Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov ( ) ( , Moscow – , Berezov ) was a Russia n statesman , whose official titles included Generalissimus , Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora ( Duke of Ingria ) , Prince of the Holy Roman Empire , Duke of Cosel . A highly appreciated associate and friend of Tsar Peter the Great , he was the " de facto " ruler of Russia for two years . Early life . Menshikov was born on in Moscow . It has been disputed by his enemies whether his father was a stablehand or worked on a barge ; it is more likely that he was of petty noble stock . As the story goes , he was making a living on the streets of Moscow as a vendor of stuffed buns known as pirozhki at the age of twenty . His fine appearance and witty character caught the attention of Franz Lefort , Peter ' s first favorite , who took him into his service and finally transferred him to the tsar . On the death of Lefort in 1699 , Menshikov succeeded him as Peter ' s prime favorite and confidant . He took an active part in the Azov campaigns ( 1695 – 1696 ) against the Ottoman Empire . During the tsar ' s first foreign tour in the next year , Menshikov worked by his side in the dockyard of Amsterdam , and acquired a thorough knowledge of shipbuilding and colloquial Dutch and German . He acted as subordinate to Boris Sheremetev , who was commander - in - chief during the retreat before Charles XII in 1708 , subsequently participating in the battle of Holowczyn , the reduction of Mazepa , and the crowning victory of Poltava ( ) , where he won his field - marshal ' s baton . Corruption . From 1709 to 1714 he served during the Courland , Holstein and Pomeranian campaigns , but then , as governor - general of Ingria , with almost unlimited powers , was entrusted with a leading part in the civil administration . Menshikov understood perfectly the principles on which Peter ' s reforms were conducted and was the right hand of the tsar in all his gigantic undertakings . But he abused his powerful position , and his corrupt practices frequently brought him to the verge of ruin . Every time the tsar returned to Russia he received fresh accusations of plunder against " his Serene Highness . " Peter ' s first serious outburst of indignation ( March 1711 ) was due to the prince ' s looting in Poland . On his return to Russia in 1712 , Peter discovered that Menshikov had turned a blind eye to wholesale corruption in his own governor - generalship . Peter warned him " for the last time " to change his ways . Yet , in 1713 , he was implicated in the famous Solov ' ey process , in the course of which it was demonstrated that he had defrauded the government of 100 , 000 roubles . He only owed his life on this occasion to a sudden illness . On his recovery Peter ' s fondness for his friend overcame his sense of justice . In 1714 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . In the last year of Peter ' s reign new allegations of fraud by Menshikov came to light , and he was obliged to appeal for protection to the empress Catherine . It was chiefly through the efforts of Menshikov and his colleague Tolstoi that , on the death of Peter , in 1725 , Catherine was raised to the throne . Menshikov was committed to the Petrine system , and he recognized that , if that system were to continue , Catherine was , at that particular time , the only possible candidate . Her name was a watchword for the progressive faction . The placing of her on the throne meant a final victory over ancient prejudices , a vindication of the new ideas of progress , and not least security for Menshikov and his ill - gotten fortune . Supremacy and disgrace . During Catherine ' s short reign ( February 1725 – May 1727 ) , Menshikov was practically the absolute ruler of Russia . He promoted himself to the unprecedented rank of Generalissimus , and was the only Russian to bear a ducal title . Upon finishing the construction of the Menshikov Palace on the Neva Embankment in St Petersburg ( now assigned to the Hermitage Museum ) , Menshikov intended to make Oranienbaum a capital of his ephemeral duchy . Pushkin in one of his poems alluded to Menshikov as " half - tsar " . On the whole he ruled well , his difficult position serving as some restraint upon his natural inclinations . He contrived to prolong his power after Catherine ' s death by means of a forged will and a coup d ' état . While his colleague Peter Tolstoi would have raised Elizabeth Petrovna to the throne , Menshikov set up the youthful Peter II , son of the tsarevich Alexei , with himself as dictator during the prince ' s minority . He now aimed at establishing himself definitely by marrying his daughter Mary to Peter II . But the old nobility , represented by the Dolgorukov s and the Galitzine s , united to overthrow him , and he was deprived of all his dignities and offices and expelled from the capital ( ) . Subsequently he was deprived of his enormous wealth , stripped of the titles , and he and his whole family were banished to Berezov in Siberia , where he died on . In Beryozovo Menshikov ( with his own hands ! ) built a wooden church . He buried his daughter who died in exile there .