Favourites of Catherine the Great

Prince Platon Zubov

Prince Platon Zubov commanded the guard at Tsarskoe Selo, where he was a second major of the Horse Guards Regiment. When Catherine the Great broke up with Count Alexander Dmitriyev-Mamonov, Count Nik...

Count Alexander Dmitriyev-Mamonov

Count Alexander Dmitriyev-Mamonov was the adjutant of Prince Grigory Potemkin. In August 1786, Catherine the Great promoted him from the rank of lieutenant to her personal aide-de-camp. Mamonov was a...

Alexander Yermolov

Alexander Yermolov was the uncle of General Alexei Yermolov, who distinguished himself during the Patriotic War and was later commander-in-chief of Russian forces during the Caucasian War. A twenty-t...

Alexander Lanskoi

Alexander Lanskoi was the son of an impoverished landowner from Smolensk. After serving in the Izmailovsky Regiment, he was transferred to the cavalry guards and promoted to the rank of army lieutena...

Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov

Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov came from the Smolensk nobility. In 1778, as an army captain, he participated in military events in Poland. After the resignation of Semyon Zorich, Prince Grigory Potemkin recomm...

Semyon Zorich

Semyon Zorich was a Serb by nationality and adjutant to Prince Grigory Potemkin. Catherine the Great promoted him from the rank of major to her personal aide-de-camp. He spent eleven months with the ...

Pyotr Zavadovsky

Pyotr Zavadovsky came from Chernihiv Province. He was educated by Jesuits and at the Kiev Religious Academy. Zavadovsky had a handsome face and an easy disposition. He was only the the favourite of C...

Prince Grigory Potemkin

Grigory Potemkin came from a family of undistinguished noblemen. A quartermaster of the Horse Guards, he participated in Catherine the Great ’s overthrow of Peter III of 28 June 1762. The next day, h...

Alexander Vasilchikov

Alexander Vasilchikov came from an old family of Moscow noblemen. A handsome twenty-seven year-old cornet of the Horse Guards (1772), he often served on guard duty at Tsarskoe Selo, where he caught t...

Grigory Orlov

Grigory Orlov came from an undistinguished family of noblemen and served in the guards. He and his brothers helped Catherine the Great to seize the throne from Peter III in 1762. Orlov was awarded th...

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