His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin of Tauride

Knyaz Grigori Alexandrovich Potyomkin (Potemkin) (Russian: Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин) (September 13, 1739 (NS: September 24) – October 5, 1791 (NS: October 16)) was a Russian general-field marshal, statesman, and favorite of Catherine II the Great. He is primarily remembered for his efforts to colonize the sparsely populated wild steppes of Southern Ukraine, which passed to Russia under the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774). Among the towns founded by Potemkin are Kherson, Nikolaev (Mykolayiv), Sevastopol, and Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk). Image File history File links Portrait of Prince Potemkin (1739-91) --ST â—‹ 09:16, 2005 May 5 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Portrait of Prince Potemkin (1739-91) --ST â—‹ 09:16, 2005 May 5 (UTC) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Kniaz’ or knyaz is a word found in some Slavic languages. ... September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... Events January 1 - Bouvet Island is discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier. ... September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in Leap years). ... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ... Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from June 28, 1762, to her death on November 6, 1796. ... The Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (Küçük Kaynarca) was signed on July 21, 1774, between Russia (represented by Field-Marshal Rumyantsev) and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. ... Kherson (Ukrainian and Russian Херсон) is a city in southern Ukraine, the capital of Kherson Oblast, with 303,900 inhabitants (2004). ... Mykolayiv (Ukrainian Миколаїв), also known by its Russian name Николаев (Nikolaev or Nikolayev) is a city in Southern Ukraine with the population of 514,000 (2001 estimation). ... Sevastopol (Севастополь, Sevastopol’ in Russian and Ukrainian; Aqyar in Crimean Tatar), formerly known as Sebastopol (from a mistransliteration of the Russian v), is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of Crimean peninsula at , . It has a population of 328,600 (2004). ... Dnipropetrovsk (Ukrainian: Дніпропетровськ, Dnipropetrovs’k; Russian: Днепропетро́вск, Dnepropetrovsk, formerly Екатериносла́в, Yekaterinoslav) is Ukraines third largest city with 1. ... Dnipropetrovsk (Ukrainian: Дніпропетровськ, Dnipropetrovs’k; Russian: Днепропетро́вск, Dnepropetrovsk, formerly Екатериносла́в, Yekaterinoslav) is Ukraines third largest city with 1. ...

Early life

He was born in Chizhovo village near Smolensk into the family of a minor army officer. After studying at the University of Moscow, he enlisted in the horse guards. He participated in the palace coup in 1762 which ousted Peter III and enthroned Catherine II. He received the rank of second lieutenant of the Guards. Catherine needed reliable assistants and appreciated Potemkin's energy and organizational abilities. The biographical anecdotes relating to him during the next few years, such as his participation in the assassination of the deposed emperor, are obscure and mostly apocryphal. A view of Smolensk in 1912 Smolensk (Russian: ) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River at 54. ... Moscow State University campus M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Московский Государственный Университет имени М.В.Ломоносова, often abbreviated МГУ, MSU, MGU) is considered the oldest university in Russia, founded in 1755. ... 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Portrait of Peter III by an uknown artist Peter III(The Fagit) (February 21, 1728 - July 17, 1762) (Russian Пётр III Федорович (Pyotr III Fyodorovitch)) was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. ...

Catherine II's lover

In 1774, their relationship took on a more intimate character. Potemkin became a favorite of the tsarina; he received many awards, and was given the highest posts. During the next 17 years he was the most powerful person in Russia. Potemkin found pleasure in ostentatious luxury and personal wealth. Like Catherine he gave in to the temptation of absolute power; however, in many dealings he was guided by the spirit of Enlightenment. He showed tolerance of religious differences, and gave protection to national minorities. As commander-in-chief of the Russian army (nominally from 1784) he emphasized a more humane concept of discipline, demanding that officers take care of soldiers in a paternal way. 1774 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A Tsarina (Russian and Bulgarian: цари́ца, tsaritsa), also spelled czarina, or czaritsa, was the title of Tsars wife or a female autocratic ruler (monarch) of Russia or Bulgaria. ... The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason. ... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1776, at Catherine's request, the Emperor Joseph II raised Potemkin to the rank of a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1775 he was superseded in the empress's graces by Zavadovsky; but the relations between Catherine and her former lover continued to be most friendly, and his influence with her was never seriously disturbed by any of her subsequent favorites. A whole mass of facts testify to the enormous and extraordinary influence of Potemkin during the next ten years. His correspondence with the empress was uninterrupted. The most important state documents passed through his hands. This article is about the year 1776. ... Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (March 13, 1741 - February 20, 1790) was a Holy Roman Emperor (1765 - 1790). ... The term prince (the female form is princess), from the Latin root princeps, when used for a member of the highest aristocracy, has several fundamentally different meanings - one generic, and several types of titles. ... Correspondence may refer to: In the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, correspondence is the relationship between spiritual and physical realities. ...

Governing of Novorossiya

Catherine II had Potemkin buried at the Catherine Cathedral of Kherson, the city he founded.

Potemkin achieved appreciable success in Russia's newly won southern provinces, in which he was an absolute ruler. He supported a stream of both Russian and foreign colonists, he founded some new cities, and created the Black Sea Fleet. In 1783 he carried out the project of annexing Crimea to Russia, for which he received the title of His Serene Highness Knyaz Tavrichesky (Светлейший князь Таврический), or prince of Tauride, after an ancient name for Crimea. Four years later he organized Catherine's widely advertised ceremonial travel with her retinues to the southern provinces. The purpose of the trip was the intimidation of Russia's enemies, and it led to a war for which the country appeared poorly prepared (Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792). As commander, Potemkin was guided by a cautious strategy that was militarily justified but did not win him popularity. Novorossiya (Russian: , literally New Russia) is a historic area now mostly located in southern Ukraine, and partially in southern Russia. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2727x1842, 898 KB) St. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2727x1842, 898 KB) St. ... Kherson (Ukrainian and Russian Херсон) is a city in southern Ukraine, the capital of Kherson Oblast, with 303,900 inhabitants (2004). ... Black Sea Fleet sleeve ensign The Black Sea Fleet (Russian: Черноморский флот) is a large sub-unit of the Russian (and formerly Soviet) Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the early 18th century. ... 1783 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Crimea /kraɪˈmia/ is a peninsula and an autonomous republic of Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea. ... The Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792 was a futile attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to Russia in the course of the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. ...

His colonizing system was exposed to very severe criticism, yet it is impossible not to admire the results of his stupendous activity. The arsenal of Kherson, begun in 1778, the harbour of Sevastopol and the new fleet of fifteen liners and twenty-five smaller vessels, were monuments of his genius. But there was exaggeration in all he attempted. He spared neither men, money, nor himself in attempting to carry out his gigantic scheme for the colonization of the south Ukrainian steppes; but he never calculated the cost, and more than three-quarters of the design had to be abandoned when but half finished. An arsenal is an establishment for the construction, repair, receipt, storage and issue of weapons and ammunition. ... Kherson (Ukrainian and Russian Херсон) is a city in southern Ukraine, the capital of Kherson Oblast, with 303,900 inhabitants (2004). ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Sevastopol (Севастополь, Sevastopol’ in Russian and Ukrainian; Aqyar in Crimean Tatar), formerly known as Sebastopol (from a mistransliteration of the Russian v), is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of Crimean peninsula at , . It has a population of 328,600 (2004). ...

In 1790 he conducted the military operations on the Dniester and held his court at Jassy with more than Asiatic pomp. In 1791 he returned to St Petersburg where, along with his friend Bezborodko, he made vain efforts to overthrow the new favourite, Prince Platon Zubov, and in four months spent 850,000 roubles in banquets and entertainments at the Tauride Palace, a sum subsequently reimbursed to him from the treasury. Then the empress grew impatient and compelled him (1791) to return to Jassy to conduct the peace negotiations as chief Russian plenipotentiary. On October 5, 1791, while on his way to Nikolayev, he died in the open steppe, 40 miles from Jassy, in consequence of eating a whole goose while in a high state of fever. His death occasioned Derzhavin's great ode Waterfall. Length 1350 km Elevation of the source -  m Average discharge -  m³/s Area watershed 62,000  km² Origin  Ukraine Mouth  Black Sea Basin countries Ukraine, Moldova The river Dniester (Polish: Dniestr, Ukrainian: Дністер, Romanian: Nistru, Russian: Днестр, Latin: Tyras) is a river in Eastern Europe. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko (1747-1799) was the Grand Chancellor of Russia and chief architect of the Catherine the Greats foreign policy after the death of Nikita Panin. ... Coat of arms of the Zubov family Zubov (Зу́бов) was a Russian noble family which rised to the highest offices of state in the 1790s, when Platon Zubov succeeded Count Orlov and Prince Potemkin as the official favourite of Catherine II of Russia. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mykolayiv (Ukrainian Миколаїв), also known by its Russian name Николаев (Nikolaev or Nikolayev) is a city in Southern Ukraine with the population of 514,000 (2001 estimation). ... Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (Гаврила Романович Державин, 1743 – 1816) was the greatest Russian poet before Alexander Pushkin. ...

Assessment

Very various are the estimates of Potemkin. Neither during his life nor after his death did any two people agree about him. The German pamphlet, published in 1794, is a fair specimen of the opinion of those who regarded him as the evil genius of Catherine and of Russia. But there were many, including the empress herself, who looked upon him as a man of manifold and commanding genius. He was indubitably the most extraordinary of all the Catherinian favorites. He was an able administrator, but wanting in self-control. Licentiousness, extravagance and an utter disregard for human life were his weak points, but he was loyal, generous and magnanimous. Nearly all the anecdotes related of him by Helbig, in the biography contributed by him to the journal Minerva (1797-1800), and freely utilized by later biographers, are absolutely worthless. A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard cover or binding). ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

References

• Simon Sebag Montefiore (2005). Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner, 688, Vintage Books. ISBN 1400077176.
• Official site of the Tauride Palace
• Russian biography

Simon Sebag Montefiore (1965- ) is a British academic of jewish origin specializing in Russian History. ...

See also

• Potemkin village
• Russian battleship Potemkin