Any foreigner flying in to St. Petersburg today will likely, on their way from the airport, come down Moskovsky prospekt, the longest and one of the busiest roads in the city today. Halfway between the remarkably small international airport and the city center whose palaces, cathedrals, and canals form a grandeur seen in few other places, the road is interrupted by a large roundabout.
She was known as Catherine II during her reign over Russia from June 28th, 1762- November, 17th 1796. Catherine took power after a conspiracy deposed her husband, Peter III (1728–1762), and her reign saw the high point in the influence of the Russian nobility. Under her direct auspices the Russian Empire expanded, improved its administration, and continued to westernize. Catherine’s rule re-vitalized Russia, which grew ever stronger and became recognized as one of the great powers of Europe. During her reign Catherine extended the borders of the Russian Empire southward and westward to absorb New Russia, Crimea, Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers – the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Her successes in complex foreign policy and her sometimes brutal reprisals in the wake of rebellion (most notably Pugachev’s Rebellion) complemented her hectic private life. She frequently occasioned scandal — given her propensity for relationships which often resulted in gossip flourishing within more than one European court. Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest, and then pensioning them off with large estates and gifts of serfs.
Questions for discussion in class:
Why did Catherine confer on the nobility the Charter to the Nobility, increasing further the power of the landed oligarchs?
Why do you think Catherine constantly created projects that would legitimate her status as the empress?
By Lindsay Rubio and JP Verheul
Praskovya Sheremeteva was the subject of a famous portrait painted by Nikolai Argunov, the serf-turned-painter who was the first Russian artist of serf origin to be elected to the Imperial Academy of the Arts. Born a serf around 1770, she caught the eye of her owner, Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev, at the age of 16.
Vasily Kandinsky started his rise to fame as an abstract painter with the “Jack of Diamonds” exhibition sponsored by Nikolai Riabushinsky, a vigorous patron of young brilliant artists. Kandinsky was part of the group of artists, who “declared a war on the realist tradition and shocked the public with their art” (Figes, 212).
Sergei Volkonskii (1788-1865) was a member of a prominent and ancient Russian noble family with extremely strong ties to the Russian Imperial family. Volkonskii was one of Tsar Alexander I’s aides-de-camps and a childhood playmate of his successor, Nicholas I.
Anna Akhmatova, born Anna Andreevna Gorenko on 1889, is best known not only as a great Russian poet but as symbol of strength during Stalin’s oppressive rule. She began to publish her works as a teenager, using the pen name “Akhmatova” in appreciation of her Tatar great-grandmother.