Conversation so far:
What was Grigory Potemkin's personality like?
Potemkin "exuded both menace and welcome"; he was arrogant.
So he could be nice too?
demanding of his courtiers and very changeable in his moods but also fascinating, warm and kind.
What did others have to say about his personality?
It was generally agreed among his female companions that he was "amply endowed with 'sex appeal'".
So he was a ladies' man?
'".
Louis Philippe, comte de Segur described him as "colossal like Russia", "an inconceivable mixture of grandeur and pettiness, laziness and activity, bravery and timidity, ambition and insouciance".
What else was he like?
he frequented both church and numerous orgies.
What was his reputation?
Criticisms include "laziness, corruption, debauchery, indecision, extravagance, falsification, military incompetence and disinformation on a vast scale.
So people didn't like him?
supporters hold that only "the sybaritism [devotion to luxury] and extravagance...
are truly justified", stressing Potemkin's "intelligence, force of personality.

Question: Was he smart?
Self-contained rewrite: Was Grigory Potemkin smart?