Empress of Russia Catherine II

Born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst in 1729, Catherine II—better known as Catherine the Great—came to Russia as a young woman, converted to Orthodoxy, and married the future Peter III. In 1762, after a coup that removed her husband, she took the throne and ruled until her death in 1796.

Her reign is remembered as a major chapter in Russian history. She expanded the Russian Empire, strengthened central government, and presented herself as an enlightened ruler interested in law, education, and the arts. She also corresponded with leading European thinkers and helped make the imperial court a center of culture.

At the same time, Catherine’s legacy is complicated. Her rule rested on autocratic power, and the freedoms she admired in theory did not extend equally across Russian society, especially for serfs. That mix of brilliance, contradiction, and personal determination is one reason she remains such a fascinating historical figure.