catherine-the-great-tv:CATHERINE THE GREAT born in 1729, Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst
catherine-the-great-tv:CATHERINE THE GREAT born in 1729, Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst, the daughter of a German prince, she was related through her mother to the dukes of Holstein In 1744, she arrived in Russia, as the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna, or, in English, Catherine. Sophia could have been baptized with her own name, Sophia, which was a common name in Russia. But Empress Elizabeth had rejected this because Sophia had been the name of her own aunt, the half-sister and rival of Peter the Great who had struggled for the throne with the young tsar fifty-five years before. Instead, Elizabeth chose the name of her own mother, Catherine. Catherine married Peter, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the throne. In June 1762 Catherine took an active part in a coup against her husband Emperor Peter III, she was proclaimed empress on 9 July 1762. Peter III abdicated and was assassinated eight days later. She was soon crowned in Moscow, beginning a 34-year reign.official trailer for the upcoming Catherine the Great tv series. -- source link
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