar Confederation and the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth\u2014ruled by Catherine's former lover, King Stanis\u0142aw August Poniatowski\u2014was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.\n

Many cities and towns were founded on Catherine's orders in the newly conquered lands, most notably Yekaterinoslav, Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including Pugachev's Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of the Volga, and peasants.\n

The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. The construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots.^[d] As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.\n

Name	Lifespan	Notes\n
Miscarriage\n	20 December 1752\n	According to court gossip, this lost pregnancy was attributed to Sergei Saltykov.^[146]\n
Miscarriage\n	30 June 1753\n	This second lost pregnancy was also attributed to Saltykov;^[146] this time she was very ill for 13 days. Catherine later wrote in her memoirs: \"...They suspect that part of the afterbirth has not come away ... on the 13th day it came out by itself\".^[147]^[148]\n
Paul (I) Petrovich Emperor of Russia\n	1 October 1754 \u2013 23 March 1801 (aged 46)\n	Born at the Winter Palace, officially he was a son of Peter III but in her memoirs, Catherine implies very strongly that Saltykov was the biological father of the child, though she later retracted this.^[149] He married firstly Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1773 and had no issue. He married secondly, in 1776, Princess Sophie Dorothea of W\u00fcrttemberg and had issue, including the future Alexander I of Russia and Nicholas I of Russia. He succeeded as emperor of Russia in 1796 and was murdered at Saint Michael's Castle in 1801.\n
Anna Petrovna Grand Duchess of Russia\n	9 December 1757 \u2013 8 March 1759 (aged 15 months)\n	Possibly the offspring of Catherine and Stanislaus Poniatowski, Anna was born at the Winter Palace between 10 and 11 o'clock;^[150] she was named by Empress Elizabeth after her deceased sister, against Catherine's wishes.^[151] On 17 December 1757, Anna was baptised and received the Great Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine.^[152] Elizabeth served as godmother; she held Anna above the baptismal font and brought Catherine, who did not witness any of the celebrations, and Peter a gift of 60,000 rubles.^[151] Elizabeth took Anna and raised the baby herself, as she had done with Paul.^[153] In her memoirs, Catherine makes no mention of Anna's death on 8 March 1759,^[154] though she was inconsolable and entered a state of shock.^[155] Anna's funeral took place on 15 March, at Alexander Nevsky Lavra. After the funeral, Catherine never mentioned her dead daughter again.^[156]\n
Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky Count Bobrinsky\n	11 April 1762 \u2013 20 June 1813 (aged 51)\n	Born at the Winter Palace, he was brought up at Bobriki; his father was Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov. He married Baroness Anna Dorothea von Ungern-Sternberg and had issue. Created Count Bobrinsky in 1796, he died in 1813.\n
Elizabeth Grigorieva Temkina (alleged daughter)\n	13 July 1775 \u2013 25 May 1854 (aged 78)\n	Born many years after the death of Catherine's husband, brought up in the Samoilov household as Grigory Potemkin's daughter, and never acknowledged by Catherine, it has been suggested that Temkina was the illegitimate child of Catherine and Potemkin, but this is now regarded as unlikely.^[157]\n

Regnal titles\n
Catherine the Great House of Anhalt Born: 2 May 1729 Died: 17 November 1796\n
Preceded by Peter III \n	Empress of Russia 9 July 1762 \u2013 17 November 1796\n	Succeeded by Paul I \n
Russian royalty\n
Vacant Title last held by Martha Skowro\u0144ska \n	Empress consort of Russia 5 January 1762 \u2013 9 July 1762\n	Vacant Title next held by Sophie Dorothea of W\u00fcrttemberg \n

v t e List of Russian monarchs
Grand princes of Vladimir and Moscow	\n Yuri I Dolgorukiy \n Andrei I Bogolyubsky \n Mikhail of Vladimir \n Vsevolod the Big Nest \n Yuri II of Vladimir \n Konstantin of Rostov \n Yuri II of Vladimir \n Yaroslav II of Vladimir \n Sviatoslav III of Vladimir \n Andrey II of Vladimir \n Alexander Nevsky \n Yaroslav of Tver \n Vasily of Kostroma \n Dmitry of Pereslavl \n Andrey of Gorodets \n Mikhail of Tver \n Yuri of Moscow \n Dmitry the Terrible Eyes \n Alexander of Tver \n Ivan I \n Simeon the Proud \n Ivan II the Fair \n Dmitry of Suzdal \n Dmitry of the Don \n Vasily I \n Vasily II the Blind \n Ivan III the Great \n Vasily III \n Ivan IV \n
Tsars of all Russia	\n Ivan IV the Terrible \n Feodor I \n Irina \n Boris \n Feodor II \n False Dmitry I \n Vasili IV \n Vladislav \n Michael \n Alexis \n Feodor III \n Peter I and Ivan V (co-rulers) \n
Emperors of all Russia	\n Peter I \n Catherine I \n Peter II \n Anna \n Ivan VI \n Elizabeth \n Peter III \n Catherine II \n Paul I \n Alexander I \n Nicholas I \n Alexander II \n Alexander III \n Nicholas II \n

v t e Grand Duchesses of Russia by marriage
1st generation	\n Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenb\u00fcttel\" \n
2nd generation	\n Catherine Alexeievna (Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst) \n
3rd generation	\n Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt) \n Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of W\u00fcrttemberg) \n
4th generation	\n Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden) \n Anna Feodorovna (Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld) \n Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia) \n Elena Pavlovna (Charlotte of W\u00fcrttemberg) \n
5th generation	\n Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse) \n Alexandra Iosifovna (Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg) \n Alexandra Petrovna (Alexandra of Oldenburg) \n Olga Feodorovna (C\u00e4cilie of Baden) \n
6th generation	\n Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) \n Maria Pavlovna (Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin) \n Elizabeth Feodorovna (Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine) \n Alexandra Georgievna (Alexandra of Greece and Denmark) \n Elizaveta Mavrikievna (Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg) \n Anastasia Nikolaevna (Anastasia of Montenegro) \n Militza Nikolaevna of Montenegro (Milica of Montenegro) \n Maria Georgievna (Maria of Greece and Denmark) \n Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia\"\" \n
7th generation	\n Viktoria Feodorovna (Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) \n
8th generation	\n Leonida Georgievna (Leonida Bagration of Mukhrani)\"\"\" \n
\n \" never converted to Orthodoxy \n \"\" also a Grand Duchess of Russia by birth \n \"\"\" title granted by Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich \n

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Early life

Marriage and reign of Peter III

Reign (1762\u20131796)

Coronation (1762)

Foreign affairs

Russo-Turkish Wars

Russo-Persian War

Relations with Western Europe

Partitions of Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth

Relations with China

Relations with Japan

The evaluation of foreign policy

Economics and finance

Public health

Serfs

Rights and conditions

Attitudes towards Catherine

Arts and culture

Education

Religious affairs

Islam

Judaism

Russian Orthodoxy

Personal life

Poniatowski

Orlov

Potemkin

Final months and death

Issue

Title

Archives

In popular culture

Ancestry

See also

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited sources

Further reading

External links

Articles of Catherine the Great