who was catherine the great
Catherine the Great (1729 â 1796) Catherine the Great Â© Catherine II was Empress of Russia for more than 30 years and one of the countryâs most influential rulers. Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst was born on 2 May 1729 in Stettin, then part of Prussia (now Szczecin in Poland), the daughter of a minor German prince.