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Peter II of Russia |
| Peter II | |
|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias | |
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| Emperor Peter II, circa 1730 | |
| Reign | May 18, 1727 - January 29, 1730 |
| Coronation | February 25, 1728 |
| Predecessor | Catherine I |
| Successor | Anna Ivanovna |
| Imperial House | House of Romanov |
| Father | Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia |
| Mother | Princess Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel |
| Born | October 18, 1715 Saint Petersburg |
| Died | January 30, 1730 (aged 14) Moscow |
| Burial | Kremlin |
Pyotr (Peter) II Alekseyevich (Russian: Пётр II Алексеевич or Pyotr II Alekseyevich) (October 23, 1715 – January 30, 1730) was Emperor of Russia from 1727 until his death. He was the only son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, son of Peter I of Russia by his first wife Eudoxia Lopukhina, and Princess Charlotte, daughter of Duke Louis Rudolph of Brunswick-Lüneburg and sister-in-law of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. He was also the only male-line grandson of Peter the Great.
Peter was born in Saint Petersburg on October 18, 1715 (Julian calendar). From his childhood the orphan grand duke was kept in the strictest seclusion. His grandfather, Peter the Great, systematically ignored him. His earliest governesses were the wives of a tailor and a vintner from the Dutch settlement; a sailor called Norman taught him the rudiments of navigation; and, when he grew older, he was placed under the care of a Hungarian refugee, Janos Zeikin, who seems to have been a conscientious teacher.
During the reign of Catherine I, Peter was quite ignored; but just before her death it became clear to those in power that the grandson of Peter the Great could not be kept out of his inheritance much longer. The majority of the nation and three-quarters of the nobility were on his side, while his uncle, Emperor Charles VI, through the imperial ambassador at Saint Petersburg, persistently urged his claims. The matter was arranged between Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and Count Andrei Osterman; and on May 18, 1727 Peter II, according to the terms of the forged last will of Catherine I, was proclaimed sovereign autocrat.
The senate, the privy council and the guards took the oath of allegiance forthwith. The education of the young prince was wisely entrusted to the vice-chancellor Ostermann. Menshikov, who took possession of Peter II and lodged him in his own palace on the Vasilievsky Island, had intended to marry Peter to his daughter Maria; the scheme was frustrated by his fall (September 21, 1727); but Peter only fell into the hands of the equally unscrupulous Prince Vasily Lukich Dolgorukov, who carried him away from Petersburg to Moscow. Peter's coronation was celebrated at that city on February 25, 1728. He was betrothed to his mentor's niece, Princess Catherine Dolgorukova, and the wedding was actually fixed for January 30, 1730; but on that very day the emperor died of smallpox.
He is buried in the Kremlin, the only post-Petrine Russian monarch given that honor. In fact, with Ivan VI (who was executed and buried in the fortress of Shlisselburg), he is the only post-Petrine monarch not buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
With Peter's death, the direct male line of the Romanov Dynasty ended. He was succeeded by Anna Ivanovna, daughter of Peter the Great's half-brother and co-ruler, Ivan V.
| Preceded by Catherine I |
Emperor of Russia May 18, 1727–January 29, 1730 |
Succeeded by Anna |
| Preceded by Alexei Petrovich |
Heir to the Russian Throne 1718–1727 |
Succeeded by Ivan VI of Russia |
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Peter II of Russia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Alekseyevich, Pyotr II |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Emperor of Russia |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1715 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint Petersburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 30, 1730 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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