Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia

Anna Petrovna, Tsesarevna of Russia ( _ru. Анна Петровна; 27 January 1708, Moscow – 4 March 1728, Kiel) was the eldest daughter of Emperor Peter I of Russia and Catherine I of Russia. Her sister Elizabeth ruled as Empress between 1741 and 1762. Her son Peter ruled as Emperor in 1762.

Anna was born out of wedlock and was legitimized on the wedding of her parents in 1712. Her perceived illegitimacy caused several projects of matrimonial alliances to be turned down. It was finally decided that Anna would marry Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, a nephew of childless Charles XII of Sweden.

On 17 March 1721, Karl Friedrich arrived in Imperial Russia to get acquainted with his future wife and father-in-law. He aspired to use the marriage in order to ensure Russia's support for his plans of retrieving Schleswig from Denmark. He also entertained hopes of being backed up by Russia in his claims to the Swedish throne. Under the terms of the Treaty of Nystad Russia promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of Sweden, so his hopes proved ill-founded.

On 22 November, 1724, the marriage contract was signed. By this contract, Anna and Karl Friedrich renounced all rights and claims to the crown of the Russian Empire on behalf of themselves and their descendants. As a result of this clause, the Emperor secured the right to name any of his descendants as his successor on the Russian throne, while the Duke undertook to execute the imperial will without any preconditions.

A few months thereafter, by January 1725, Peter the Great fell mortally ill. As the story goes, on his deathbed he managed to spell the words: "to give all...", but could not continue further and sent for Anna to dictate his last will to her. By the time the princess arrived, the Emperor could not pronounce a single word. Based on the story, some historians speculated that Peter's wish was to leave the throne to Anna, but this seems to be doubtful.

The Duke and Anna wed after Peter's death, on 21 May 1725, in Trinity Church, Saint Petersburg. The Duke was admitted into the newly-established Supreme Secret Council and exerted a moderate influence on Russian politics. Catherine I's death in 1727 made his position precarious, as the power shifted to the hands of Alexander Menshikov, who aspired to marry the young emperor, Peter II, to his own daughter. A quarrel between the Duke and Menshikov resulted in the former's withdrawing to Holstein on 25 July, 1727. It was here that Anna died on 4 March 1728, within several days after giving birth to Charles Peter Ulrich, the future Emperor of Russia and progenitor of all the 19th-century Romanovs. She had barely turned 20 years old. Before her death, Anna asked to be buried in Russia, near the tombs of her parents in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Her last will was executed on 12 November the same year.

According to contemporaries, Anna strikingly resembled her famous father. She was clever and beautiful, well-educated, was fluent in French, German, Italian and Swedish. It is also known that Anna was devoted to children and took care of her nephew, Pyotr Alekseevich, when he was neglected during the reign of Catherine I.

ee also

*Order of Saint Anna

External links and references

* [http://www.rulex.ru/01010556.htm Biography]
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