Grigory Potyomkin Tavrichesky

Grigory Potyomkin-Tavrichesky was born in 1739 in Chizhovo, a village near Smolensk, in a noble family of modest means. He studied at the Moscow University and joined the Horse Guards in 1755. He participated in the Seven Years' War and the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, where he distinguished himself as a brave and capable officer. He also helped Catherine the Great to overthrow her husband Peter III in 1762 and became one of her most trusted advisers and lovers. He was granted the title of Prince of Taurida and the rank of field marshal in 1784. He was appointed as the governor-general of the newly acquired southern provinces of Russia, where he pursued an ambitious policy of colonization and development. He led several expeditions along the Amur River and negotiated the Treaty of Aigun with China in 1858, which secured the Russian border in the Far East. He also initiated the construction of a Black Sea Fleet and founded many ports and cities, such as Sevastopol, Kherson, Nikolayev, and Yekaterinoslav. He was involved in the Greek Project, which aimed to restore the Byzantine Empire under Catherine's grandson Constantine. He also supported the cession of Alaska to the United States in 1867. He was a loyal, generous, and magnanimous friend of Catherine, who relied on his advice and support. He was also known for his lavish and extravagant lifestyle, his love of women and gambling, and his artistic and cultural patronage. He died of fever in 1791, while on a diplomatic mission to negotiate the Treaty of Jassy with the Ottoman Empire. He was buried in Jassy, Moldavia, but his remains were later transferred to Kherson, where a monument was erected in his honor. He is regarded as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the Russian history.