ELIZAVETA PETROVNA
1709-1761
EMPRESS OF ALL RUSSIA 1741-1761
Daughter of Emperor Peter the Great, Elizaveta
Petrovna was born on December 18, 1709, before her father's official marriage to
Catherine I. As soon as Catherine died, the position
of the Czarevna became most precarious, particularly during the reign of Anna Ivanovna and the Regency of Anna Leopoldovna; both
feared the Imperial Guard's loyalty to Peter's daughter. Elizaveta was saved from
taking the veil by her nephew, the Prince of Holstein (the future Emperor Peter III).
On the night of November 25, 1741, Elizaveta went to the barracks of the
Preobrazhenskii regiment and persuaded the soldiers to follow her. The
Braunschweig clan and a number of senior officials were arrested and the
32-year-old Elizaveta was proclaimed Empress. On April 25, 1742, Elizaveta was
crowned in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow
Kremlin.
During her reign, significant advances were made economically and culturally.
In foreign policy, Russia became so important that all states were eager to make
treaties. One of Elizaveta's most important decrees was made on May 7, 1744: the
abolition of capital punishment. During her reign, not a single person was
executed.
She died on December 25, 1761, leaving no heir. She was buried in the
Cathedral of the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.
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copyrights.
Text compiled by Alexei K. Levykin
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