page_title: Olga of Kiev
section_title: Regency
hierarchical_section_title: Olga of Kiev / Life / Regency
caption_attribution_description: Princess Olga meets the body of her husband, great prince Igor. Княгиня Ольга встречает тело князя Игоря. Эскиз неосуществленной картины. Бумага, гуашь, акварель, итальянский карандаш. Государственный Русский музей, Санкт-Петербург.
context_page_description: Saint Olga was a regent of Kievan Rus' for her son Svyatoslav from 945 until 960. Due to the imperfect transliteration between Old East Slavic and the English language, the name Olga is synonymous with Olha. From her baptism, Olga took the name Elenа. She is known for her subjugation of the Drevlians, a tribe that had killed her husband Igor of Kiev. Even though it would be her grandson Vladimir that would convert the entire nation to Christianity, because of her efforts to spread Christianity through Rus', Olga is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church with the epithet "Equal to the Apostles" and her feast day is the 11th of July.
context_section_description: After Igor's death in 945, Olga ruled Kievan Rus as regent on behalf of their son Svyatoslav. 
  Little is known about Olga's tenure as ruler of Kiev, but the Primary Chronicle does give an account of her accession to the throne and her bloody revenge on the Drevlians for the murder of her husband as well as some insight into her role as civil leader of the Kievan people.
  According to archeologist Sergei Beletsky, Knyaginya Olga, like all the other rulers before Vladimir the Great, was also using the bident as her personal symbol.
caption: Princess Olga meets the body of her husband. A sketch by Vasily Surikov.
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