Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman, and favourite of Catherine the Great. He died during negotiations over the Treaty of Jassy, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen.
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village is a construction whose purpose is to provide an external façade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it actually is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built by Grigory Potemkin, a field marshal and former lover of Empress Catherine II, solely to impress the Empress during her journey to Crimea in 1787. Modern historians agree that accounts of this portable village are exaggerated. The original story was that Potemkin erected phony portable settlements along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to impress the Russian Empress and foreign guests. The structures would be disassembled after she passed, and re-assembled farther along her route to be seen again.
Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Dashkova was an influential noblewoman, a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment and a close friend of Empress Catherine the Great. She was part of the coup d'état that placed Catherine on the throne, the first woman in the world to head a national academy of sciences, the first woman in Europe to hold a government office and the president of the Russian Academy, which she helped found. She also published prolifically, with original and translated works on many subjects, and was invited by Benjamin Franklin to become the first female member of the American Philosophical Society.
Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova, commonly known as Saltychikha, was a Russian noblewoman from the Saltykov family, sadist, and serial killer from Moscow. She became notorious for torturing and killing many of her serfs, mostly women. Saltykova has been compared by many to the Hungarian "Blood Countess," Elizabeth Báthory (1560–1614), who allegedly committed similar crimes in her home, Čachtice Castle, against servant girls and local serfs, although historians debate the accuracy of these charges.
Zofia Potocka née Clavone was a Greek slave courtesan and a Russian agent, later a Polish noblewoman. She was famous in contemporary Europe for her beauty and adventurous life. During the Russo-Turkish War she was the lover of the Russian commander Prince Grigory Potemkin and acted as an agent in Russian service.
Alexander Vasilyevich Potyomkin (1673–1746) was a Russian nobleman. He was the father of Grigory Potyomkin. He died on 2 June 1746.
Countess Alexandra Branitskaya, also known as Sanecka and Countess Branicka, was a leading Russian courtier. She was the niece and confidante of Grigory Potemkin, and Catherine the Great's lady-in-waiting. She was one of the most notable socialites at the Russian Imperial court during Catherine's reign, and was conspicuously treated as a virtual member of the Imperial family. Through her marriage to Branicki she became administrator of the immense estate of Biała Cerkiew .
Countess Praskovya Aleksandrovna Bruce was a Russian lady-in-waiting and noblewoman who was a confidante of Catherine the Great.
Countess Anna Stepanovna Protasova was a Russian lady-in-waiting and noblewoman who was a confidant of Catherine the Great.
Ivan Nikolajevich Rimsky-Korsakov, né Korsav was a Russian courtier and lover of Catherine the Great from 1778 to 1779.
Alexander Dmitrievich Lanskoy, also called Sashin'ka or Sasha, 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."
Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov was a Russian aristocrat who became the lover of Catherine the Great from 1772 to 1774.
Pyotr Zavadovsky (1739–1812) was a Russian Imperial statesman of Ukrainian origin. He was a favourite (lover) of Russian Empress Catherine the Great from 1776 to 1777.
Varvara Vasilievna Golitsyna, was a Russian Empire lady-in-waiting and noble. She was the niece and lover of Grigory Potyomkin, and the favored lady-in-waiting of Catherine the Great.
The House of Engelhardt is a Baltic-German noble and baronial family of the former Russian Empire. The family name is sometimes given as von Engelhardt.
Yekaterina Ivanovna Nelidova was a Russian noblewoman and lady-in-waiting. She was the royal mistress of Paul I of Russia.
Elizabeth Grigorievna Temkina was the once-alleged daughter of Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin.
Alexandra Alexandrovna Tegleva, also known as Shura Tegleva and Sasha Tegleva, was a Russian noblewoman who served as a nursemaid in the Russian Imperial Household. As nursemaid to the children of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, she went with the family into exile in Tobolsk following the abdication of Nicholas II during the February Revolution, but was ultimately prevented from staying with them during their house arrest at Ipatiev House. She survived the Russian Revolution and married Pierre Gilliard, a Swiss academic who served with her in the Imperial Household as the children's French tutor. She moved to Lausanne as a white émigré and remained there the rest of her life. Tegleva worked with her husband to investigate and debunk the claims made by Anna Anderson, a Romanov impostor who pretended to be Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna.
Elizaveta Nikolaevna "Liza" Ersberg was a German-Russian parlormaid who served in the Russian Imperial Household. The daughter of a stoker employed by Emperor Alexander III, she was hired by Empress Maria Feodorovna as a parlormaid at the Alexander Palace in 1898. She used her post to obtain a position at court for her friend Anna Demidova, who became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Princess Tatiana Vasilievna Yusupova, née Engelhardt was a niece of Prince Grigory Potemkin and a maid of honour to Empress Catherine the Great.
