by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov; Credit – Wikipedia

• Patronymics: In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov was the last lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. There was a thirty-eight-year age difference between Platon and Catherine. He was also one of the conspirators in the assassination of Catherine II’s son and successor Paul I, Emperor of All Russia, and one of the fourteen people present at Paul’s murder. Born on November 26, 1767, Platon was the fifth of the six children and the third of the four sons of Alexander Nikolaievich Zubov (1727 – 1795) and Elizabeth Vasilievna Voronova (1742 – 1813).

Platon Alexandrovich had four older siblings and one younger sibling:

• Anna Alexandrovna Zubova (1760 – after 1787), married Osip Ivanovich Horvath, had two children
• Nicholai Alexandrovich Zubov (1763 – 1805), married Natalia Alexandrovna Suvorov, had seven children
• Dmitri Alexandrovich Zubov (1764 – 1836), married Praskovye Alexandrovna Vyazemskaya, had six children
• Olga Alexandrovna Zubova (1765 – 1849), married Alexander Alexeivich Zherebtsov, had four children
• Valerian Alexandrovich Zubov (1771 – 1804), unmarried

Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin; Credit – Wikipedia

The great love of Empress Catherine’s life was Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin who had a relationship with Catherine from 1774 until he died in 1791. After a period of exclusivity, Potemkin and Catherine worked out a new relationship that preserved their affection toward each other and their political collaborations but allowed each of them to choose other sexual partners. Besides being Catherine’s lover, Potemkin was Grand Admiral of the Black Sea Fleet, Field Marshal of the Russian Army, and Governor-General of New Russia. Potemkin served as a diplomat, was a member of the Imperial Council, and was president of the War College. He built the Black Sea Fleet and founded the cities of Sevastopol and Kherson in Crimea. Potemkin’s achievements include the peaceful annexation of Crimea and the successful Russo-Turkish War.

In June 1789, Platon Alexandrovich Zubov was a 22-year-old officer in the Lifeguards Horse Regiment when Count Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov introduced him to Empress Catherine in an effort to supplant his enemy Prince Grigory Potemkin from his various positions. Potemkin had approved of all Catherine’s other lovers from 1777 – 1789 but vehemently disapproved of Platon. He saw Platon for what he was – poorly educated, vain, and greedy for wealth, estates, honors and titles for himself, his father and his three brothers. Although Potemkin died in 1791, he was proven correct. Platon would become the last of Catherine’s lovers, become a Count and a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and along with his father and three brothers who all became Counts, would accumulate enormous fortunes and would become widely reviled for corruption and cruelty.

Platon wearing his honors and a miniature of Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon Potemkin’s death, Platon succeeded him as the Governor-General of New Russia. In 1795, Count Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin wrote to Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov: “Count Zubov is everything here. There is no other will but his. His power is greater than that of Potemkin. He is as reckless and incapable as before, although the Empress keeps repeating that he is the greatest genius the history of Russia has known”.

Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, 1794; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1796, Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia died at the age of 67 and the 29-year-old Platon went mad with grief. For ten days, he isolated himself in his sister Olga’s home. On the eleventh day, he was visited by Catherine’s son and successor Paul I, Emperor of All Russia who drank to his health. Nevertheless, within a few days, Paul confiscated Platon’s estates, relieved him of all his posts, and strongly advised him to go abroad. Platon traveled for a few years in Poland and various regions of Germany. In 1800, he obtained permission to return to Russia, and his confiscated estates were returned to him.

Back in Russia, Platon found dissatisfaction among the nobles with Emperor Paul’s reign. Paul agreed with the practices of autocracy and tried to prevent liberal ideas in the Russian Empire. He did not tolerate freedom of thought or resistance against autocracy. Because he overly taxed the nobility and limited their rights, the Russian nobles, by increasing numbers, were against him. Paul’s reign was becoming increasingly despotic. Eventually, the nobility reached their breaking point.

A conspiracy to assassinate Emperor Paul was organized, some months before it was executed, by Count Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Count Nikita Petrovich Panin, and Admiral José de Ribas, with the alleged support of the British ambassador in Saint Petersburg, Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth who was the lover of Platon’s sister Olga. Platon was one of the conspirators along with his siblings Nikolai, Olga, and Valerian. The conspirators met and discussed their plans at Olga’s house. The total number of people involved in the conspiracy, according to various estimates, ranges from 180 to 300 people.

The assassination of Emperor Paul I, French engraving, 1880s; Credit – Wikipedia

Platon and his brother Nikolai were among the fourteen people present at Emperor Paul’s assassination. At 1:30 AM on March 23, 1801, a group of twelve men led by Platon’s brother Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Zubov and Levin August von Bennigsen, a German general in the service of the Russian Empire, broke into Paul’s bedroom at the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg and found Paul hiding behind some drapes in a corner. The conspirators pulled him out and forced him to a table so he could sign an abdication document. When Paul resisted, Platon’s brother Nikolai struck him with a sword and Platon said to Paul, “You are no longer Emperor. It is Alexander (Paul’s eldest son) who is our master.” Paul finally signed the abdication document after which the assassins strangled and trampled him to death.

• Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia

Paul’s 23-year-old eldest son Alexander, who probably knew about the coup but not the murder plot, succeeded as Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia. Platon initially played a prominent role and enjoyed influence in Alexander I’s early reign. However, Alexander I soon realized that he could not surround himself with those involved in his father’s death without compromising himself and Platon’s days of influence came to an end for good.

Tekla Ignatyevna Valentinović; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1814, Platon moved to his estates in Lithuania. In 1821, 54-year-old Platon fell madly in love with 19-year-old Tekla Ignatyevna Valentinović (1801-1873), the daughter of a Lithuanian nobleman of modest means. He had seen Tekla with her mother at a horse fair in Vilnius, Lithuania. Through an intermediary, Platon offered Tekla’s family a notable sum of money but his marriage proposal was rejected. Several months later Tekla and her mother arrived at Platon’s estate in Yanishki, Lithuania. Platon made an offer of one million rubles to marry Telka and her mother agreed.

The couple married in 1821 and had a daughter:

• Alexandra Platonovna Zubova (1822 – 1824), died in early childhood

Rundāle Palace; Credit – By Jeroen Komen from Utrecht, Netherlands CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37637993

After the marriage of Platon and Tekla, they made their home at Rundāle Palace, originally built for the Dukes of Courland in what is now Latvia. After the Duchy of Courland was absorbed by the Russian Empire in 1795, Empress Catherine II presented the palace to Platon’s youngest brother Valerian Zubov. In 1804, Platon inherited Rundāle Palace when his unmarried brother died.

Platon’s burial site, photographed in the 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov, aged 55, died on April 19, 1822, at Rundāle Palace, three weeks after the birth of his only child. He was buried in the Zubov family crypt at the Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius in the coastal settlement of Strelna near St. Petersburg, Russia. Platon’s brothers Nikolai and Valerian were also buried in the same crypt. Their burial site was destroyed during the Soviet era.

Platon’s widow Tekla inherited a huge fortune upon his death. However, Platon’s relatives sued due to the lack of a will. The subsequent trial ended in favor of Tekla who made a second marriage in 1826 to Count Andrei Petrovich Shuvalov, who became a prominent figure at the courts of Emperor Nicholas I and Emperor Alexander II. Tekla and her husband had four children and her second marriage brought the vast Zubov estates and fortune into the Shuvalov family.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Platon Zubov. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platon_Zubov> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Assassination Of Paul I, Emperor Of All Russia (1801). [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/assassination-of-paul-i-emperor-of-all-russia-1801/> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert, (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Валентинович, Текла Игнатьевна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87,_%D0%A2%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D0%98%D0%B3%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Зубов, Александр Николаевич (1727). [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(1727)> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Зубов, Платон Александрович. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 19 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

• In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

The term “Potemkin Village” derives from Grigory Potemkin. It has come to mean, especially in a political context, any hollow or false construct, physical or figurative, meant to hide an undesirable or potentially damaging situation. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built solely to impress Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, by her former lover Grigory Potemkin, during her journey to the Crimea in 1787.

Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was born in the village of Chizhovo near Smolensk, Russia on October 11, 1739. He was the youngest of the six children and the only son of Alexander Vasilyevich Potemkin and Daria Vasilyevna Kondyreva.

Grigory had five older sisters:

• Elena Alexandrovna Potemkina (1724–1775), married Vasily Andreyevich Engelhardt, had two sons and six daughters, the famous Potemkin Nieces, who were court favorites during the reigns of Catherine II and her son Paul I
• Marya Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Nikolai Borisovich Samoilov, had two children
• Piełagieja Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Peter Egorovich Vysotsky, had four children
• Daria Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Alexander Alexandrovich Likhachev, no children
• Nadzieżda Alexandrovna Potemkina (1738–1757), unmarried

Grigory’s father, a decorated war veteran who served as a non-commissioned officer in the Russian Army, came from a family of middle-income noble landowners. After his father died in 1746, Grigory’s mother moved the family to Moscow to aid her only son in establishing a career. Seven-year-old Grigory attended the Johann Philipp Litke School, the first private boarding school in Moscow where he was taught in German. He then attended the University Gymnasium, a secondary school that was part of the Imperial Moscow University. Grigory entered Imperial Moscow University in 1755. In 1756, he was awarded a gold medal for his achievements in science, and in 1757, he was one of the top twelve students sent to St. Petersburg to be introduced to Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia. Despite his achievements, Grigory was expelled from Imperial Moscow University in 1760 for laziness and non-attendance at classes.

Grigory had enlisted in the army in 1750 at age eleven, which was customary for noble children, with active service postponed until his education was completed. After being expelled from the university, Grigory began his service with the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment as a non-commissioned officer. In 1761, Grigory was promoted to vahmistra, the highest rank for non-commissioned officers. This rank was essentially a commander who assisted the squadron commander with drill training and organization. In March 1762, became an aide-de-camp to the Colonel of the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment, Field Marshal Prince George Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp, the second cousin once removed of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia and uncle of Peter’s wife and Grigory’s future lover, the future Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

In 1762, Grigory’s regiment took part in the coup d’etat that overthrew Peter III and placed his wife on the Russian throne. Allegedly, as Catherine reviewed her troops in front of the Winter Palace before the coup d’etat, she lacked a sword knot, a tassel attached to the hilt of a sword, and Grigory quickly supplied her with one. Potemkin’s horse then refused to leave her side for several minutes before returning to the ranks. After the coup d’etat, Empress Catherine singled out Potemkin for reward and promoted him to second lieutenant. Catherine then gave him a position in her household as a gentleman of the bedchamber, with Grigory retaining his post in the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment.

Two of the five Orlov Brothers: Alexei and Catherine’s lover Grigory; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine’s lover Grigory Orlov and his four brothers, who had organized the coup d’etat, dominated court life. However, Catherine encouraged Potemkin’s flirtatious behavior, including kissing her hand and declaring his love for her. For eleven years, from 1761 – 1772, Catherine was faithful to Grigory Orlov. In 1772, Orlov’s enemies, led by Nikita Ivanovich Panin, a statesman and political mentor to Catherine, broke up the relationship between Orlov and Catherine. They informed Catherine that Grigory had been unfaithful to her. A handsome young officer, Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov, was installed as Catherine’s new lover and Orlov was made to leave the court. However, Vasilchikov did not last long as Grigory Potemkin replaced him.

Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, 1772; Credit – Wikipedia

Grigory and Catherine had known each other since 1762 but their sexual relationship began in the spring of 1774 when Grigory was 34 and Catherine was 44. There is some evidence that a secret wedding took place in the summer or fall of 1774, or in early January 1775, and that Grigory and Catherine had a daughter Elizaveta Grigorievna Temkina, born July 24, 1775. However, there is no documentation of a marriage or the birth of a daughter. By late 1775, their relationship was changing and in early 1776, Catherine took her official secretary Count Peter Vasilievich Zavadovsky as her lover as a buffer for her stormy relationship with Grigory.

In public, courtiers saw no change except now it was Zavadovsky who escorted Catherine to her private apartments each night instead of Grigory. Grigory remained at the Winter Palace, was always present when Catherine appeared, and they seemed no less affectionate in public. However, Zavadovsky was jealous and demanded that Catherine give him exclusive intimacy. Grigory, who had initially approved of Zavadovsky, asked for his removal. To make his point, he stayed away from Catherine’s birthday celebrations. Eventually, Grigory got his way. In the summer of 1777, Zavadovsky was asked to leave the palace.

Grigory Potemkin in 1790; Credit – Wikipedia

Grigory and Catherine worked out a new relationship that preserved their affection toward each other and their political collaborations but allowed them to choose other sexual partners. That relationship lasted until Grigoryi died and he is considered Catherine’s great love. Catherine obtained for him the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and gave him the title of Prince of the Russian Empire. He was Grand Admiral of the Black Sea Fleet, Field Marshal of the Russian Army, and Governor-General of New Russia. Grigory served as a diplomat, was a member of the Imperial Council and president of the War College. He built the Black Sea Fleet and founded the cities of Sevastopol and Kherson in the Crimea. Grigoryi’s achievements include the peaceful annexation of Crimea and the successful Russo-Turkish War.

While traveling from Russia to Jassy in Moldavia, now in Romania, to negotiate the Treaty of Jassy ending the Russo-Turkish War, Grigoryi became ill with a fever. He had contracted malaria in Crimea in 1783 and his symptoms showed a reoccurrence of malaria. Grigory refused to take quinine or other medicines the doctor accompanying him prescribed. Like Catherine, Grigoryi believed his body would heal itself. When his entourage reached Jassy, his aides sent for his niece Countess Alexandra Branitskaya in Poland, hoping she could convince her uncle to follow the doctor’s advice. Catherine eagerly waited for messages about Grigoryi’s condition and ordered his niece to write to her every day.

Death of Potemkin, 1793 engraving; Credit – Wikipedia

Grigory was bothered by the humid air in Jassy and requested to be moved to Nikolaev in southern Ukraine where he thought the cooler air would do him good. On the day he left Jassy, he dictated his last letter to Catherine: “Your most gracious Majesty. I have no more strength to endure my torments. My only remaining salvation is to leave this town and I have ordered myself to be taken to Nikolaev. I do not know what is to become of me.” Grigory was then carried to a carriage to begin the trip to Nikolaev. After traveling only a few miles, Grigory could not breathe. He was carried into a nearby house where he spent the night. In the morning, he requested that the journey continue. However, after only seven miles, Grigory ordered the carriage to stop. He said, “This will be enough. There is no point in going on. Take me out of the carriage. I want to die on the field! ” Grigory was taken from the carriage, laid on a Persian carpet, and died in the arms of his niece on October 16, 1791, at the age of 52.

Catherine received the news via courier a week later and collapsed saying, “Now I have no one left on whom I can rely. How can anyone replace Potemkin?” Days passed and the same report came from Catherine’s secretary, “Tears and despair, tears and more tears.”

Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was buried at the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson, now in Ukraine, the city he had founded in the Crimea on the Black Sea in 1778. In October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces removed the remains of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin from the Cathedral of St. Catherine and transported them to Russia.

Tomb of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin at the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson, now in Ukraine; Credit – By Alexey M. – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78690594

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Grigory Potemkin. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Potemkin> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert, (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Потёмкин, Григорий Александрович. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD,_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Свадьба Екатерины II И Потёмкина. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C%D0%B1%D0%B0_%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%8B_II_%D0%B8_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 19 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

• In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov and his four brothers organized the coup d’etat that overthrew the husband of Catherine II the Great, Empress of All Russia, and gave her the throne of the Russian Empire.

Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov was the second of the five surviving sons of Grigory Ivanovich Orlov and Lukerya Ivanovna Zinovieva. He was born on October 17, 1734, at his father’s estate in the village of Lyutkino of the Bezhetsky Uyezd in the Tver Governorate in the European part of the Russian Empire. His father Grigory Ivanovich Orlov served in the Russian army and attained the rank of Major-General. After he retired from the army, Grigory Ivanovich was appointed Governor of Novgorod with the rank of State Councilor.

Grigory Grigoryevich had one older brother and four younger brothers, Collectively, they were known as the Orlov Brothers:

• Ivan Grigorievich Orlov (1733-1791), married Elizaveta Fyodorovna Rtishcheva, no children
• Alexei Grigorievich Orlov (1737-1808), married Evdokia Nikolaevna Lopukhina, had one son and one daughter
• Fedor Grigorievich Orlov (1741-1796), unmarried, had six illegitimate six sons and two illegitimate daughters, later legitimized by Empress Catherine II
• Mikhail Grigorievich Orlov (born1742), died in infancy
• Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov (1743-1831), married Elizaveta Ivanovna Stackelberg, had two sons and four daughters

Grigory Grigoryevich was raised in Moscow where he was educated at home. In 1749, as a 15-year-old, he enlisted in the Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment. By 1757, he was an officer and took part in the Seven Years’ War. He refused to leave the battlefield at the Battle of Zorndorf after being wounded three times which gained much respect from his fellow soldiers. In 1759, he was transferred to St. Petersburg where he joined the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Grigory’s transfer to the Preobrazhensky Regiment increased his popularity in St. Petersburg society. His good looks and physical qualities attracted the attention of Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna.

Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna, born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst; Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna, born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst, was the wife of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich (the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia), the heir to the Russian throne. Peter’s maternal aunt Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, the daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia, was unmarried. Peter had been born Prince Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, the son of Karl Friedrich, reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the elder of the two surviving daughters of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. Peter’s mother died at the age of 20, three months after his birth. His father died when Peter was eleven-years-old and he became the reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Three years later, in 1742, Peter’s life dramatically changed when his unmarried maternal aunt, his mother’s younger sister, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, declared him her heir and brought him to St. Petersburg, Russia.

Peter and Catherine’s marriage was not happy, and both had lovers. In 1754, Catherine had given birth to a son, the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. However, it is quite possible that Paul’s father was not Peter but Catherine’s lover Sergei Saltykov. By 1759, Catherine and Grigory had become lovers but no one told Catherine’s husband Peter. In the summer of 1761, Catherine became pregnant with Grigory’s child and concealed her pregnancy from her husband.

Grigory and Catherine’s son Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky; Credit – Wikipedia

During Catherine’s pregnancy, Empress Elizabeth suffered a massive stroke and died on January 5, 1762. Her nephew and Catherine’s husband became Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, and Catherine became the Empress Consort. Catherine gave birth to a son on April 22, 1762, at the Summer Palace in St. Petersburg. Immediately after the birth, the child, named Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky was given to Catherine’s wardrobe master Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin to be raised with his family.

Catherine and Peter; Credit – Wikipedia

Peter was unpopular and few were looking forward to his reign. After he became Emperor of All Russia, Peter did little to win the support of Empress Elizabeth’s friends and courtiers. His foreign policy also did little to win supporters. The last straw for Peter may have been how he treated the Russian army. Peter abolished “the guard within the guard”, a group within the Preobrazhensky Regiment, created by Empress Elizabeth as her personal guard in remembrance for their support in the coup which brought her to the throne. He replaced “the guard within the guard” with his own Holstein guard and often spoke about their superiority over the Russian army.

A conspiracy to overthrow Peter and place Catherine on the throne was planned and centered around the five Orlov brothers, with Grigory, Catherine’s lover, and Alexei being the main conspirators. On July 9, 1762 (June 29 in Old Style, the feast day of St. Peter and Paul), at Peterhof, a celebration on the occasion of Peter’s name day was planned. It was no coincidence that the conspirators chose this time for their attack. The day before, Peter was to travel from Oranienbaum to Peterhof. The brothers Alexei Orlov and Grigory Orlov made preparations during the weeks before the planned celebration. With threats and bribes of vodka and money, the Orlov brothers set up the guards against Peter.

Alexei and Grigory Orlov in the 1770s; Credit – Wikipedia

Peter was late leaving Oranienbaum due to a hangover and his daily habit of reviewing his Holstein troops. He was to meet Catherine at Peterhof but she was not there when he arrived. Eventually, Peter and the few advisers he had with him began to suspect what was happening. Peter sent members of his entourage to St. Petersburg to find out what was happening but none returned. He learned that Catherine had proclaimed herself Catherine II, Empress of All Russia, and that the senior government officials, the clergy, and all the Guards supported her.

Peter ordered his Holstein guards to take up defensive positions at Peterhof. They did so but were afraid to tell Peter they had no cannonballs to fire. Peter thought about fleeing but was told no horses were available because his entourage had all arrived in carriages. Learning that Catherine and the Guards were approaching Peterhof, Peter made a desperate decision to sail to Kronstadt, a fortress on an island. Upon arrival, Peter was refused admittance because all those in the fortress had sworn allegiance to Catherine. Peter rejected the advice of his advisors to go to the Prussian army and returned to Oranienbaum.

Peter and his Holstein guards were behind the gates at Oranienbaum when Alexei Orlov and his men surrounded Oranienbaum. Peter sent a message that he would renounce the throne if he, his mistress, and his favorite Russian general were allowed to go to Holstein. Catherine sent Grigori Orlov and a Russian general to Oranienbaum insisting that Peter must write out a formal announcement of abdication in his own handwriting. Grigori Orlov was to deal with the abdication and the general was to lure Peter out of Oranienbaum and back to Peterhof to prevent any bloodshed. Grigori Orlov rode back to Peterhof with the signed abdication announcement and the general convinced Peter to go to Peterhof and beg Catherine for mercy. Upon arrival at Peterhof, Peter was arrested and taken by Alexei Orlov to Ropsha Palace, a country estate outside of St. Petersburg.

Catherine had to deal with the same dilemma that Empress Elizabeth had to deal with regarding Ivan VI who she had deposed – keeping a former emperor around was a threat to her throne. Catherine intended to send Peter to Shlisselburg Fortress where Ivan VI, who had been deposed in 1741 as an infant, was still imprisoned. However, Catherine did not have to deal with a living deposed emperor for long.

One thing was certain – Peter was dead. He died at the age of 34 on July 17, 1762, at Ropsha Palace. What is uncertain is how he died. In the early afternoon of July 17, 1762, Peter was invited to dine with Alexei Orlov and Prince Feodor Baryatinsky, one of the officers of his guards. At 6:00 PM, a rider from Ropsha Palace reached St. Petersburg with a letter from Alexei Orlov for Catherine. Orlov wrote: “At dinner he [Peter] started quarreling and struggling with Prince Baryatinsky at the table. Before we could separate them, he was dead. We ourselves know not what we did. But we are equally guilty and deserve to die.”

Whether Peter’s death was planned or the result of an accidental drunken altercation is unknown. Catherine certainly benefitted from Peter’s death, which happened in the presence of Grigory Orlov, one of her key allies, and his men. The Orlov brothers and the officers guarding Peter hated him. They would have known that they were doing the new empress a favor. The official cause of Peter’s death was “a severe attack of hemorrhoidal colic.”

On the day of Catherine II’s accession to the throne, Captain Grigory Orlov was promoted to Major General, given the title of Acting Chamberlain, and received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and a sword richly decorated with diamonds. On October 3, 1762, the day of Catherine’s coronation, Major General Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Catherine’s Adjutant General. In addition, Grigori and all his brothers and their descendants were given the title of Count of the Russian Empire.

Gatchina Palace; Credit – By Usadboved – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62884978

In 1765, Catherine purchased a small manor south of Saint Petersburg from Gatchina Manor and presented it to Grigory as gratitude for his role in the coup d’etat that brought Catherine to the throne. Catherine and Orlov commissioned a new palace to be designed by Antonio Rinaldi. Gatchina Palace was finally completed in 1781, almost 15 years after construction began, and Grigory died two years later in 1783. Catherine had taken a great liking to Gatchina Palace and bought it from Grigory’s heirs and presented it to her son Grand Duke Paul Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I. Thereafter, Gatchina Palace remained popular with the Russian Imperial Family.

Grigory never distinguished himself as a statesman but acted as a private adviser during the early years of Catherine’s reign. He was particularly interested in improving the conditions of serfs and their partial emancipation. Meanwhile, Orlov’s enemies, led by Nikita Panin, a statesman and political mentor to Catherine, attempted to break up the relationship between Orlov and Catherine. They informed Catherine that Grigory had been unfaithful to her.  A handsome young officer, Alexander Vasilchikov, was installed as Catherine’s new lover and Grigory was made to leave the court.

The Orlov Diamond in the Imperial Sceptre of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

In an attempt to restore himself to Catherine’s affections, Grigory presented her with one of the greatest diamonds in the world, known ever since as the Orlov Diamond.  Catherine accepted the magnificent diamond and had it encrusted into the Imperial Sceptre of Russia. However, when Grigory returned to court and went, without permission, to his Marble Palace in Saint Petersburg, Orlov found another favorite, the younger Grigory Potemkin, had replaced him. Lacking a role at court, Grigori went to Switzerland for several years. In 1777, at the age of 43, Grigory married his 18-year-old second cousin Catherine Zinovyeva but they had no children. His young wife died of tuberculosis in 1781, at the age of 23, in Lausanne, Switzerland where she was buried.

Orthodox Church of St. George Monastery, the burial site of Grigory Orlov; Credit – Par Mysquarehead — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43159066

Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov died at Neskuchnoe, his estate near Moscow, on April 24, 1783, at the age of 48. He was buried at the Orthodox Church of St. George Monastery (link in French) in Velikiy Novgorod, Russia. Grigory’s immense fortune was left to his son with Catherine, Count Alexei Grigoryevich Bobrinsky, who had been created a Count by his half-brother Emperor Paul I.

In 1796, Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia died and her son succeeded to the throne as Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Now as the Emperor of All Russia, Paul sought revenge for the deposed and disgraced Peter III and the coup d’etat of his mother Catherine II and the Orlov brothers.  On July 19, 1762, Peter had been buried without honors in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. In 1796, immediately after the death of Catherine II, on the orders of her son and successor Paul I, Peter’s remains were transferred first to the church in the Winter Palace and then to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial site of the Romanovs. 60-year-old Alexei Orlov was made to walk in the funeral cortege, holding the Imperial Crown as he walked in front of the coffin. Peter III was reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg at the same time as the burial of his wife Catherine II. Peter III had never been crowned so at the time of his reburial, Paul I personally performed the ritual of coronation of his Peter’s remains.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Grigory Orlov. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Orlov> [Accessed 10 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Peter III, Emperor Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emperor-peter-iii-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert, (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Орлов, Григорий Григорьевич. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 10 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Credit – Wikipedia

• Patronymics: In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Count Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov was the first lover of the future Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, and possibly the father of her son Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Born in 1726, Sergei was the son of Vasily Fedorovich Saltykov and Princess Marya Alexeievna Golitsyna. The Saltykovs were an old Boyar (noble) family as were the Romanovs originally. The later Saltykovs were descended from Tatiana Feodorovna Romanova, a sister of Michael, the first Romanov Tsar. The mother of Anna I, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1730 – 1740) was Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova, the wife of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (reigned 1682 – 1696). During the reign of Anna I, she depended on her Saltykov relatives and Sergei’s father Vasily Fedorovich Saltykov served in various positions. In 1741, Vasily Fedorovich took part in the coup that put the only surviving child of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of all Russia (reigned 1682 – 1725), Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1741 – 1762), on the throne.

Sergei had seven siblings:

• Agrafena Vasilievna Saltykova (1709 – 1762), married Prince Alexei Dmitrievich Golitsyn, had four children
• Alexei Vasilievich Saltykov (?), died young
• Peter Vasilievich Saltykov (1724 – after 1796), married Princess Maria Fedorovna Solntseva-Zasekina
• Maria Vasilievna Saltykova (1728 – 1792), married Adam Vasilievich Olsufiev, had seven children
• Anna Vasilievna Saltykova (1729 – 1799), married Prince Matvey Alekseevich Gagarin, no children
• Alexander Vasilievich Saltykov (died 1803)
• Ekaterina Vasilievna Saltykova (1732 – 1774), married Peter Ivanovich Izmailov, had two children

Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizabeth, Empress of Russia had never married and now that she was Empress of Russia, she needed an heir. On November 18, 1742, Empress Elizabeth named Karl Peter Ulrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia), the 14-year-old son of her deceased younger sister Anna Petrovna, as her successor. Elizabeth’s nephew converted to Russian Orthodoxy and was given the name and title Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich. It was important to Elizabeth that Peter marry so that the Romanov dynasty could be continued. Elizabeth arranged for Peter to marry his second cousin, Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, later Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. Sophie converted to Russian Orthodoxy, was given the title Grand Duchess and the name Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna, and married Peter on August 21, 1745. Later in the evening of their wedding day, Catherine and Peter were taken to their bedchamber and put to bed. The marriage was not consummated that night and many historians doubt that the marriage was ever consummated.

Peter and Catherine’s marriage was not a happy one. Peter took Elizabeth Romanovna Vorontsova as his mistress and Catherine had affairs. Catherine’s first affair was with Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov. Because Sergei’s father was a supporter of Empress Elizabeth, and because of Sergei’s personal qualities, he had a prominent place in court life as Peter’s Chamberlain. Sergei became the person closest to both Peter and Catherine.

Peter and Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Sergei had observed how Catherine was ignored by Peter and how bored she was with the court. The rumors that Catherine was still a virgin encouraged him even more to pursue a relationship, and so he did. Sergei made sure he saw Catherine every day and that he was constantly by her side. Sometime in August or September 1752, the affair between Sergei and Catherine started. However, once their affair, Sergei worried that Catherine could become pregnant when she was thought to be a virgin.

Around the same time, Empress Elizabeth realized that the marriage of Peter and Catherine had never been consummated. It was suggested to her that Peter become acquainted with an attractive sexually experienced woman who was his social inferior. Madame Groot, the widow of a court painter was given the assignment and was successful in acquainting Peter with the mechanisms of sex. Thereafter, if Catherine became pregnant, no one could say for sure that Sergei was the father.

The future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia as a child; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine did become pregnant and on October 1, 1754, a son was born, the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Empress Elizabeth was overjoyed that there was an heir. Of course, Empress Elizabeth knew that Sergei could be Paul’s father but she did not care. To get Sergei out of the way, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Swedish court to deliver the official announcement of Paul’s birth. Catherine wrote: “This meant that I was immediately going to be separated from the one person I cared about the most.”

Sergei was away in Sweden for five months. Soon after he returned to St. Petersburg, Sergei learned that he was to be sent to Hamburg as the resident Russian minister and so his separation from Catherine would be permanent. He was glad the affair was over and that he was no longer engaged in a dangerous liaison. Sergei spent the subsequent years of his known life at various European courts. After 1764, there is no mention of Sergei Saltykov, who would have been 38, in official records. Some sources have his death occurring in 1765. Other sources say that he left for France and went missing there during the French Revolution. Another story says he lived until the reign of Paul and then he died in 1807.

In her memoirs, Catherine strongly implied that Sergei Saltykov was the biological father of her son Paul and that her marriage with Peter had never been consummated. However, Paul greatly resembled Peter in both character and appearance. Catherine, in her memoirs, countered with the well-known “ugliness” of Sergei’s brother Peter. If Paul I, Emperor of All Russias was the son of Sergei Saltykov, then all subsequent Romanovs were not genetically Romanovs.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Peter III, Emperor Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emperor-peter-iii-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert, (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Салтыков, Сергей Васильевич. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 9 July 2020].

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

• In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

A mistress of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova was born on August 24, 1739, the second of the three daughters and the second of the five children of Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov, who served in the Senate of the Russian Empire and as Governor-General of several provinces, and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina, daughter of a wealthy merchant. Elizaveta’s paternal uncle was Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov who served as Vice-Chancellor and then Chancellor of the Russian Empire.

Elizaveta had four siblings:

• Maria Romanovna Vorontsova (1737 – 1779), married Count Peter Alexandrovich Buturlin, had two children
• Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov (1741 – 1805), married his second cousin Anna Artemievna Vorontsova, had nine children
• Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova (1743 – 1810), married Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Dashkov, had three children, was Princess Dashkova, the closest female friend of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia
• Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1744 – 1832), married Ekaterina Alekseevna Senyavina, had two children

Elizaveta’s elder brother Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizaveta’s younger brother Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov; Credit – Wikipedia

Elizaveta’s father, Count Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov, took part in the 1741 coup that brought Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia, to the throne as Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Vorontsov, who owned estates and factories, became one of the wealthiest people in Russia. In 1746, when Elizaveta’s mother died, her father had no desire to marry again or raise his children, and his children were sent to be raised by relatives. In 1750, Elizaveta and her elder sister Maria were sent to court to serve as maids of honor.

Eleven-year-old Elizaveta was assigned to the court of Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich (the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia) at his palace Oranienbaum near St. Petersburg, where she was to serve Peter’s wife Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna. Peter had been born Prince Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, the son of Karl Friedrich, reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the elder of the two surviving daughters of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. Peter’s mother died at the age of 20, three months after his birth. His father died when Peter was eleven-years-old and he became the reigning Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Three years later, in 1742, Peter’s life dramatically changed when his unmarried maternal aunt, his mother’s younger sister, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, declared him her heir and brought him to St. Petersburg, Russia.

Peter and his wife Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

Grand Duchess Ekaterina (Catherine) Alexeievna (the future Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia) had been born Princess Sophie Auguste Friederike of Anhalt-Zerbst. It was important to Empress Elizabeth that Grand Duke Peter Feodorovich, the grandson of Peter the Great, marry so that the Romanov dynasty could be continued. Empress Elizabeth picked Sophie to marry her nephew. Peter and Catherine’s marriage was not a happy one but Catherine did have one son, Paul, the future Emperor of All Russia, and one daughter Anna Petrovna, who died in early childhood. Peter took Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova as his mistress and Catherine had affairs.

Elizaveta did not have a positive reputation. A member of Peter’s court said of her that she “swore like a soldier, squinted her eyes, smelled bad, and spit while talking.” Peter’s wife Catherine said that Elizaveta was “a very ugly, extremely unscrupulous child with olive skin color, and after suffering smallpox, she became even more ugly because her features were completely disfigured and her whole face was covered not with smallpox, but with scars.” However, Peter developed a fondness for Elizaveta and fondly called her “my Romanova” – a pun on her patronymic derived from her father’s first name Romanovna and Peter’s surname Romanov. Eventually, Peter and Elizaveta became lovers.

On January 3, 1762, Empress Elizabeth had a massive stroke and the doctors agreed she would not recover. Upon her death two days later, her nephew became Peter III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Catherine became the Empress Consort. As the death of Empress Elizabeth was announced to the court, the room was filled with moans and weeping. Peter was unpopular and few were looking forward to his reign. During the religious ceremonies for the lying-in-state of the deceased empress, Peter “made faces, acted the buffoon and imitated poor old ladies.”

Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon his accession, Peter granted his mistress Elizaveta her own maids of honor and assigned her rooms in the Winter Palace next to his rooms. On June 9, 1762, Peter bestowed the Order of Saint Catherine upon Elizaveta. Instituted in 1714 by Peter the Great, it was an honor reserved for female members of the Romanov family. Every Russian Grand Duchess was given the Order of St. Catherine at her christening or upon her marriage into the Romanov family. Princesses of the Imperial Blood were given the order when they reached the age of 18. According to those standards, Elizaveta was not entitled to receive the Order of Saint Catherine.

Contemporary memoirs describe Elizaveta as the “official favorite” of the emperor and “a participant in his entertainment”. According to Andrey Timofeyevich Bolotov, a well-known memoir writer, Peter “spent most of his time with her” and “did not hide before anyone an exorbitant love for her.” Foreign ambassadors in St. Peterburg reported that Peter intended to imprison his wife Catherine in a convent and marry Elizaveta.

Elizaveta’s sister Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, a close friend of Empress Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

During the reign of Empress Elizabeth, Catherine became a close friend of Elizaveta’s sister Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova who introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband Peter. Catherine had maintained contact with those groups. As Emperor, Peter did little to gain support. At the time of Elizabeth’s death, Russia was on the verge of defeating Prussia in the Seven Years’ War. Instead, because Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia was his idol, Peter withdrew Russian troops from Berlin and marched against the Austrians, Russia’s ally. The last straw for Peter may have been how he treated the Russian army. Peter abolished “the guard within the guard”, a group within the Preobrazhensky Regiment, created by Empress Elizabeth as her personal guard in remembrance for their support in the coup which brought her to the throne. He replaced “the guard within the guard” with his own Holstein guard and often spoke about their superiority over the Russian army.

The devotion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment to Catherine was never in doubt because her lover Grigory Orlov and his four brothers were all members of the Guard. A conspiracy to overthrow Peter was planned and centered around the five Orlov brothers. Peter was arrested at his palace Oranienbaum, and taken by Alexei Orlov to Ropsha, a country estate outside of St. Petersburg, and his wife became Catherine II, Empress of All Russia.

Catherine II on a balcony of the Winter Palace on 28 June 1762, the day of the coup; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine showed Peter some sympathy by allowing him his bed, his dogs, his violin, and his personal doctor. However, she declined the thing Peter wanted the most – to see Elizaveta. Eight days after the coup, Peter was dead. The true circumstances of Peter’s death at the age of 34 on July 17, 1762, are unclear. It is possible Alexei Orlov murdered Peter. Another story is that Peter had been killed in a drunken brawl with one of his jailers. At the time, the official cause was “an acute attack of colic during one of his frequent bouts with hemorrhoids.” It is doubtful that Catherine played any role in Peter’s death.

Elizaveta had been at Oranienbaum at the time of Peter’s arrest and was also arrested. The original plan had been for Peter to be exiled in his homeland, the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, where Peter was still the reigning Duke, and Elizaveta wished to accompany him. Instead, Elizaveta was sent to her father’s Konkovo estate near Moscow. Her maids of honor and her Order of Saint Catherine were taken from her. Empress Catherine ordered Elizaveta’s father to ensure she “lived in silence without giving people any reasons to talk about her.”

Eventually, Empress Catherine arranged a marriage for Elizaveta to Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky (1721 – 1818), a middle-aged army colonel of humble background who was eighteen years older than Elizaveta. In Russian society, the marriage was seen as a mockery of Empress Catherine’s former rival. The wedding took place on September 18, 1765, at the Konkovo estate of Elizaveta’s father near Moscow.

Elizaveta and Alexander had two children:

• Anna Alexandrovna Polyanskaya (1766 – 1845), married Baron Wilhelm d’Hogger, Dutch ambassador in St. Petersburg, had three children
• Alexander Alexandrovich Polyansky (1774 – 1818), married Elizaveta Ivanovna Ribopier, had five children

Lazarevskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia; Credit – By Christian Bickel (Fingalo) – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10620059

Initially, Elizaveta and Alexander were ordered to live away from St. Petersburg. However, in 1765, they were allowed to return to St. Petersburg, and Alexander received several civil service positions. Elizaveta never again appeared at court but did have contact with Empress Catherine’s close friend Countess Anna Stepanovna Protasova. Elizaveta died on February 2, 1792, at the age of 52. She was buried at the Lazarevskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her husband Alexander Ivanovich Polyansky survived her by twenty-six years, dying at the age of 97 on November 28, 1818, shortly after the death of his only son, and was buried with his wife Elizaveta.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Catherine the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_the_Great [Accessed 19 Jan. 2018].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Elizaveta Vorontsova. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizaveta_Vorontsova> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Peter III of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_III_of_Russia [Accessed 10 Jan. 2018].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Peter III, Emperor Of All Russia. [online] Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/emperor-peter-iii-of-russia/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, R. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Воронцова, Елизавета Романовна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 4 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Elizaveta Vorontsova)

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky; Credit – Wikipedia

Patronymics

• In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

Born on March 28, 1709, Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky began his life on a farm near Chernihiv, now in Ukraine, the son of a Ukrainian Cossack farmer Grigory Yakovlev Rozum and his wife Natalya Demyanovna Demeshko. Alexei had five siblings: three sisters Agafyu, Anna and Vera, an elder brother Danilo and a younger brother Kirill, known as Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, who benefitted from his brother’s relationship with Empress Elizabeth. Kirill was a Field Marshal of the Russian Imperial Army and President of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences. However, Alexei and Kirill’s childhood was spent in poverty on their drunken father’s farm working to keep the family from starvation.

Alexei was taught to read and write by a local priest. Because his father hated his love of learning, Alexei fled to the neighboring village of Chemer where he lived with a clerk as his apprentice and sang in the village church choir. In 1731, Colonel Vishnevsky, a courtier of Anna, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1730 – 1740), who was passing through Chemer, returning to St. Petersburg after a diplomatic trip to Hungary, was impressed with Alexei’s vocal abilities and took him to Saint Petersburg where he joined the Court Choir under the name Alexei Grigoriev.

Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Alexei’s beautiful singing and good looks earned him the interest of Tsesarevna Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1682 – 1725), the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia (reigned 1741 – 1762). In 1732, Elizabeth made Alexei a member of the choir in her private chapel. Soon, he had a room near her apartments. Alexei had personality qualities that made him a good choice to be Elizabeth’s favorite and lover. He was a simple and decent person and well-liked for his kindness, good nature, and tact. He had no ambition and never interfered in politics. Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia (reigned 1762 – 1796), who in 1745 as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, married Empress Elizabeth’s nephew and heir, the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1762), later wrote about Alexei and his brother Kirill that she “knew no other family enjoying the sovereign’s favor to a degree, who were so much loved by so many people as the two brothers.”

Peter and Catherine; Credit – Wikipedia

In October 1740, the infant Ivan VI (reigned 1740 – 1741) became Emperor of All Russia. A conspiracy soon arose intending to obtain the Russian throne for Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter the Great. A coup took place during the night of December 5-6, 1741 with financial support from France and military support from the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Elizabeth Petrovna arrived at the regiment’s headquarters wearing armor over her dress asking, “Who do you want to serve, me, your natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?” The Preobrazhensky Regiment marched to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and arrested the infant Emperor Ivan VI and his parents. It was a daring coup and succeeded without bloodshed. The new 32-year-old Empress of All Russia, Elizabeth Petrovna, vowed that she would not sign a single death sentence, a promise she kept throughout her twenty-year reign.

Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky had played an important role in the coup and like others who had helped the new Empress gain her position, he was rewarded. He was created chamberlain with the rank of Lieutenant-General. On the day of Elizabeth’s coronation, Alexei was made the Court Chamberlain, the administrative official in charge of the court. At the same time, he received the Order of Saint Andrew and the Order of Alexander Nevsky and several estates. in 1744, Alexei was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire by Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII and then Elizabeth made him a Count of Russia. There are several stories about children allegedly born to Alexei and Elizabeth but not one of them is documented.

In 1742, rumors began circulating that Empress Elizabeth and Alexei had been secretly married in the village of Perovo near Moscow. After this time, Alexei settled in apartments adjoining Elizabeth’s apartments. He had constant access to her and his nickname became the Night Emperor. During the reign of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, Catherine searched for a precedent to marry her lover Grigory Orlov. Catherine sent her chancellor to Alexei asking for proof of his marriage to Elizabeth. Alexei was told that as the widower of an empress, he would have a position in the Imperial Family and a large pension. Alexei told Catherine’s chancellor that he was already one of the richest men in Russia and that he needed neither honors nor money. He then unlocked a cabinet and took out a scrolled parchment tied with a pink ribbon. He made the sign of the cross, kissed the parchment, and threw it into the fireplace. Alexei said, “Tell Her Imperial Majesty that I was never anything more than the humble slave of the late Elizabeth Petrovna.” Was that parchment proof of the marriage of Alexei and Elizabeth?

Despite becoming one of the richest people in Russia, Alexei remained modest and tried not to interfere in court intrigues. He did not forget his Ukrainian relatives or his native Ukraine. It was thanks to Alexei that during the reign of Elizabeth Ukrainians managed to be granted some privileges.

On January 3, 1762, Empress Elizabeth had a massive stroke and the doctors agreed she would not recover. Alexei was one of the people who gathered at her bedside at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, along with Elizabeth’s nephew Peter, his wife Catherine, and others close to Elizabeth. Elizabeth made her successor, her nephew Peter, promise to protect Alexei. On January 5, 1762, Elizabeth asked her priest to read the Orthodox prayer for the dying. She blessed everyone in the room and asked each one for forgiveness. At about 4 PM, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia died at the age of 52.

Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg; Credit – By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21480614

Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, Alexei submitted his resignation from his various positions and moved from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to the nearby Anichkov Palace which Empress Elizabeth had built for Alexei. Following their marriage in 1866, the future Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and his wife Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, made the Anichkov Palace their St. Petersburg residence. Their children, including Nicholas II, the last Emperor of All Russia, spent their childhood there.

The new emperor, Peter III, often visited Alexei at Anichkov Palace. However, the reign of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia. Alexei did not take part in the coup that overthrew Peter III and when Catherine became Empress, Alexei swore allegiance to her and carried the crown during her coronation. Catherine offered Alexei the style of “Highness” but Alexei refused.

Alexei became quite ill in 1770 and during the last months of that year, he became bedridden. Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, aged 62, died on July 17, 1771, at Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was buried in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, together with the wife of his brother Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky, Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya, who died just two weeks after Alexei. Over their graves, Kirill erected a magnificent marble monument in the form of triumphal gates.

Tomb of Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky and his sister-in-law Ekaterina Ivanovna Razumovskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Alexei Razumovsky. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Razumovsky> [Accessed 3 June 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Elizabeth of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Russia [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовский, Алексей Григорьевич. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Alexei Razumovsky)
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Разумовская, Наталья Демьяновна. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F,_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%94%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 3 June 2020]. (Russian Wikipedia article on Natalya Demyanovna Razumovskaya, Alexei’s mother)