Catherine (II) the Great (1729-1796)

A German by birth, Catherine the Great ruled Russia well and identified with its people throughout her life. Catherine expressed relief at Peter III's death in a coup d'etat in 1762, and took over the government of the country.

Empress of Russia from 1762, and daughter of the German prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. In 1745 she married the Russian grand duke Peter. Catherine dominated her husband; six months after he became Tsar Peter III in 1762, he was murdered in a coup and Catherine ruled alone. During her reign Russia extended its boundaries to include territory from wars with the Turks (1768-74), (1787-92), and from the partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793, and 1795, as well as establishing hegemony over the Black Sea.

Catherine's private life was notorious throughout Europe, but except for Grigory Potemkin she did not permit her lovers to influence her policy.

She admired and aided the French Encyclopédistes.