79 Facts About Grigory Potemkin

Grigory Potemkin died during negotiations over the Treaty of Jassy, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen.

Grigory Potemkin first attracted Catherine's favor for helping in her 1762 coup, then distinguished himself as a military commander in the Russo-Turkish War.

Grigory Potemkin became Catherine's lover, favorite and possibly her consort.

Grigory Potemkin's achievements include the peaceful annexation of the Crimea and the successful second Russo-Turkish War, during which the armed forces under his command besieged Ochakov.

In 1775, Grigory Potemkin became the governor-general of Russia's new southern provinces.

Grigory Potemkin founded the towns of Kherson, Nikolayev, Sevastopol, and Yekaterinoslav.

Grigory Potemkin was known for his love of women, gambling and material wealth.

Grigory Potemkin oversaw the construction of many historically significant buildings, including the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg.

Grigory Potemkin's father, Alexander Potemkin, was a decorated war veteran.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore has suggested that Kizlovsky fathered Grigory Potemkin, who became the centre of attention, heir to the village and the only son among six children.

The young Grigory Potemkin became adept at languages and interested in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Grigory Potemkin enlisted in the army in 1750 at age eleven, in accordance with the custom of noble children.

Grigory Potemkin's time was taken up with "drinking, gambling, and promiscuous lovemaking", and he fell deep in debt.

Grigory Potemkin was formally presented to the Empress as a talented mimic; his imitation of her was well received.

Grigory Potemkin entered Catherine's circle of advisers, and in 1762 took his only foreign assignment, to Sweden, bearing news of the coup.

Under unclear circumstances, Grigory Potemkin then lost his left eye and fell into a depression.

Grigory Potemkin distinguished himself in his first engagement, helping to repulse a band of unruly Tatar and Turkish horsemen.

Grigory Potemkin fought in Russia's victory at the Battle of Kamenets and the taking of the town.

Grigory Potemkin saw action virtually every day, particularly excelling at the Battle of Prashkovsky, after which his commander Aleksandr Mikhailovich Golitsyn recommended him to Catherine.

Grigory Potemkin fought at the capture of Jurja, a display of courage and skill for which he received the Order of St Anna.

Back at the front, Grigory Potemkin won more military acclaim, but then fell ill; rejecting medicine, he recovered only slowly.

Grigory Potemkin returned to war in 1773 as Lieutenant-General to fight in Silistria, participating in the siege of the city.

Many of their trysts seem to have centered around the banya sauna in the basement of the Winter Palace; Grigory Potemkin soon grew so jealous that Catherine had to detail her prior love-life for him.

Grigory Potemkin rose in political stature, particularly on the strength of his military advice.

That Catherine and Grigory Potemkin married is "almost certain", according to Simon Sebag Montefiore, although biographer Virginia Rounding has expressed some doubts.

Signs of a potential "golden adieu" for Grigory Potemkin include his 1776 appointment, at Catherine's request, to the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

Grigory Potemkin then snubbed her gift of the Anichkov Palace, and took new apartments in the Winter Palace, retaining his posts.

Grigory Potemkin checked candidates for their suitability; it appears that he tended to the relationships and "filled in" between favorites.

Grigory Potemkin arranged for Catherine to walk in on Rimsky-Korsakov in a compromising position with another woman.

Grigory Potemkin's plan, known as the Greek Project, aspired to build a new Byzantine Empire around the Turkish capital in Constantinople.

Grigory Potemkin focused instead on Russia's southern provinces, where he was busy founding cities and creating his own personal kingdom, including his brand new Black Sea Fleet.

Grigory Potemkin had been the namestnik of Russia's southern provinces since 1774, repeatedly expanding the domain via military action.

Grigory Potemkin kept his own court, which rivalled Catherine's: by the 1780s he operated a chancellery with fifty or more clerks and had his own minister, Vasili Popov, to oversee day-to-day affairs.

Grigory Potemkin approved every plan himself, but construction was slow, and the city proved costly and vulnerable to plague.

The second most successful city of Grigory Potemkin's rule was Nikolayev, which he founded in 1789.

Grigory Potemkin initiated the redesign of Odessa after its capture from the Turks; it was to turn out to be his greatest city planning triumph.

Grigory Potemkin's Black Sea Fleet was a massive undertaking for its time.

Grigory Potemkin rewarded hundreds of thousands of settlers who moved into his territories.

In 1784 Alexander Lanskoy died and Grigory Potemkin was needed at court to console the grieving Catherine.

Grigory Potemkin returned to the south, having arranged that Catherine would visit in the summer of 1787.

Grigory Potemkin had other lovers at this time, including a 'Countess' Sevres and a Naryshkina.

Critics accused Grigory Potemkin of using painted facades to fool Catherine into thinking that the area was far richer than it was.

Certainly, Grigory Potemkin had arranged for Catherine to see the best he had to offer, organizing numerous exotic excursions, and at least two cities' officials concealed poverty by building false houses.

Grigory Potemkin's opponents were anxious to reclaim the lands they had lost in the last war, and they were under pressure from Prussia, Britain and Sweden to take a hostile attitude towards Russia.

Grigory Potemkin's bluster had probably contributed to the hostility, either deliberately or accidentally.

On water he had the Black Sea Fleet, and Grigory Potemkin was responsible for coordinating military actions with Russia's Austrian allies.

Grigory Potemkin assembled an army of forty or fifty thousand, including the newly formed Kuban Cossacks.

Grigory Potemkin divided his time between military preparation and chasing the wives of soldiers under his command.

In early summer 1788, fighting intensified as Grigory Potemkin's forces won their naval confrontation with the Turks with few losses, and began the siege of Ochakov, a Turkish stronghold and the main Russian war aim.

Grigory Potemkin refused to write regularly with news of the war in the south, compounding Catherine's anxiety.

Grigory Potemkin argued with Suvorov and Catherine herself, who were both anxious to assault Ochakov, which the Turks twice managed to supply by sea.

Grigory Potemkin had moved his ever more lavish court to Bender and there were soon more successes against Turkey, including the capture of Batal-Pasha and, on the second attempt, of Kiliya on the Danube.

Grigory Potemkin's return was widely celebrated with the "Carnival of Prince Potemkin".

The Prince came across as polite and charming though his latest mistress, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, appeared sidelined, and Grigory Potemkin found himself embroiled in court intrigue whilst trying to force Zubov out.

Catherine and Grigory Potemkin fought over military strategy; the Empress wanted no compromise, while Grigory Potemkin wanted to buy time by appeasing the Prussians.

Grigory Potemkin had conservative allies including Felix Potocki, whose schemes were so diverse that they have yet to be fully untangled.

For example, one idea was for Grigory Potemkin to declare himself king.

Grigory Potemkin now had the opportunity to confront the Turks and dictate a peace, but that would mean leaving Catherine.

Grigory Potemkin's procrastination soured Catherine's attitude towards him, a situation compounded by Potemkin's choice of the married Princess Paskovia Adreevna Golitsyna as his latest mistress.

Grigory Potemkin sent a note after him, reading "Goodbye my friend, I kiss you".

Grigory Potemkin fell ill in the fever-ridden city of Iasi, then often known as Jassy in English, although he kept busy, overseeing peace talks, planning his assault on Poland, and preparing the army for renewed war in the south.

Grigory Potemkin fasted briefly and recovered some strength, but refused medicine and began to feast , consuming a "ham, a salted goose and three or four chickens".

Grigory Potemkin was embalmed, and a funeral was held for him in Iasi.

Grigory Potemkin had used the state treasury as a personal bank, preventing the resolution of his financial affairs to this day.

The Tauride Palace was turned into a barracks, and the city of Gregoripol, which had been named in Grigory Potemkin's honor, was renamed.

Grigory Potemkin's grave survived a destruction order issued by Paul and was eventually displayed by the Bolsheviks.

Grigory Potemkin's remains appeared to lie in his tomb at St Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson.

Grigory Potemkin "exuded both menace and welcome"; he was arrogant, demanding of his courtiers, and very changeable in his moods, but fascinating, warm, and kind.

An eccentric workaholic, Grigory Potemkin was vain and a great lover of jewelry, but he disliked sycophancy and was sensitive about his appearance, particularly his lost eye.

Grigory Potemkin only agreed to have portraits made of him twice, in 1784 and again in 1791, both times by Johann Baptist von Lampi and from an angle which disguised his injury.

Grigory Potemkin's nail-biting was so persistent that it was frequently noticed by courtiers and guests, and resulted in hangnail.

The Prince of Ligne noted that Grigory Potemkin had "natural abilities [and] an excellent memory".

Grigory Potemkin was interested in history, generally knowledgeable, and loved the classical music of the period, as well as opera.

Grigory Potemkin liked all food, both peasant and fine, his favorites included roast beef and potatoes, and his anglophilia meant that English gardens were prepared wherever he went.

Grigory Potemkin once described the French revolutionaries as "a pack of madmen".

One evening, at the height of his power, Grigory Potemkin declared to his dinner guests:.

Grigory Potemkin had no legitimate descendants, though it is probable he had illegitimate issue.

Legend suggests Grigory Potemkin soon seduced many of the girls, one of whom was twelve or thirteen at the time.

Grigory Potemkin had children with both husbands, including highly decorated General Nikolay Raevsky, Potemkin's great-nephew.