Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person dur
Portrait by Vigilius Eriksen, 1757
Young Elizabeth in the 1720s, painted by Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
Portrait of her fiancé, Charles Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp (1706-1727), Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, ca. 1725.
Peter II and Princess Elizabeth Petrovna Riding to Hound by Valentin Serov
Peter III Fyodorovich was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when his wife, Catherine II, overthrew him in a palace coup d'état. He implemented many notable reforms d
Elizabeth of Russia
…her numerous construction projects, and her strong opposition to Prussian policies. She was the last person on the agnatic line of the Romanovs as her nephew ascended, thus creating the house of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov. The second-eldest daughter of Tsar Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725), Elizabeth lived through…
Portrait by Lucas Conrad Pfandzelt, c. 1761
Engraving of Peter as a child in the 1730s.
Portrait of Grand Duke Pyotr Feodorovich by Georg Christoph Grooth, 1743
Peter's 1746 letter to his wife in French, the language of the Russian aristocracy