Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great

Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Catherine the Great has received more than 24,589,749 page views. Her biography is available in 114 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 111 in 2019). Catherine the Great is the 6th most popular nobleman, the 6th most popular biography from Poland (up from 7th in 2019) and the most popular Polish Nobleman.

Catherine the Great was most famous for her contributions to the arts, including the establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Hermitage Museum. She also expanded the borders of Russia, made it a world power, and was the first woman to rule Russia.