| History has a way of painting strong female rulers in a | | | | dedicated to education, as well as numerous works of |
| very colorful - and sometimes harsh - light. This rings | | | | fiction, even stories for her grandchildren. |
| especially true in the accounts of Catherine II of Russia, | | | | It cannot be said; however, that Catherine the Great |
| also known as Catherine the Great, an honor | | | | was without notoriety. One of the most famous (or |
| bestowed upon her after her death of a stroke in | | | | infamous) aspects of her history is a rather impressive |
| November of 1796. Catherine was named Empress of | | | | string of publically powerful lovers. Some of her more |
| Russia in 1762 after her husband, Tsar Peter III, was | | | | notable romantic interests, including Grigory Orlov and |
| deposed in a notably non-violent coup by dissenters | | | | Grigory Potemkin, were placed in strategic political |
| opposed to his eccentric and seemingly non-sensical | | | | positions, as she trusted them to work in the best |
| political policies. | | | | interests of their Empress and their Empire. Some |
| Catherine ascended to the throne with a strong | | | | accounts inform us that she had near-insatiable |
| education and inspired ideas for the reformation of the | | | | appetites for young men, taking on lovers well into her |
| Russian empire. She commissioned the development | | | | old age. Her excesses were not limited to the |
| and implementation of a complex mapping system that | | | | bedroom; however. |
| would be used to help identify and better govern the | | | | As the Russian economy improved as a result of her |
| massive area of the continent she ruled. Catherine | | | | reforms, Catherine was known to spend enormous |
| was also responsible for improving the presence of | | | | sums of money on art, servants, palaces and jewelry. |
| local government throughout Russia, in a movement | | | | Examples of this can still be seen today. A three |
| that drastically increased the amount of revenue | | | | strand pearl necklace with diamond clasps that is |
| brought in through agriculture. She was also a strong | | | | believed to have belonged to the Empress was sold |
| supporter of the advancement of medical technology, | | | | at auction in 2009 for $600,000. It is also believed that |
| and went so far as to volunteer for one of the first | | | | she owned a very rare strand of 30 black pearls, |
| small pox vaccines in history. | | | | which would have been considered a true treasure, as |
| Catherine's desire to improve and reform her empire | | | | the process of cultivating pearls had yet to be |
| did not stop with her political policies. She sought | | | | discovered. |
| constantly to improve her own education, and | | | | Catherine the Great is considered one of the most |
| considered the voices of the Enlightenment some of | | | | colorful and admirable leaders in history. She expanded |
| the most worthy of her time. She maintained a steady | | | | the borders of Russia, and encouraged the |
| correspondence with the French philosophers Diderot | | | | development of science and medicine. She was |
| and Voltaire, viewing them as scions of modern | | | | responsible for the building of schools and the |
| thought. She felt passionately about art, literature and | | | | organization of several academic societies. While her |
| architecture. She was widely known as a constant | | | | personal life made her infamous, it is her contributions |
| reader, and many of the cities still standing in Russia | | | | to her country that transformed Russia from a vast |
| today are a result of her own designs. She also | | | | collection of disorganized territories into an Empire. |
| became an author in own right, writing a manual | | | | |