Her Name Was Completely Different

The woman whom history would remember as Catherine the Great, Russia’s longest-ruling female leader whose real name was Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. She 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.

With her ministers she reorganized the administration and law of the Russian Empire and expanded Russian territory, adding Crimea and much of Poland. But great women aren’t born, they’re made…and Catherine quickly showed how far she’d go for power. At age 14 she was chosen to be the wife of Karl Ulrich, duke of Holstein-Gottorp, grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the throne of Russia as the grand duke Peter. In 1744 Catherine arrived in Russia, assumed the title of Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseyevna, and married her young cousin the following year. The marriage was a complete failure; the following 18 years were filled with disappointment and humiliation for her.