Czarina Catherine
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Czarina Catherine II
Greg Zimmerman
December 7, 2001
Catherine II was a German princess who was born in Stettin, Prussia in 1729. Her father was Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, a general in the Prussian army and her mother was Princess Elizabeth of Holstien. Her uncle was Adolph Frederick, who became the constitutional monarch of Sweden in 1751.
Catherine's birth name was Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhalt-Zebst. Sophia was nicknamed Feke or Figchen. Little is known about her early life, except what she wrote in her unfinished autobiography years later. Figchen's mother Joanna, was the sister of Karl August, who had been engaged to Elizabeth I of Russia before she took the throne. Her mother corresponded with Elizabeth I, and she and her mother were invited to come to Russia by the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna on January 1, 1744.
At age 15, she converted to the Russian Orthodox religion, and was renamed Catherine Alexeyevna. She married Peter the same year. In 1761, Catherine's husband, Peter, was crowned emperor. Catherine learned Russian customs, the language, and gained the throne of Russia upon her husband's death in 1796.
After two miscarriages, Catherine gave birth in 1754 to Paul, the future emperor of Russia. The father was Serge Saltykov, and Catherine never was close to her son.
In 1762, Catherine and members of the court overthrew Peter and she became the Czarina of Russia. Several weeks later, Peter was killed.
Catherine II married a child in an adult body, and was very unhappy with her marriage. Prior to the wedding, Peter caught the measles. He was left with pock marks and little hair. He drank incessantly and his behavior was crude.
The marriage was miserable for Catherine. Her role was to produce a male heir, and it is very likely that Peter was sterile from his illnesses. It was discovered that all Peter did during the marriage in bed with Catherine during the night was play with wooden solders and miniature cannons and toy fortresses. Peter would make little cannon-firing noises with his mouth and shout out orders to the armies on the bed. He begged Catherine to
