8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great - History in the Headlines 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great July 9, 2012 By Barbara Maranzani Share this: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great Author 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great URL Google Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796) was one of history's most unlikely rulers. After marrying into Russia's Romanov family, she found herself part of a coup to unseat her husband and place her on the throne. The achievements of her reign, which lasted for 34 years, have often been overshadowed by her personal life, one of the most scandalous of her—or any—era. However, behind the rumor and gossip lay one of the most astute and skillful rulers in Russia's long, turbulent history. Here are some facts you may not know about Catherine the Great. 1. Catherine the Great’s name wasn’t Catherine, and she wasn’t even Russian. The woman whom history would remember as Catherine the Great, Russia’s longest-ruling female leader, was actually the eldest daughter of an impoverished Prussian prince.

Born in 1729, Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst enjoyed numerous marital prospects due to her mother’s well-regarded bloodlines. In 1744, 15-year-old Sophie was invited to Russia by Czarina Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great who had assumed the Russian throne in a coup just three years earlier. The unmarried and childless Elizabeth had chosen her nephew Peter as heir and was now in search of his bride. Sophie, well trained by her ambitious mother and eager to please, made an immediate impact on Elizabeth, if not her intended husband. The marriage took place on August 21, 1745, with the bride (a new convert to Orthodox Christianity) now bearing the name Ekaterina, or Catherine. 2. Catherine’s eldest son—and heir—may have been illegitimate. Catherine and her new husband had a rocky marriage from the start. Though the young Prussian princess had been imported to produce an heir, eight years passed without a child. Some historians believe Peter was unable to consummate the marriage, while others think he was infertile.

Desperately unhappy in their married lives, Peter and Catherine both began extramarital affairs, she with Sergei Saltykov, a Russian military officer. When Catherine gave birth to a son, Paul, in 1754, gossips murmured that Saltykov—not Peter—had fathered him. Catherine herself gave credence to this rumor in her memoirs, going so far as to say that Empress Elizabeth had been complicit in permitting Catherine and Saltykov’s relationship. While historians today believe that Catherine’s claims were simply an attempt to discredit Peter and that he was indeed Paul’s father, there is little debate over the paternity of Catherine’s three additional children: It’s believed that none of them were fathered by Peter. Catherine the Great on her wedding day. 3. Catherine came to power in a bloodless coup that later turned deadly. Elizabeth died in January 1762, and her nephew succeeded to the throne as Peter III, with Catherine as his consort. Eager to put his own stamp on the nation, he quickly ended Russia’s war with Prussia, an act that proved deeply unpopular to Russia’s military class.

A program of liberal domestic reforms aimed at improving the lives of the poor also alienated members of the lower nobility. These unhappy factions turned to Catherine, who was also fearful of Peter’s intentions. As tensions mounted, a plan to overthrow Peter took root. When the conspiracy was uncovered in July 1762, Catherine moved quickly, gaining the support of the country’s most powerful military regiment and arranging for her husband’s arrest. On July 9, just six months after becoming czar, Peter abdicated, and Catherine was proclaimed sole ruler. However, what had began as a bloodless coup soon turned deadly. On July 17 Peter was murdered by Alexei Orlov, the brother of Catherine’s current lover Gregory. Though there is no proof that Catherine knew of the murder before it happened, it cast a pall over her reign from the start. 4. Catherine faced down more than a dozen uprisings during her reign. Of the various uprisings that threatened Catherine’s rule, the most dangerous came in 1773, when a group of armed Cossacks and peasants led by Emelyan Pugachev rebelled against the harsh socioeconomic conditions of Russia’s lowest class, the serfs.

As with many of the uprisings Catherine faced, Pugachev’s Rebellion called into question the validity of her reign. Pugachev, a former army officer, claimed that he was actually the deposed (and believed dead) Peter III, and therefore the rightful heir to the Russian throne. Within a year, Pugachev had drawn thousands of supporters and captured a large amount of territory, including the city of Kazan. Initially unconcerned about the rebellion, Catherine soon responded with massive force. Faced with the might of the Russian army, Pugachev’s supporters eventually deserted him, and he was captured and publicly executed in January 1775. 5. Being Catherine the Great’s lover came with huge rewards. Catherine was famously loyal to her lovers, both during their relationship and after it ended. Always parting on good terms, she bestowed upon them titles, land, palaces and even people—gifting one former paramour with more than 1,000 serfs, or indentured servants. But perhaps nobody reaped the bounties of her favor more than Stanislaw Poniatowski, one of her earliest lovers and the father of one of her children.

A member of the Polish nobility, Poniatowski first became involved with Catherine (who was not yet on the throne) when he served in the British embassy to St. Petersburg. Even after a scandal partly caused by their relationship forced him from the Russian court, they remained close. In 1763, long after their relationship had ended and a year after she had come to power, Catherine successfully threw her support (both military and financial) behind Poniatowski in his effort to become king of Poland. However, once installed on the throne, the new king, who Catherine and others believed would be a mere puppet to Russian interests, began a series of reforms meant to strengthen his country’s independence. What was once a strong bond between the two former lovers soon soured, with Catherine forcing Poniatowski to abdicate and Russia leading the effort to break up and dissolve the newly formed Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Catherine the Great in a Russian army uniform. 6. Catherine saw herself as an enlightened ruler. Catherine’s reign was marked by vast territorial expansion, which greatly added to Russia’s coffers but did little to alleviate the suffering of her people.

Even her attempts at governmental reforms were often bogged down by Russia’s vast bureaucracy. However, Catherine considered herself to be one of Europe’s most enlightened rulers, and many historians agree. She wrote numerous books, pamphlets and educational materials aimed at improving Russia’s education system. She was also a champion of the arts, keeping up a lifelong correspondence with Voltaire and other prominent minds of the era, creating one of the world’s most impressive art collections in St. Petersburg’s Winter Palace (now home to the famed Hermitage Museum) and even trying her hand at composing opera. 7. Contrary to popular myth, Catherine died a fairly mundane, uneventful death. Given the empress’ shocking reputation, it’s perhaps not surprising that gossip followed her wherever she went, even to the grave. After her death on November 17, 1796, her enemies at court began spreading various rumors about Catherine’s final days. Some claimed that the all-powerful ruler had died while on the toilet.

Others took their lurid storytelling even further, perpetuating a myth that has endured for centuries: that Catherine, whose lustful life was an open secret, had died while engaging in a sex act with an animal, usually believed to be a horse. Of course, there is no truth to this rumor. Though her enemies would have hoped for a scandalous end, the simple truth is that Catherine suffered a stroke and died quietly in her bed the following day. 8. Catherine’s eldest son met the same grisly fate as his father. Catherine had a famously stormy relationship with her eldest son, Paul. The boy had been removed from his mother’s care shortly after his birth and raised largely by the former czarina, Elizabeth, and a series of tutors. After she assumed the throne, Catherine, fearful of retribution for Peter III’s deposing and death, kept Paul far away from affairs of state, further alienating the boy. Relations between the two grew so bad that Paul was at times convinced his mother was actively plotting his death. While Catherine had no such plans, she did fear that Paul would be an incompetent ruler and looked for alternate options for the succession.

Much like Elizabeth before her, Catherine took control of the upbringing and education of Paul’s sons, and rumors abounded that she intended to name them her heirs, bypassing Paul. In fact, it is believed that Catherine intended to make this official in late 1796 but died before she was able to do so. Worried that his mother’s will included provisions to this effect, Paul confiscated the document before it could be made public. Alexander, Paul’s eldest son, was aware of his grandmother’s plans but bowed to pressure and did not stand in his father’s way. Paul became czar but soon proved to be just as erratic and unpopular as Catherine had feared. Five years into his reign, he was assassinated, and his 23-year-old son assumed power as Alexander I. Tags Great love affairs in history - CNN.com Great love affairs in history Story Highlights Several great loves have homes in history Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh met in Mexico Napoleon's luck took a dive after he divorced Josephine Civil rights champions Harry and Harriette Moore killed by bomb PHOTOS By Sam Boykin ( Mental Floss ) -- It's what makes women wear torturous undergarments and feign interest in preposterous sporting rituals.

It's also what makes men hold dainty purses outside of fitting rooms and suffer through hosts of terrible movies. What could be this powerful? Why, love, of course. While playing Cleopatra and Mark Antony in the movie "Cleopatra," actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton created a lot of heat both on and off the set. more photos » In fact, love is right up there with religion for making people behave strangely. So we here at mental_floss (being lovers of strange behavior) have combed through Cupid's handiwork and selected some romantic pairings powerful enough to influence culture, trigger wars, and spawn international scandals. 1. Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra always had a high profile love life. The queen of Egypt, she was the mistress of Julius Caesar, king of Rome, until his assassination in 44 B.C.E. After Caesar's death, Mark Antony began sharing an uneasy alliance with Gaius Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew) and army general Marcus Lepidus as triumviral rulers of the Roman Empire.

Looking to gain a powerful political ally, Antony invited Cleopatra to Tarsus (in what is now Turkey) in 41 B.C.E. for a meeting that would become legendary. Although she was rather plain looking, Cleopatra had a captivating presence and was known for her intelligence, wit and, at times, ruthless ambition. Antony was charmed instantly and followed Cleopatra back to Egypt. Back in Rome, Octavian was understandably angry, because Antony had previously wed his sister, Octavia, to strengthen his position. He began to view Cleopatra as a greedy temptress who had turned Antony into a helpless puppet. Don't Miss Mental Floss: Celebrity fragrance quiz Why bad kissers don't get to second base Octavian declared war on the two lovers, which culminated in the Battle of Actium in western Greece in 31 B.C.E. There, Octavian's naval fleet defeated the joint forces of Antony and Cleopatra, and the pair fled back to Egypt. Octavian, still pursuing sole control over the Roman Empire, invaded Egypt and forced Cleopatra and Antony to surrender. During the final struggle against Octavian in Egypt, Antony received a false report that Cleopatra had committed suicide.

Antony, overcome with grief, thrust a sword into his abdomen. His men carried him to where Cleopatra was hiding, and he died in her arms. Soon after, Cleopatra was taken prisoner. Legend has it she smuggled a poisonous snake into her cell and placed it upon her chest where it delivered a fatal strike. Cleopatra was buried next to her beloved, where they lay together for eternity. 2. Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin Catherine the Great and her lover, Grigory Potemkin, definitely take the cake for the best "how we met" story. In 1761 Catherine was the wife of Russian Czar Peter III. But after only one year in power, Peter was overthrown (likely with Catherine's help) and killed (she may have given those orders, too) by the Imperial Guard forces in a coup d'ï¿½tat. It just so happened that, right about the time Peter was meeting his grim fate, Russian soldier Grigory Potemkin was on guard duty ensuring Catherine's safety.

Catherine, who would become empress only days later, took a liking to Potemkin, despite the fact that he was obese, vain and missing an eye. But Catherine wasn't exactly known for being picky about her lovers; she had many, but she undoubtedly showed the longest fidelity to Potemkin. By 1771, Catherine had made him an official Russian statesman, a count and the commander of her armies. Although their love affair ended in 1776, Potemkin remained the love of her life. When he died at age 52, Catherine went into a depression from which she never fully recovered. 3. Napoleon and Josephine Napoleon Bonaparte, a ruthless and ambitious soldier in the French military, was captivated the moment he saw Josephine, a charming and beautiful Paris socialite. Napoleon doggedly pursued the widowed, 32-year-old mother of two, but wasn't immediately successful. Despite being a military genius, he was short, unkempt and rather homely looking. Josephine eventually had a change of heart, and the two were married in 1796.

Shortly after their wedding, Napoleon embarked on a series of military campaigns, while Josephine embarked on her own series of adulterous affairs. When Napoleon received word of this, he became enraged and demanded a divorce. But Josephine begged for his forgiveness, and he relented. As Napoleon continued to rise in power and wealth, being crowned emperor of France in 1804, he became focused on having a son to carry on his royal lineage. But he eventually came to the conclusion that Josephine was unable to conceive, and the couple divorced in 1809. Less than a year later he married 18-year-old Marie Louise of Austria and had a son. But without Josephine it seemed his destiny was cursed. After devastating military losses he was exiled to the island of Elba on May 4, 1814. Josephine, still heartbroken, wrote a letter to Napoleon and asked permission to join him. He wrote back that it was impossible, but Josephine died on May 29 before his letter arrived. In 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to Paris. The first person he visited was the doctor who treated Josephine.

When Napoleon beseeched the physician as to why his beloved Josephine had died, the doctor replied that he believed she had succumbed to a broken heart. He then retrieved violets from her garden and wore them in a locket until his death in 1821. 4. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas It was love at first sight when Gertrude Stein, 33, met Alice Babette Toklas, 29, in Paris in 1907. Like many great lovers, they met by accident. Stein's parents had gone to Oakland, California, to check on property damaged during the 1906 Bay Area earthquake, where they met Toklas and enthralled her with their stories of Paris. Toklas moved there two years later, met up with Gertrude, and the two women soon began living together. Besides being a well-known avant-garde writer, Stein was a brilliant eccentric with a heavy, unladylike presence. Alice B. Toklas, who worked as Stein's secretary and cook, was a chain smoker with a slight mustache, given to exotic dress.

The pair became inseparable, with Gertrude calling Alice "Pussy" and Alice referring to Gertrude as "Lovey." Their apartment at now-famous 27 Rue de Fleurus became the foremost meeting place for artists and writers like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 5. Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra Federovna Young Nicholas II, the future Czar of Russia, fell for the ravishing German princess Alexandra of Hess as soon as he saw her. The pair became inseparable and, to the dismay of the royal family, often engaged in public displays of affection. Nicholas and Alex (as he called her) became engaged in 1893. The following year Nicholas' father died, and, only days later, the young couple was married in a ceremony diminished by the Russian leader's recent death. Nonetheless, Czar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra had a happy and passionate marriage. But while they were enjoying lavish royal parties and yacht outings, their countrymen toiled in poverty. During WWI the Russian people suffered greatly, and by 1917 support for the royal family was all but gone. Russians stormed the streets of St.

Petersburg (then known as Petrograd) in protest and toppled the monarchy. Nicholas and his family were arrested and sent to Siberia. On July 16 of the next year the entire family was executed by the new Bolshevik government, ending the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty. 6. Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. and Anne Spencer Morrow Duos like Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck or Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are mere blips on the celebrity radar screen when compared to Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. An American aviator, Charles became famous in 1927 when he made the first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. While on a goodwill trip to Latin America later that year he met and began seeing Morrow, the shy, self-conscious daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Their courtship gained international attention, and when the two married in 1929, they became one of America's first celebrity couples. Anne soon began flying the friendly skies -- she was the first licensed female glider pilot in the country -- and took to the air with her husband.

Together they made history by charting potential air routes for commercial airlines, and they even set a Los Angeles-to-New York air speed record in 1930 when Anne was seven months pregnant. With her beloved husband's encouragement she wrote memoirs of their life together and became one of the country's most popular and famous diarists with 13 published books to her credit. But their storybook romance hit a few rough spots, including a few short-lived affairs, and the tragic and infamous kidnapping and murder of their infant first son in 1932. 7. (Prince) Edward and Wallis Simpson Edward, the handsome Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, changed the course of his life, as well as that of British history, when he fell in love with Wallis Warfield Simpson -- a woman who was not only American, but also married. Edward met Simpson at a party in 1931, hosted by Lady Thelma Furness, a viscountess with whom Edward had conducted a long relationship. Edward was not instantly smitten, but he and the upwardly-mobile Mrs.

Simpson traveled in the same social circles, and after many society balls and dinner parties he was slowly captivated by her charm and poise. By 1934, Wallis was separated from her husband, and British Parliament grew increasingly nervous over the relationship. Then, in 1936, Edward's father died, and he was forced to take his position as king. But his brief stay on the throne only created a media frenzy due to his relationship with Simpson. Miserable, Edward abdicated the throne in a famous radio broadcast in which he told the world that he "found it impossible to carry the heavy burden" of being king without the support of "the woman he loved." Edward's younger brother, Albert, became King George VI, and, since the title Prince of Wales can only be held by the eldest son of the sovereign, Edward was made the Duke of Windsor. King George made sure that his brother kept the courtesy title of His Royal Highness, but he also pointedly decreed that should he marry Wallis, she (and any children they produced) would be denied royal status.

After Simpson's divorce in 1937, Edward and Wallis were married in a small ceremony and spent most of the rest of their lives in France. 8. Julius Waties Waring and Elizabeth Avery Waring The story of Julius Waties Waring and Elizabeth Avery Waring is not just a great romance, it is a great romance that altered the course of America's civil rights movement. Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, Waties Waring was the personification of Old South patrician. In 1941, at the age of 61, he was appointed a federal judge and became a popular member of the Charleston elite. Yet, Waring was already showing signs of dissent: He ended segregated seating in his courtroom and appointed John Fleming, a black man, as his bailiff. But eyebrows were raised even higher when Waring divorced his Southern-born wife of 32 years and married Elizabeth Avery, a twice-divorced native of Detroit. Waties and his new bride found themselves shunned by Charleston society; aside from being a "Yankee," Elizabeth was disliked because she was seen as inspiring her husband to look at issues of race in an even more aggressive light.

Indeed, by the late 1940s, Waties had undergone an astonishing conversion that turned him into an outspoken critic of segregation and champion for racial justice. In fact, it was due to Waring's key legal influence and court ruling that the segregationists' "separate but equal" doctrine was declared unconstitutional, laying the groundwork for the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision. 9. Juan Domingo Perï¿½n and Maria Eva Duarte (Evita) Move over Bill and Hillary, this was the ultimate power couple. Evita Perï¿½n, born Maria Eva Duarte, began carving out a perfectly respectable rags-to-riches story when she left her poor family and small town of Los Toldos, Argentina, in 1935 to pursue acting in Buenos Aries. She appeared in vaudeville stage acts and found some success as a radio actress, but her life changed when she met and charmed Juan Domingo Perï¿½n, the future president of Argentina, in 1944. After only a year the two were married, and in 1946 Perï¿½n was elected president of Argentina.

Together the couple helped reform labor and social welfare programs. In addition, Evita established a women's branch of the Peronista political party, as well as foundations for needy children and the elderly. Indeed, she was one of the most active first ladies the world has ever known, made formal in 1951 when she was asked to join her husband's election ticket as vice president. The Perï¿½ns' political opponents blocked her candidacy, fearing that she could one day become president, but Evita was not bitter. When her husband was inaugurated for the second time in 1952, Evita appeared by his side. But the occasion was bittersweet; she was suffering from cervical cancer and died shortly thereafter. Her husband's inauguration was her last public appearance. 10. Harry Tyson Moore and Harriette Simms Moore Harry and Harriette Moore are a relatively unknown yet pioneering couple that helped pave the way for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The two met in 1925 while Harry, 20, was teaching elementary school in Cocoa, Florida, and Harriette, 23, formerly a teacher herself, was selling insurance.

The two quickly fell in love and were married within a year. Both strong-willed and compassionate people, the Moores raised a family (they had two daughters) while organizing the first Brevard County Chapter of the NAACP in 1934, championing such causes as equal pay for black teachers. With the support of legendary African-American attorney Thurgood Marshall, the Moore couple became key allies in the movement. By 1941, Harry was the president of the Florida chapter of the NAACP, and his new level of activism took him into the dangerous arena of lynchings and police brutality. At first, Harry's involvement was confined to letters to government officials, but he quickly began launching his own investigations. Many believed this is what precipitated the attack in 1951 on Christmas Day -- also the Moores' 25th anniversary -- when a bomb exploded in their bedroom. Harry died before he reached the hospital; Harriette passed away nine days later from her injuries. Though authorities believe that the Ku Klux Klan was involved, the murders have never been solved. E-mail to a friend For more mental_floss articles, visit mentalfloss.com Entire contents of this article copyright, Mental Floss LLC.

All rights reserved. How Catherine the Great became an ‘Empress of Art’ - CSMonitor.com How Catherine the Great became an ‘Empress of Art’ Latest News Historian Susan Jaques talks about the Russian monarch’s stunning legacy. By Randy Dotinga Even though Catherine the Great has been the subject of numerous biographies, says historian Susan Jaques, there hasn't been one that explored her through the lens of art and architecture. That's what inspired her to write 'The Empress of Art.' View Caption View Caption of Russia’s Catherine the Great, one of the most brilliant and accomplished female leaders in history, had plenty of passions. But we tend to remember only the most scandalous ones. “The popular conception of her is as a woman with many love affairs, including some that were said to be quite curious,” says historian and author Susan Jaques. “That’s where her popular conception ends.” But there’s much more to this remarkable leader who started off as an obscure German princess and transformed herself into Catherine II, the Empress and Autocrat of All the Russias.

Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 01/17 A “glutton for art,” as she herself put it, Catherine used European paintings and European-inspired buildings to proclaim Russia to be part of the modern Western world. Her legacy lives on today in the beauty of the city of St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum’s famed art collection. In an interview, Jaques talks about Catherine the Great’s obsessions, her conquests, and her astonishing dual nature. “She’s full of contradictions,” Jaques says, “and it’s those contradictions that make her endlessly fascinating.” Q: What made you want to explore this part of Catherine’s life? I’m very interested in art and museums, and I found her absolutely compelling. Surprisingly, even though Catherine the Great has been the subject of numerous biographies, there wasn’t one that explored her through the lens of art and architecture. Her art collecting initially started for political reasons, but she actually becomes a knowledgeable and passionate collector, owning 4,000 Old Master paintings. She was as passionate about art as her foreign conquests and love affairs. So this was an irresistible subject. Q: How did she use art to transform Russia?

She was a minor German princess recruited to marry Russia’s heir at age 15. It’s a very unhappy, miserable marriage. After 18 years, she stages a palace coup and bumps off her very unpopular husband, Peter the Great’s grandson. She seizes power, and that’s the easy part. She finds herself on uneasy ground because she was German. She has a real problem with her German-ness, so she decides at the very beginning to model herself after her husband’s grandfather, the great Westernizer. She focuses on a world-class collection of Western art and neoclassical architecture, using art to legitimize a very shaky claim and to change Russia’s image. Q: What was she like as a person? She was charming and witty, and that led European leaders to underestimate her. She was also a very shrewd, ambitious ruler. She led Russia into two wars against the Ottoman Empire, annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and partitioned Poland out of existence. In terms of romance, she had about a dozen favorites, mostly younger men, which was considered very scandalous. Even as she was aging, she seems to select younger and younger men.

But while she’s known for this racy personal life, she was rather prudish. She didn’t like people telling off-color jokes, and in art, she didn’t like nudity outside of mythological subjects. Q: How did she view herself? She considered herself Russia’s enlightened cultural empress, the empress of the Enlightenment, all about reason and self-control. But she’s obscenely extravagant in terms of her art acquisitions and her building. She’s full of contradictions, and it’s those contradictions that make her endlessly fascinating. Q: How well did her efforts succeed? At the start, Russia was seen as a largely unsophisticated backwater. She wanted to bring herself and Russia prestige by having galleries full of Rubens and Rembrandts and van Dycks. Over 30 years, she secured some of the top art connoisseurs across Europe – which was very impressive but also very controversial – and was able to amass a first-class art collection. Through this art collection and by building beautiful neoclassical palaces, she changes Russia’s image. Along with her military conquests, that puts Russia on the map as a cultural center and a military powerhouse.

Q: One of the amazing things about your book is how Catherine comes alive through her letters. What did you learn through them? She’s a prolific letter writer, and she has lifelong correspondences with some of Europe’s leading intellectuals, including Voltaire. Her letters reveal her as a very witty, bright and funny personality. She had nicknames for people, not always complementary, and she was funny. She talks about her various art commissions with a sense of humor. She’s very self-deprecating. That’s part of the public persona she adopted. She’s always the smartest person in the room, and that can be very threatening to men. So she’ll call herself things like “a glutton for art.” In reality, she was a force to be reckoned with. Q: Was there a negative side to her collecting? Catherine’s art collection in these palaces didn’t help the Russian people, and she was criticized for not supporting Russian artists, for focusing on Western art. She doesn’t think much of Russian art or Russian architects, with a few exceptions. Q: What’s her reputation in Russia today? Her reputation has been rehabilitated over the couple of decades.

She’s recognized in Russia as being a very strong leader who expanded the empire and made it wealthy – Russia’s economy boomed during her reign – and left this cultural legacy. Q: What did she leave behind on the artistic front? She left her adopted country with an enormous culture legacy including the Hermitage, one of the most beloved museums in the world today, and St. Petersburg, a beautiful and elegant city. That’s to her credit. Next up Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Daily 10 Great Love Affairs in History | Mental Floss 10 Great Love Affairs in History Like us on Facebook By Sam Boykin It's what makes women wear torturous undergarments and feign interest in preposterous sporting rituals. It's also what makes men hold dainty purses outside of fitting rooms and suffer through hosts of terrible movies. What could be this powerful? Why, love, of course. We've combed through Cupid's handiwork and selected some romantic pairings powerful enough to influence culture, trigger wars, and spawn international scandals. 1. Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra always had a high profile love life.

The queen of Egypt, she was the mistress of Julius Caesar, king of Rome, until his assassination in 44 B.C.E. After Caesar's death, Mark Antony began sharing an uneasy alliance with Gaius Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew) and army general Marcus Lepidus as triumviral rulers of the Roman Empire. Looking to gain a powerful political ally, Antony invited Cleopatra to Tarsus (in what is now Turkey) in 41 B.C.E. for a meeting that would become legendary. Although she was rather plain looking, Cleopatra had a captivating presence and was known for her intelligence, wit and, at times, ruthless ambition. Antony was charmed instantly and followed Cleopatra back to Egypt. Back in Rome, Octavian was understandably angry, because Antony had previously wed his sister, Octavia, to strengthen his position. He began to view Cleopatra as a greedy temptress who had turned Antony into a helpless puppet. Octavian declared war on the two lovers, which culminated in the Battle of Actium in western Greece in 31 B.C.E.

There, Octavian's naval fleet defeated the joint forces of Antony and Cleopatra, and the pair fled back to Egypt. Octavian, still pursuing sole control over the Roman Empire, invaded Egypt and forced Cleopatra and Antony to surrender. During the final struggle against Octavian in Egypt, Antony received a false report that Cleopatra had committed suicide. Antony, overcome with grief, thrust a sword into his abdomen. His men carried him to where Cleopatra was hiding, and he died in her arms. Soon after, Cleopatra was taken prisoner. Legend has it she smuggled a poisonous snake into her cell and placed it upon her chest where it delivered a fatal strike. Cleopatra was buried next to her beloved, where they lay together for eternity. 2. Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin Catherine the Great and her lover, Grigory Potemkin, definitely take the cake for the best "how we met" story. In 1761 Catherine was the wife of Russian Czar Peter III.

But after only one year in power, Peter was overthrown (likely with Catherine's help) and killed (she may have given those orders, too) by the Imperial Guard forces in a coup d'Ã©tat. It just so happened that, right about the time Peter was meeting his grim fate, Russian soldier Grigory Potemkin was on guard duty ensuring Catherine's safety. Catherine, who would become empress only days later, took a liking to Potemkin, despite the fact that he was obese, vain and missing an eye. But Catherine wasn't exactly known for being picky about her lovers; she had many, but she undoubtedly showed the longest fidelity to Potemkin. By 1771, Catherine had made him an official Russian statesman, a count and the commander of her armies. Although their love affair ended in 1776, Potemkin remained the love of her life. When he died at age 52, Catherine went into a depression from which she never fully recovered. 3. Napoleon and Josephine Napoleon Bonaparte, a ruthless and ambitious soldier in the French military, was captivated the moment he saw Josephine, a charming and beautiful Paris socialite.

Napoleon doggedly pursued the widowed, 32-year-old mother of two, but wasn't immediately successful. Despite being a military genius, he was unkempt and rather homely looking. Josephine eventually had a change of heart, and the two were married in 1796. Shortly after their wedding, Napoleon embarked on a series of military campaigns, while Josephine embarked on her own series of adulterous affairs. When Napoleon received word of this, he became enraged and demanded a divorce. But Josephine begged for his forgiveness, and he relented. As Napoleon continued to rise in power and wealth, being crowned emperor of France in 1804, he became focused on having a son to carry on his royal lineage. But he eventually came to the conclusion that Josephine was unable to conceive, and the couple divorced in 1809. Less than a year later he married 18-year-old Marie Louise of Austria and had a son. But without Josephine it seemed his destiny was cursed. After devastating military losses he was exiled to the island of Elba on May 4, 1814.

Josephine, still heartbroken, wrote a letter to Napoleon and asked permission to join him. He wrote back that it was impossible, but Josephine died on May 29 before his letter arrived. In 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to Paris. The first person he visited was the doctor who treated Josephine. When Napoleon beseeched the physician as to why his beloved Josephine had died, the doctor replied that he believed she had succumbed to a broken heart. He then retrieved violets from her garden and wore them in a locket until his death in 1821. 4. Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra Federovna Young Nicholas II, the future Czar of Russia, fell for the ravishing German princess Alexandra of Hess as soon as he saw her. The pair became inseparable and, to the dismay of the royal family, often engaged in public displays of affection. Nicholas and Alex (as he called her) became engaged in 1893. The following year Nicholas' father died, and, only days later, the young couple was married in a ceremony diminished by the Russian leader's recent death.

Nonetheless, Czar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra had a happy and passionate marriage. But while they were enjoying lavish royal parties and yacht outings, their countrymen toiled in poverty. During WWI the Russian people suffered greatly, and by 1917 support for the royal family was all but gone. Russians stormed the streets of St. Petersburg (then known as Petrograd) in protest and toppled the monarchy. Nicholas and his family were arrested and sent to Siberia. On July 16 of the next year the entire family was executed by the new Bolshevik government, ending the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty. 5. Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. and Anne Spencer Morrow An American aviator, Charles became famous in 1927 when he made the first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. While on a goodwill trip to Latin America later that year he met and began seeing Morrow, the shy, self-conscious daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Their courtship gained international attention, and when the two married in 1929, they became one of America's first celebrity couples.

Anne soon began flying the friendly skies—she was the first licensed female glider pilot in the country—and took to the air with her husband. Together they made history by charting potential air routes for commercial airlines, and they even set a Los Angeles-to-New York air speed record in 1930 when Anne was seven months pregnant. With her beloved husband's encouragement she wrote memoirs of their life together and became one of the country's most popular and famous diarists with 13 published books to her credit. But their storybook romance hit a few rough spots, including a few short-lived affairs, and the tragic and infamous kidnapping and murder of their infant first son in 1932. 6. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas It was love at first sight when Gertrude Stein, 33, met Alice Babette Toklas, 29, in Paris in 1907. Like many great lovers, they met by accident. Stein's parents had gone to Oakland, Calif., to check on property damaged during the 1906 Bay Area earthquake, where they met Toklas and enthralled her with their stories of Paris.

Toklas moved there two years later, met up with Gertrude, and the two women soon began living together. Besides being a well-known avant-garde writer, Stein was a brilliant eccentric with a heavy, unladylike presence. Alice B. Toklas, who worked as Stein's secretary and cook, was a chain smoker with a slight mustache, given to exotic dress. The pair became inseparable. Their apartment at now-famous 27 Rue de Fleurus became the foremost meeting place for artists and writers like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 7. (Prince) Edward and Wallis Simpson Edward, the handsome Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, changed the course of his life, as well as that of British history, when he fell in love with Wallis Warfield Simpson—a woman who was not only American, but also married. Edward met Simpson at a party in 1931, hosted by Lady Thelma Furness, a viscountess with whom Edward had conducted a long relationship. Edward was not instantly smitten, but he and the upwardly-mobile Mrs.

Simpson traveled in the same social circles, and after many society balls and dinner parties he was slowly captivated by her charm and poise. By 1934, Wallis was separated from her husband, and British Parliament grew increasingly nervous over the relationship. Then, in 1936, Edward's father died, and he was forced to take his position as king. But his brief stay on the throne only created a media frenzy due to his relationship with Simpson. Miserable, Edward abdicated the throne in a famous radio broadcast in which he told the world that he "found it impossible to carry the heavy burden" of being king without the support of "the woman he loved." Edward's younger brother, Albert, became King George VI, and, since the title Prince of Wales can only be held by the eldest son of the sovereign, Edward was made the Duke of Windsor. King George made sure that his brother kept the courtesy title of His Royal Highness, but he also pointedly decreed that should he marry Wallis, she (and any children they produced) would be denied royal status.

After Simpson's divorce in 1937, Edward and Wallis were married in a small ceremony and spent most of the rest of their lives in France. 8. Waties Waring and Elizabeth Avery Waring The story of Julius Waties Waring and Elizabeth Avery Waring is not just a great romance, it is a great romance that altered the course of America's civil rights movement. Growing up in Charleston, S.C., Waties Waring was the personification of Old South patrician. In 1941, at the age of 61, he was appointed a federal judge and became a popular member of the Charleston elite. Yet, Waring was already showing signs of dissent: He ended segregated seating in his courtroom and appointed John Fleming, a black man, as his bailiff. But eyebrows were raised even higher when Waring divorced his Southern-born wife of 32 years and married Elizabeth Avery, a twice-divorced native of Detroit. Waties and his new bride found themselves shunned by Charleston society; aside from being a "Yankee," Elizabeth was disliked because she was seen as inspiring her husband to look at issues of race in an even more aggressive light.

Indeed, by the late 1940s, Waties had undergone an astonishing conversion that turned him into an outspoken critic of segregation and champion for racial justice. In fact, it was due to Waring's key legal influence and court ruling that the segregationists' "separate but equal" doctrine was declared unconstitutional, laying the groundwork for the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision. 9. Harry Tyson Moore and Harriette Simms Moore Harry and Harriette Moore are a relatively unknown yet pioneering couple that helped pave the way for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The two met in 1925 while Harry, 20, was teaching elementary school in Cocoa, Fla., and Harriette, 23, formerly a teacher herself, was selling insurance. The two quickly fell in love and were married within a year. Both strong-willed and compassionate people, the Moores raised a family (they had two daughters) while organizing the first Brevard County Chapter of the NAACP in 1934, championing such causes as equal pay for black teachers.

With the support of legendary African-American attorney Thurgood Marshall, the Moore couple became key allies in the movement. By 1941, Harry was the president of the Florida chapter of the NAACP, and his new level of activism took him into the dangerous arena of lynchings and police brutality. At first, Harry's involvement was confined to letters to government officials, but he quickly began launching his own investigations. Many believed this is what precipitated the attack in 1951 on Christmas Day—also the Moores' 25th anniversary—when a bomb exploded in their bedroom. Harry died before he reached the hospital; Harriette passed away nine days later from her injuries. Though authorities believe that the Ku Klux Klan was involved, the murders have never been solved. 10. Juan Domingo PerÃ³n and Maria Eva Duarte (Evita) Move over Bill and Hillary, this was the ultimate power couple. Evita PerÃ³n, born Maria Eva Duarte, began carving out a perfectly respectable rags-to-riches story when she left her poor family and small town of Los Toldos, Argentina, in 1935 to pursue acting in Buenos Aries.

She appeared in vaudeville stage acts and found some success as a radio actress, but her life changed when she met and charmed Juan Domingo PerÃ³n, the future president of Argentina, in 1944. After only a year the two were married, and in 1946 PerÃ³n was elected president of Argentina. Together the couple helped reform labor and social welfare programs. In addition, Evita established a women's branch of the Peronista political party, as well as foundations for needy children and the elderly. Indeed, she was one of the most active first ladies the world has ever known, made formal in 1951 when she was asked to join her husband's election ticket as vice president. The PerÃ³ns' political opponents blocked her candidacy, fearing that she could one day become president, but Evita was not bitter. When her husband was inaugurated for the second time in 1952, Evita appeared by his side. But the occasion was bittersweet; she was suffering from cervical cancer and died shortly thereafter. Her husband's inauguration was her last public appearance.

Fascinating History: Catherine the Great and her Many Lovers All that is fascinating and unusual in history. Sunday, 26 June 2005 Catherine the Great and her Many Lovers Catherine the Great was empress of Russia from 1762 until she died in 1796. She was born in 1729 in Poland and in 1744 was taken to Russia to marry the young Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne and not of a sane mind. For seven years during their marriage Peter spent his time playing with toy soldiers and dogs and showed no interest in sex. In fact he had a physical disability, a very tight foreskin, which may have played an important part in that matter. Finally the empress Elizabeth gave Catherine the permission to take a lover, which she did and was soon pregnant. She convinced Peter it was his own child, as was the plan anyway. In the meantime he had been circumcised so that he could perform the sexual act. Catherine developed a taste for young soldiers. She had a special area built in her bedroom, which was curtained off and where she received her lovers. Gregory Orlov was her on and off lover for around thirteen years.

He was said to possess excellent equipment, unbelievable ‘stamina’ and an insatiable appetite for sex. When Peter and Catherine ascended to the throne after the empress Elizabeth died, in 1761, Catherine became even more confident. Peter’s childish and irrational behaviour was annoying her as well as others. In June 1762 he was murdered by the Orlov brothers and Catherine was sole ruler. Now, she was free to enjoy herself to the full. She had several lovers at the same time and they were expected to perform as and when needed. If they did not satisfy they were kicked out of the palace, but given a handsome sum of money first. Her young men were carefully vetted for fear of diseases. The court physician would first examine them thoroughly; then they would be passed on to the Countess Bruce, who would interview them, inform them of what the empress liked and did not like in bed. Then she would proceed to try them out, to ensure they were all they were all they promised to be.

Only then would they be ‘delivered’ to a suite of rooms, where a box of 100,000 roubles would be waiting for them, as a gift for the services they were about to render. That same evening, the young man would be presented at court with the empress on his arm and at ten o’clock they would retire to her bedroom… Over the years, the walls of Catherine’s bedroom were filled with miniature portraits of her lovers. When Gregory Orlov had the audacity to seduce his own thirteen-year old cousin, Catherine gave him a smart pension and promptly sent him packing. He was soon replaced by Gregory Potemkin. He had one eye, was over-sexed. They were extremely close and rumour had it that they had married. Posted by Anna at

Question: What Russian empress had affairs with many men?
Answer: Catherine the Great