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Portrait of Zubov, by Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder, 1793. Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov (Russian: Платон Александрович Зубов; November 26 [O.S. November 15] 1767 – April 19 [O.S. April 7] 1822) was the last of Catherine the Great's favourites and the most powerful man in the Russian Empire during the last years of her reign.
Aug 31, 2020 · Platon and his brother Nikolai were among the fourteen people present at Emperor Paul’s assassination. At 1:30 AM on March 23, 1801, a group of twelve men led by Platon’s brother Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Zubov and Levin August von Bennigsen, a German general in the service of the Russian Empire, broke into Paul’s bedroom at the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg and found Paul ...
- Her Husband, Emperor Peter III of Russia
- Stanisław August Poniatowski
- Grigory Orlov
- Alexander Vasilchikov
- Grigory Potemkin
- Platon Zubov
Catherine married Peter, then the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, aged 16: their marriage was not consummated for another 12 years, due to both Peter’s unstable mental state and his impotence. The couple produced two children: an heir, Paul, and a daughter, Anna Petrovna, who died in infancy. Peter took mistresses and Catherine responded in kind. Some ha...
Catherine had several affairs before she became Empress: Poniatowski was a Polish aristocrat and diplomatand the two became lovers sometime around 1758. Poniatowski supported a pro-Russian stance within Polish politics, and when Catherine became empress, she wrote expressing her support for his ascension to the Polish throne. Poniatowski also propo...
Orlov was serving as an artillery officer in St Petersburg when he met Catherine, who was then Grand Duchess. The two were conspirators as well as lovers, with Orlov playing an important role in the coup d’etatagainst Emperor Peter. Catherine rewarded Orlov handsomely, making him a count as well as Adjutant-General, Director-General of Engineers, a...
Vasilchikovwas another aristocrat and soldier who was strategically placed in Catherine’s eyelineas a means of removing Orlov from her bed. Whilst he was awarded all the privilege and prestige expected by the empress’ lover, he was also a virtual prisoner: Catherine forbade him from leaving the palace without her permission, and he was expected to ...
Potemkin came from an unremarkable family, enrolling in the army as a young man, before attending the University of Moscow, where he initially excelled. In 1758 things had changed: he was deeply in debt thanks to his penchant for drinking and gambling, and Potemkin was eventually expelled in 1758. Returning to the military, Potemkin was led a regim...
Prince Platon Zubov was a distant relation of the Saltykov family: he met Catherine when he was 22 and she was over 60. He made a strong first impression on the ageing empress and managed to gain significant hold over her affections. Catherine rewarded her young lover with titles (eventually making him a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire), serfs and ...
- Sarah Roller
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Catherine’s numerous lovers flattered her imperial ambitions: the bold Grigory Orlov in her early years (1759–71), the ingenious Prince Grigory Potemkin in the midst of her reign (1776–91), and the young Platon Zubov, handsome but insignificant, in her declining years (1791–96).
Prince Platon Zubov commanded the guard at Tsarskoe Selo, where he was a second major of the Horse Guards Regiment. When Catherine the Great broke up with Count Alexander Dmitriyev-Mamonov, Count Nikolai Saltykov helped Zubov to catch the empress’s attention. On 21 June 1789, he departed from Catherine at eleven o’clock in the evening.
Valerian Zubov (1771–1804), who while serving under Suvorov in Poland, married a Princess Lubomirska and lost his leg in a battle. At the time of Catherine's death in 1796 he was leading the Russian army in Persia. Olga Zherebtsova (1766–1849), became involved (along with Nikolay and Platon Zubov) in plotting the assassination of Emperor ...
The last, Platon Zubov, was only 22 when 60-year-old Catherine chose him; he was approved by Prince Grigory Potemkin, a former lover who sometimes took on the responsibility of finding new ...
