Catherine II Known as "Catherine the Great." 1729-1796.
Empress of Russia (1762-1796) after her husband, Peter III (1728-1762), was deposed by a group led by her lover. She vastly increased the territory of the empire through conquest and three partitions of Poland.
Catherine IIdetail from a c. 1776 portrait
by Alexander Roslin
(1718-1793)