Catherine the Great

Catherine II, most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's last empress regnant and longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following the overthrow of her husband and second cousin, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, many new cities, universities and theaters were founded, a large number of European immigrants moved to Russia, and Russia was recognized 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. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy.