Van wie was Catharina II van Rusland?

Catharina II Aleksejevna (Russisch: Екатерина II Алексеевна, Jekaterina II Aleksejevna) (Stettin, 2 mei 1729 – Tsarskoje Selo, 17 november 1796), bijgenaamd Catharina de Grote (Russisch: Екатерина Великая, Jekaterina Velikaja), was van 1762 tot 1796 tsarina van Rusland.

Ze werd in het Duitse Stettin in Pommeren (sinds 1945 Szczecin in Polen) geboren als Sophia Augusta Frederika, prinses van Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, dochter van vorst Christiaan August van Anhalt-Zerbst en hertogin Johanna Elisabeth van Sleeswijk-Holstein-Gottorp. Ze was een nicht van de koningen Gustaaf III en Karel XIII van Zweden en echtgenote van de Russische troonopvolger Peter III.

Aleksander Petrovitj Jermolov (ryska: Александр Петрович Ермолов), född 1754, död 1834, var en rysk general och älskare till Katarina den stora.

Jermolov presenterades för Katarina av Potemkin, utprovades av Anna Protasova och ersatte 1785 Aleksander Lanskoj som generaladjutant och älskare. Jermolov anslöt sig till Potemkins fiender och avsattes därför från sin ställning.

Iwan Nikołajewicz Rimskij-Korsakow (ros. Иван Николаевич Римский-Корсаков, ur. 13 stycznia^?/24 stycznia 1754 w Moskwie, zm. 4 lutego^?/16 lutego 1831 w Petersburgu) – generał major Armii Imperium Rosyjskiego, fligeladiutant, szambelan i faworyt Katarzyny II, w 1779 roku oddalony od dworu.

W 1778 roku odznaczony Orderem Orła Białego.

Comte Alexandre Matveïevitch Dmitriev-Mamonov (en russe : Александр Матвеевич Дмитриев-Мамонов), né le 30 septembre 1758; mort le 11 octobre 1803, enseveli dans le monastère Donskoï) fut le favori de Catherine II de Russie de 1786 à 1789.

Conte Aleksandr Dmitrievič Lanskoj (in russo Александр Дмитриевич Ланской^?; Tallinn, 10 agosto 1758 – San Pietroburgo, 11 dicembre 1784) è stato un militare russo.

Le comte Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov (en russe : Сергей Васильевич Салтыков), né en 1722, et mort le 24 septembre 1784, est un officier et diplomate russe qui fut le premier favori de l'impératrice Catherine II quand elle n'était encore que grande-duchesse.

Pjotr Wassiljewitsch Sawadowski (russisch Пётр Васильевич Завадовский; * 10. Januar^jul. / 21. Januar 1739^greg. in Krasnowitschi, Ujesd Starodub, Russisches Kaiserreich; † 10. Januar^jul. / 22. Januar 1812^greg. in St. Petersburg, ebenda) war ein kaiserlich-russischer Offizier und Staatsmann ukrainischer Abstammung.

Siemion Gawriłowicz Zoricz (ur. w 1745, zm. w 1799) – generał lejtnant Imperium Rosyjskiego od 1797 roku, adiutant Grigorija Potiomkina, faworyt Katarzyny II w latach 1777–1778, kawaler maltański.

W 1778 roku odznaczony Orderem Orła Białego, odznaczony Orderem św. Jerzego w 1775 roku, kawaler Orderu Świętego Stanisława w 1777 roku, odznaczony szwedzkim Orderem Miecza.

Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov (Russian: Александр Семёнович Васильчиков, tr. Aleksandr Semënovič Vasil'čikov; 1746–1813) was a Russian aristocrat who became the lover of Catherine the Great from 1772 to 1774.

Vasilchikov was an ensign in the Chevalier Guard Regiment when he was noted by Catherine and was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber on 1 August 1772. When Catherine's then-lover Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov left court, Catherine was informed about his adultery, and 12 August, Vasilchikov was made general aide-de-camp and lover of Catherine. Vasilchikov was expected to be available to attend on her at all times, and was not allowed to leave the palace without permission.

The relationship was short-lived. Catherine found Vasilchikov's gentleness cloying, saying "His tenderness made me weep." When Vasilchikov was away on a journey, sent by the empress, Grigory Potemkin replaced him as her lover. She wrote to her friend Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm about Vasilchikov's dismissal: "Why do you reproach me because I dismiss a well-meaning but extremely boring bourgeois in favour of one of the greatest, the most comical and amusing, characters of this iron century?"

Vasilchikov later complained that he felt like a hired gigolo: "I was nothing more to her than a kind of male cocotte and I was treated as such. If I made a request for myself or anyone else, she did not reply, but the next day I found a bank-note for several thousand rubles in my pocket. She never condescended to discuss with me any matters that lay close to my heart."

Catherine characteristically rewarded her former lover richly. Vasilchikov was given a pension of twenty thousand rubles and valuable properties. He lived the rest of his life in Moscow. He never married. He built a notable collection of Western European paintings and sculptures, including a "Self Portrait" by Velasquez and works by Philips Wouwerman and Andries Botha.

Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov (Russian: Платон Александрович Зубов; November 26 [O.S. November 15] 1767 – April 19 [O.S. April 7] 1822) was the last of Catherine the Great's favourites and the most powerful man in the Russian Empire during the last years of her reign.

Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (11 October [O.S. 30 September] 1739 – 16 October [O.S. 5 October] 1791) was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman, and favourite of Catherine the Great. He died during negotiations over the Treaty of Iași, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen.

Potemkin was born into a family of middle-income landowners of Russian nobility. He first attracted Catherine's favor for helping in her 1762 coup, then distinguished himself as a military commander in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). He became Catherine's lover, favorite and possibly her consort. After their passion cooled, he remained her lifelong friend and favored statesman. Catherine obtained for him the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and gave him the title of Prince of the Russian Empire among many others; he was both a Grand Admiral and the head of all of Russia's land and irregular forces. Potemkin's achievements include the peaceful annexation of the Crimea (1783) and the successful second Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), during which the armed forces under his command besieged Ochakov.

In 1775, Potemkin became the governor-general of Russia's new southern provinces. An absolute ruler, he worked to colonize the wild steppes, controversially dealing firmly with the Cossacks who lived there. He founded the towns of Kherson, Nikolayev, Sevastopol, and Yekaterinoslav. Ports in the region became bases for his new Black Sea Fleet.

His rule in the south is associated with the (probably mythical) "Potemkin village", a ruse involving the construction of painted façades to mimic real villages, full of happy, well-fed people, for visiting officials to see. Potemkin was known for his love of women, gambling, and material wealth. He oversaw the construction of many historically significant buildings, including the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg.

Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (Russian: Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 17 October 1734 – 24 April 1783) was a Russian general and patron of arts who was Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1772) and a favourite of Empress Catherine the Great. He was a leader of the 1762 coup which overthrew Catherine's husband Peter III and installed Catherine as reigning empress. For some years he was virtually co-ruler with her, but his repeated infidelities and the enmity of Catherine's other advisers led to his fall from power.

He patronised M. V. Lomonosov, D. I. Fonvisin, V. I. Bazhenov and gave them financial support. Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (since 1765). He collected paintings (including Rembrandt, P. P. Rubens, Titian), sculpture, Chinese, Japanese and Russian porcelain, hunting weapons, etc. (Orlov's collection has been preserved almost completely; it is now in the State Museum-Reserve "Gatchina" of the eponymous city). A large landowner, Orlov commissioned the construction of the Great Gatchina Palace.

Stanislaus Anton Poniatowski (Pools: Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski) (Wołczyn, 17 januari 1732 - Sint-Petersburg, 12 februari 1798) was van 1764 tot 1795 als Stanislaus August de laatste koning van het zelfstandig Polen en Litouwen.