page_title: Grigory Potemkin
section_title: Favorite of Catherine II
hierarchical_section_title: Grigory Potemkin / Biography / Favorite of Catherine II
caption_attribution_description: English: Russian statesman Grigory Potemkin (1739-1791)
context_page_description: Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman and favourite of Catherine the Great. He died during negotiations over the Treaty of Jassy, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen.
  Potemkin was born into a family of middle-income noble landowners. He first attracted Catherine's favor for helping in her 1762 coup, then distinguished himself as a military commander in the Russo-Turkish War. He became Catherine's lover, favorite and possibly her consort. After their passion cooled, he remained her lifelong friend and favored statesman. Catherine obtained for him the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and gave him the title of Prince of the Russian Empire among many others: he was both a Grand Admiral and the head of all of Russia's land and irregular forces. Potemkin's achievements include the peaceful annexation of the Crimea and the successful second Russo-Turkish War.
  In 1775, Potemkin became the governor-general of Russia's new southern provinces. An absolute ruler, he worked to colonize the wild steppes, controversially dealing firmly with the Cossacks who lived there.
context_section_description: Potemkin returned to court in January 1774 expecting to walk into Catherine's arms. The political situation, however, had become complex. Yemelyan Pugachev had just arisen as a pretender to the throne, and commanded a rebel army thirty thousand strong. In addition, Catherine's son Paul turned eighteen and began to gain his own support. By late January Potemkin had tired of the impasse and effected (perhaps with encouragement from Catherine) a "melodramatic retreat" into the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Catherine relented and had Potemkin brought back in early February 1774, when their relationship became intimate. Several weeks later he had usurped Vasilchikov as Catherine's favorite, and was given the title of Adjutant General. When Catherine's friend Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm objected to Vasilchikov's dismissal, she wrote back to him, "Why do you reproach me because I dismiss a well-meaning but extremely boring bourgeois in favour of one of the greatest, the most comical and amusing, characters of this iron century?" His uncouth behavior shocked the court, but Potemkin showed himself capable of suitable formality when necessary.
  The frequent letters the pair sent to each other survive, revealing their affair to be one of "laughter, sex, mutually admired intelligence, and power". Many of their trysts seem to have centered around the banya sauna in the basement of the Winter Palace; Potemkin soon grew so jealous that Catherine had to detail her prior love-life for him. Potemkin also rose in political stature, particularly on the strength of his military advice. In March 1774 he became Lieutenant-Colonel in the Preobrazhensky Guards, a post previously held by Alexei Orlov. He also became captain of the Chevaliers-Gardes from 1784. In quick succession he won appointment as Governor-General of Novorossiya, as a member of the State Council, as General-in-Chief, as Vice-President of the College of War and as Commander-in-Chief of the Cossacks. These posts made him rich, and he lived lavishly. To improve his social standing he was awarded the prestigious Order of St. Alexander Nevsky and Order of St. Andrew, along with the Polish Order of the White Eagle, the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle, the Danish Order of the Elephant and the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim.
  That Catherine and Potemkin married is "almost certain", according to Simon Sebag Montefiore; though biographer Virginia Rounding expresses some doubt. In December 1784 Catherine first explicitly referred to Potemkin as her husband in correspondence, though 1775, 1784 and 1791 have all been suggested as possible nuptial dates. In all, Catherine's phrasing in 22 letters suggested he had become her consort, at least secretly. Potemkin's actions and her treatment of him later in life fit with this: the two at least acted as husband and wife. By late 1775, however, their relationship was changing, though it is uncertain exactly when Catherine took a secretary, Pyotr Zavadovsky, as a lover. On 2 January 1776, Zavadovsky became Adjutant-General to the Empress (he became her official favorite in May) and Potemkin moved to command the St. Petersburg troop division. Signs of a potential "golden adieu" for Potemkin include his 1776 appointment, at Catherine's request, to the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Though he was "bored" with Catherine, the separation was relatively peaceful. The Prince was sent on a tour to Novgorod, but, contrary to the expectations of some onlookers (though not Catherine's), he returned a few weeks later. He then snubbed her gift of the Anichkov Palace, and took new apartments in the Winter Palace, retaining his posts. Though no longer Catherine's favorite, he remained her favored minister.
  Though the love affair appeared to end, Catherine and Potemkin maintained a particularly close friendship, which continued to dominate their lives. Most of the time this meant a love triangle in the court between the pair and Catherine's latest swain. The favorite had a high-pressure position: after Zavadovsky came Semyon Zorich (May 1777 
caption: A probably later portrait of a 35-year-old Potemkin at the height of his love affair with Catherine
exif: {}