Empress Catherine II

[shepherd]

Thanks very much for your interest.  There is a family genealogy for the Bobrinskoy family in a footnote in the Bobrinsky Wikipedia site.  I am listed there near the bottom (George Shepherd).  My grandfather was George Bobrinskoy, and he grew up on an estate near Toula.

Any further ideas on how tall Catherine was?  My daughter, Sophie, is somewhat short, and she wants to know whether Catherine was short too.

Thanks for the help.

George

[aleksandr pavlovich]

Thanks very much for your interest.  There is a family genealogy for the Bobrinskoy family in a footnote in the Bobrinsky Wikipedia site.  I am listed there near the bottom (George Shepherd).  My grandfather was George Bobrinskoy, and he grew up on an estate near Toula.

Any further ideas on how tall Catherine was?  My daughter, Sophie, is somewhat short, and she wants to know whether Catherine was short too.

Thanks for the help.

George

  I appreciate very much your kind and timely response with the professionally detailed geneaological information.
  Likewise, I do wish you luck in ascertaining the +/- height measurements of the Empress Catherine II.  While existing/displayed period dresses of hers may give a "ballpark" estimate of a moment in time, one has to consider added visual illusion influences of varying heights of the shoes worn, the height of any formal hair styles, etc.            
                                                                                                       Best regards,  AP.

[Yelena Aleksandrovna]

Modern painting, a proud grandma. Empress Catherine II and grandson Alexander

[Russian Art Lover]

Thanks very much for your interest.  There is a family genealogy for the Bobrinskoy family in a footnote in the Bobrinsky Wikipedia site.  I am listed there near the bottom (George Shepherd).  My grandfather was George Bobrinskoy, and he grew up on an estate near Toula.

Any further ideas on how tall Catherine was?  My daughter, Sophie, is somewhat short, and she wants to know whether Catherine was short too.

Thanks for the help.

George

How interesting! Unfortunately, I have no information on her height. But I do know that she was tone deaf!

[LauraO]

I was wondering if there's any accessible archive of Catherine's diary, or any good text which compiles this, either in text form, or online. Thanks.

[kensnowelk]

Hello. I am a lifelong ardent student and fan of Imperial Russia and the Romanovs and all Russian related history and also a longtime genealogist as a strong hobby and area of research. My question which has perplexed me for years is, does anybody out there know of any source or person(s) or references, etc. that would help me find the WRITTEN LINEAGE from Catherine II the Great to a ruler from the Rurik Dynasty? I have seen and heard many times and places that she is indeed a Rurik royal line descendent. I'm also particularly intrigued because of all the back and forth discussions on the paternity of Paul I and Catherine II or an other as many have stated. THUS the RURIK full connection lineage would be all the more important in my humble opinion as it would be the PRIMARY Russian royal connection to later Romanovs. I for one feel 9and hope0 that Peter II WAS Paul I's father but if not- or either way- I would be GREATLY thankful to anyone who could help me here. @@ Also if you wish - please feel free to send any info or hopeful leads to me email if Ok which is kensnowelk@hotmail.com.    Thank you!

[JGP]

Pedigree of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of Russia 1729-1796
The origin from Rurik (c. 835-879), the prince of Novgorod; see hyperlink below

http://russia-today.narod.ru/past/des_rur/ru_ek2.htm

[agordon2000]

She was obviously bright and self serving. Her morganic husband Potempkin said the key to getting along with her was to give her lots of compliments. He is well known for setting up Potempkin villages, that is cleaning up Russia and even setting up fake villages when she went on tour. She understood politics. Her power depended on the support of nobles since she was a foreigner and had no right to the throne. So she read a lot and learned Russian well. She sympathized with philosophy of the enlightenment but in the end did nothing against the interests of her patrons. What she did was to expand the territory of Russia greatly by adding a third of Poland which mean Ukraine and Belarus and beat the Ottoman Empire for the first time gaining access tot he Black Sea. She hated Jews and there were none in Russia. When she took Poland suddenly she had millions of them so devised 'the Pale" areas where they could live and made trade   very hard for them. During the American Revolution she refused twice to help England as she wanted direct trade with the colonies and yet did not want to encourage the rights of commoners in Russia. She named herself the Great after Peter but the title stuck as she increased the size and strength of Russia. Her son hated her guts and declared n woman could rule again when he was in charge (he was assassinated but the ruling stuck). I do not like her but many do.

[pers]

At some point I read about Catherine's eating and drinking habits.  She ate little. 

I recall she was fond of thick soured milk and also that she drank her coffee extremely strong (whatever that might mean by 18th century standards). The piece I read was that she once gave some of her coffee to a footman/valet and that the poor man passed out from caffeine overdose... Can anyone confirm this story or where I might have read it - It was definitely in a biographical book on Catherine.

[Joanna]

What is truth or fantasy about the dresses of the Empress of Russia?

https://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.ca/2017/09/catherine-greats-wardrobe.html

Joanna

[Joanna]

Catherine the Great's birthplace in Stettin and childhood in Schloss Zerbst:

http://winterpalaceresearch.blogspot.com/2019/01/catherine-greats-childhood-homes-in.html

Joanna

[lori_c]

Did Catherine II speak English? I have found much written evidence she was fluent in many languages, mainly her native German, French and Russian. But I can find no evidence she spoke English.

[trentk80]

The 2015 Russian tv series on the life of Catherine the Great is available on Youtube (with English subtitles):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNkNiL6cyOk