Prince Grigory Potemkin was the favorite of Catherine II and during her reign played an important role in the political life of the Russian Empire. This undoubtedly outstanding figure annexed Crimea to Russia, created the Black Sea Fleet and became its first leader.
Early years and participation in a coup
Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was born in September 1739 in a noble family. Place of birth - the village of Chizhevo, near Smolensk.
In 1746, Grisha's father, a retired military man, died and the boy moved with his mother to Moscow. Here Gregory was settled in a private lyceum named after Litke in the Nemetskaya Sloboda. After graduating from this lyceum, Grigory Potemkin continued his education at the prestigious Moscow University. At the same time, he was enrolled in the Horse Guards as a reitar with permission not to appear until the end of his training in the service.
In 1756, for significant achievements in comprehending the sciences, Grigory Alexandrovich was awarded a medal, and in 1757, as one of the twelve most capable students, he was invited to St. Petersburg for a reception with the then ruler Elizabeth.
Returning from this reception back to Moscow, Potemkin suddenly lost interest in his studies and decided to focus on a military career (which ultimately led to expulsion from the university). In 1761, Gregory was given the rank of sergeant-major, and in 1762 he became an orderly for George Holshtinsky, a relative of Tsar Peter III.
In July 1762, Potemkin took part in a coup d'etat, which ended with the ascension to the throne of Catherine II. After that, he received the rank of second lieutenant of the guards (the new empress clearly favored Grigory Alexandrovich, other serfs who supported the uprising became only cornets), ten thousand rubles, as well as four hundred serfs.
Further career and rapprochement with the empress
After Catherine the Great came to power, Grigory Potemkin began to move up the career ladder very quickly. It is known that in 1763 he served as the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, and in 1767 he participated in the activities of the Legislative Commission (the empress convened this commission to develop a unified code of laws).
In 1768, another (by no means the first, but not the last) Russian-Turkish war broke out. Potemkin immediately went to the army as a volunteer. At the front, he commanded the cavalry and was able to show courage in several battles, for which he received praise directly from the General Field Marshal. In 1774 he was summoned to the palace of Catherine II and became her favorite. There is a version that the Empress and Gregory even got married secretly, but one hundred percent proof of this has not yet been found. It is interesting that Potemkin never had any other official wives.
The patronage and love of Catherine allowed Grigory Alexandrovich to become one of the most powerful people in the empire. Over the next seventeen years, Potemkin was very actively involved in the affairs of a huge state.
Significant achievements of the favorite Potemkin and his death
In 1774, Potemkin became vice president (and later he became president) of the military collegium and set about reforming the army - he abolished corporal punishment, changed the structure of the infantry, updated uniforms and uniforms, and so on. Since 1775, he served as the governor of almost all southern Russian lands (from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea) and achieved significant economic success in this post. Under him, new beautiful cities were built here, for example, Nikolaev and Kherson.
In 1783, Grigory Potemkin achieved the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and surrounding lands to the empire. For this he was officially called the Prince of Tauride. People from other parts of Russia immediately began to move to the peninsula. In addition, in the same 1783, the city of Sevastopol was founded here.
In 1787, Grigory Potemkin was appointed commander of the imperial army. The reason for this appointment was a new military conflict with the Turks (it lasted until 1791). Potemkin can be called an innovator in military affairs - he was the first in the history of Russia to decide to command several fronts at the same time and did it on the whole successfully. Under his leadership, such famous military leaders as Fyodor Ushakov and Alexander Suvorov achieved resounding victories.
In 1791, 52-year-old Potemkin suddenly fell ill with intermittent fever, from which he died on the way from Iasi (a settlement in Romania) to Nikolaev. At the direction of the empress (and she was really shocked by the death of the favorite), the body of the prince was embalmed and placed in the Kherson St. Catherine Cathedral, which Grigory Alexandrovich himself built. However, when Paul I became sovereign, Potemkin's remains were ordered to be buried.
