Kurš datēja Catherine II?

Catherine II (en russe : Екатерина II) ou Catherine la Grande (Екатери́на Вели́кая), née Sophie Frédérique Augusta d'Anhalt-Zerbst le 2 mai 1729 à Stettin en Poméranie (aujourd'hui Szczecin en Pologne) et morte le 17 novembre 1796 à Saint-Pétersbourg, est l'épouse du prince puis empereur Pierre III (1728-1762). Elle devient impératrice régnante de Russie en 1762 jusqu'à sa mort, à la suite d'un coup d'État le 9 juillet 1762, suivi de l'incarcération de Pierre III, puis de son exécution le 17 juillet par un proche de Catherine.

Prénommée Catherine lors de son baptême orthodoxe, nécessaire avant son mariage avec le prince Pierre, elle devient impératrice consort après l'avènement de celui-ci (5 janvier 1762). Après son coup d'État, elle se fait proclamer « impératrice et autocrate de toutes les Russies ».

Elle règne personnellement sur l'Empire russe du 9 juillet 1762 à sa mort le 17 novembre 1796. Sous son règne, la Russie connaît une grande expansion territoriale vers l'ouest et le sud (plus de 500 000 km²), notamment à l'occasion des trois partages de la Pologne (1772, 1793 et 1795) et de guerres victorieuses contre l'Empire ottoman.

Alexander Petrovich Yermolov (1754–1834) was a Russian favourite and the lover of Catherine the Great from 1785 to 1786.

Yermolov was presented to Catherine by Grigory Potemkin, tested by Anna Protasova and became Catherine's lover in 1785. He collaborated with the enemies of Potemkin and attempted to have Potemkin removed, and thereby lost his position. He went to Paris in the late 1780s and spent the rest of his life in Schloss Frohsdorf.

Ivan Nikolajevich Rimsky-Korsakov, né Korsav (29 June 1754 – 31 July 1831 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian courtier and lover of Catherine the Great from 1778 to 1779.

Il conte Aleksandr Matveevič Dmitriev-Mamonov (in russo Александр Матвеевич Дмитриев-Мамонов^?; Smolensk, 30 settembre 1758 – San Pietroburgo, 11 ottobre 1803) è stato un diplomatico russo, appartenente ad un'antichissima dinastia della nobiltà dei boiardi discendente dei Rurichidi e con grandi possedimenti nei pressi di Smolensk.

In quanto aiutante di campo del conte Potemkin, Mamonov nel 1784 fu presentato alla zarina Caterina II, della quale in breve divenne il favorito.

Grazie al favore dell'imperatrice, che gli tributava 100.000 fiorini annui, riuscì ad istituire una piccola corte di illuministi, che tra gli altri comprendeva il conte Semën Romanovič Voroncov, Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Zubov, fratello di Platon Aleksandrovič Zubov, Pëtr Alekseevič Palen, José de Ribas, Aleksandr Andreevič Bezborodko e Nikita Petrovič Panin e inoltre Mamonov tenne un frequente scambio epistolare con il mecenate di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Friedrich Melchior von Grimm.

Nel 1787 prese parte ai negoziati con Stanislao II Augusto Poniatowski e Giuseppe II d'Austria, divenendo Reichsgraf ("conte del Sacro romano impero"). Alla sua morte fu inumato nel Monastero di Donskoj.

Alexander Dmitrievich Lanskoy, also called Sashin'ka or Sasha, (19 March [O.S. 8 March] 1758 – 6 July [O.S. 25 June] 1784) was a Russian general, favourite and lover of Catherine the Great between 1780 and 1784. It has been said that "[a] look at [her] correspondence with her favorites gives the impression she only had tender feelings for one, Alexander Lanskoi."

Count Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov (Russian: Сергей Васильевич Салтыков, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof]; c. 1722 – 1784) was a Russian officer (chamberlain) who became the first lover of Empress Catherine the Great after her arrival in Russia.

Pyotr Zavadovsky (1739–1812) was a Russian statesman of Ukrainian origin. He was a favourite (lover) of Russian empress Catherine the Great from 1776 to 1777.

Count Semyon Zorich (1743–1799) was a Serbian-born Russian lieutenant-general and count of the Holy Roman Empire. He served Russia against the Prussians and Turks. A member of the Russian court, he was presented to Empress Catherine the Great by Grigory Potemkin and, after having been tested by Praskovja Bruce and doctor Rogerson, became the Empress' lover. He was most influential in the commercial development of Shklov and Mogilev.

Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov (Russian: Александр Семёнович Васильчиков, tr. Aleksandr Semënovič Vasil'čikov; 1746–1813) was a Russian aristocrat who became the lover of Catherine the Great from 1772 to 1774.

Vasilchikov was an ensign in the Chevalier Guard Regiment when he was noted by Catherine and was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber on 1 August 1772. When Catherine's then-lover Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov left court, Catherine was informed about his adultery, and 12 August, Vasilchikov was made general aide-de-camp and lover of Catherine. Vasilchikov was expected to be available to attend on her at all times, and was not allowed to leave the palace without permission.

The relationship was short-lived. Catherine found Vasilchikov's gentleness cloying, saying "His tenderness made me weep." When Vasilchikov was away on a journey, sent by the empress, Grigory Potemkin replaced him as her lover. She wrote to her friend Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm about Vasilchikov's dismissal: "Why do you reproach me because I dismiss a well-meaning but extremely boring bourgeois in favour of one of the greatest, the most comical and amusing, characters of this iron century?"

Vasilchikov later complained that he felt like a hired gigolo: "I was nothing more to her than a kind of male cocotte and I was treated as such. If I made a request for myself or anyone else, she did not reply, but the next day I found a bank-note for several thousand rubles in my pocket. She never condescended to discuss with me any matters that lay close to my heart."

Catherine characteristically rewarded her former lover richly. Vasilchikov was given a pension of twenty thousand rubles and valuable properties. He lived the rest of his life in Moscow. He never married. He built a notable collection of Western European paintings and sculptures, including a "Self Portrait" by Velasquez and works by Philips Wouwerman and Andries Botha.

Platons Zubovs (krievu: Платон Александрович Зубов; dzimis 1767. gada 26. novembrī, miris 1822. gada 19. aprīlī) bija pēdējais Krievijas ķeizarienes Katrīnas II favorīts, pēc kuras nāves viņš krita nežēlastībā. Piedalījās viņas dēla ķeizara Pāvila I nogalināšanā 1801. gada 11. martā.

Grigorijs Potjomkins, no 1787. gada Grigorijs Taurijas Potjomkins (krievu: Светлейший князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий; dzimis 1739. gada 24. septembrī, miris 1791. gada 16. oktobrī) bija Krievijas Impērijas armijas virsnieks, vēlāk galminieks, ķeizarienes Katrīnas II favorīts (pēc dažām ziņām morganātiskais dzīvesbiedrs), Jaunkrievijas ģenerālgubernators, Taurijas kņazs.

Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (Russian: Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 17 October 1734 – 24 April 1783) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1772), state and military figure, collector, patron of arts, and General-in-Chief.

He patronised M. V. Lomonosov, D. I. Fonvisin, V. I. Bazhenov and gave them financial support. Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (since 1765). He collected paintings (including Rembrandt, P. P. Rubens, Titian), sculpture, Chinese, Japanese and Russian porcelain, hunting weapons, etc. (Orlov's collection has been preserved almost completely; it is now in the State Museum-Reserve "Gatchina" of the eponymous city). A large landowner, particularly of the Gatchina manor, where Orlov commissioned the construction of a palace and a landscape garden.

He became a leader of the 1762 coup which overthrew Catherine's husband Peter III of Russia and installed Catherine as empress. For some years he was virtually co-ruler with her, but his repeated infidelities and the enmity of Catherine's other advisers led to his fall from power.

Staņislavs II Augusts Poņatovskis (poļu: Stanisław August Poniatowski, lietuviešu: Stanislovas Augustas Poniatovskis, baltkrievu: Станіслаў Аўгуст Панятоўскі; dzimis 1732. gada 17. janvārī, miris 1798. gada 12. februārī) bija pēdējais Polijas karalis un Lietuvas lielkņazs (1764-1795). Pēc Trešās Polijas dalīšanas karalis Staņislavs II 1795. gadā Grodņā atteicās no troņa un Žečpospolita pazuda no pasaules politiskās kartes. Tās teritoriju savā starpā sadalīja Krievija, Prūsija un Austrija.