Anna Leopoldovna (russian: А́нна Леопо́льдовна; 18 December 1718 – 19 March 1746), born Elisabeth Katharina Christine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and also known as Anna Carlovna (А́нна Ка́рловна), was
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
for just over a year (1740–1741) during the minority of her infant son Emperor
Ivan VI
Ivan VI,; – (Julian calendar should be used in this article) Iván or Ioánn Antónovich (12 August 1740 5 July 1764) was an infant emperor of Russia who was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna in 1741. He was only two months old whe ...
.
Biography
Early life
Anna Leopoldovna was born Elisabeth Katharina Christine, the daughter of
Karl Leopold, Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin
The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II divided the Duchy of Mecklenburg between Schwerin and Strelitz. Ruled by the successors of the Nikloting Hous ...
, by his wife
Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
, the eldest daughter of Tsar
Ivan V of Russia
Ivan V Alekseyevich (russian: Иван V Алексеевич; – ) was Tsar of Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria M ...
. Catherine's father, Ivan V, was the elder brother and co-ruler of Russia with
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, but because he was mentally challenged and unfit to rule, all the power was in the hands of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, who was like a father to Catherine and who looked out for her interest as long as he was alive.
Elisabeth's mother Catherine was the third wife of Duke Karl Leopold, who had divorced his first two wives after very short marriages (less than two years each). Catherine was the only wife ever to bear him a living child, and Elisabeth was that single child. In 1721, when Elisabeth was three years old, her mother became pregnant a second time, but the child was
stillborn
Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. The term i ...
. By this time, the marriage between her parents was in trouble, and in 1722, Catherine returned to the court of her uncle
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
. She took her daughter with her, and Elisabeth therefore grew up in Russia, having little or no contact with her father.
In 1730, Tsar
Peter II, who was the last surviving male member of the
Romanov dynasty
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...
, died unwed, and his dynasty died with him. The Russian privy council debated about whom to invite to the throne, and Elisabeth's mother Catherine was one of the candidates who was considered. However, she was passed over for several reasons and the throne was offered to her younger sister, Anna Ivanovna, who became known to history as Empress
Anna of Russia
Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...
. The new Empress was a childless widow and Elisabeth was Catherine's only child. Her position at court was therefore an important one.
![Anton ulrikh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Anton_ulrikh.jpg)
In 1733, Elisabeth converted to the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
and was given the name Anna Leopoldovna, which was a compliment to her aunt,
Empress Anna
Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...
, and also to her father, Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Her conversion to the orthodox faith made her acceptable as heiress to the throne, but she was never actually declared heiress by her aunt. In 1739, Anna Leopoldovna (as she was now known) was given in marriage to
Anthony Ulrich (1714–1774), the second son of
Ferdinand Albert, Duke of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Anthony Ulrich had lived in Russia since 1733 so that he and his bride could get to know each other better. He was able to do this because he was a younger son, and it was improbable that he would be called upon to shoulder the responsibility of ruling his father's principality. Both of these circumstances clearly indicate that Empress Anna intended her niece to inherit her throne, and was laying the ground for it by selecting a husband of suitable birth and situation, and observing him at close quarters for several years before the marriage was celebrated.
On 5 October 1740, Empress Anna adopted their newborn son Ivan and proclaimed him heir to the Russian throne. On 28 October, just a few weeks after this proclamation, the empress died, leaving directions regarding the succession and appointing her
favourite
A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...
Ernest Biron, Duke of
Courland
Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
, as regent.
Biron, however, had made himself an object of detestation to the Russian people. After Biron threatened to exile Anna and her spouse to Germany, she had little difficulty working with Field Marshal
Burkhard Christoph von Münnich
Burkhard Christoph Graf von Münnich (, tr. ; – ) was a German-born army officer who became a field marshal and political figure in the Russian Empire. He carried out major reforms in the Russian Army and founded several elite militar ...
to overthrow him. The coup succeeded and she assumed the regency on 8 November (O.S.), taking the title of
Grand Duchess
Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...
. Field Marshal Münnich personally arrested Biron in his apartment, where the formerly tyrannical Biron ingloriously begged for his life on his knees.
Regency
Anna knew little of the character of the people with whom she had to deal, knew even less of the conventions and politics of Russian government, and speedily quarrelled with her principal supporters.
According to the ''Dictionary of Russian History'', she ordered an investigation of the garment industry when new uniforms received by the military were found to be of inferior quality. When the investigation revealed inhuman conditions she issued decrees mandating a minimum wage and maximum working hours in that industry as well as the establishment of medical facilities at every garment factory. She also presided over a brilliant victory by Russian forces at the
Battle of Villmanstrand
The battle of Villmanstrand was fought during the Russo-Swedish War on 3 September 1741, when Russian forces of 10,000 men, under the command of General Peter von Lacy, assaulted Villmanstrand ( fi, Lappeenranta). Fighting began around 2 pm but ...
in Finland after Sweden had declared war against her Government.
She had an influential favourite,
Julia von Mengden
Baroness Julia von Mengden (Augusta Juliane) (1719–1786), was a Livonian noblewoman of German descent, lady in waiting, favourite, an intimate friend and a confidante of the Russian regent Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna.
Biography
Baroness A ...
. Anna's love life took up much time, as the bisexual Anna was involved simultaneously in what were described as "passionate" affairs with the Saxon ambassador and her lady-in-waiting Mengden. Anna's husband did his best to ignore the affairs. After becoming regent, Anton was marginalised, being forced to sleep in another palace while Anna took either Lynar, Mengden or both to bed with her. At times the grand duke would appear to complain about being "cuckolded", but he was always sent away. At one point, Anna proposed to have Lynar marry Mengden in order to unite the two people closest to her in the world together. The regent's relationship with Mengden caused much disgust in Russia, though the French historian
Henri Troyat
Henri Troyat (born Lev Aslanovich Tarasov; – 2 March 2007) was a Russian-born French author, biographer, historian and novelist.
Early life
Lev Aslanovich Tarasov (russian: link=no, Лев Асланович Тарасов, ''Lev Aslanovich ...
wrote that amongst the many libertines of St. Petersburg Anna's "sexual eclecticism" in having both a man and a woman as her lovers was seen as a sign of Anna's open-mindedness. More damagingly, many in the Russian elite believed that at the age of twenty-two Anna was too young and immature to be the regent of Russia and that her preoccupation with her relationships with Lynar and Mengden at the expense of governing Russia made her a danger to the state.
Troyat described Anna as an "indolent day-dreamer" who spent her mornings reading novels in bed, only got up in the afternoon, liked to wander around her apartment barely dressed with her hair undone, and was principally interested in reading novels. Anna's preference for handing out government jobs to
Baltic German aristocrats caused much resentment on the part of the ethnic Russian nobility who not for the first nor last time complained that a disproportionate number of
Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...
were holding high office.
Later life
In December 1741,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, the daughter of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, excited the guards to revolt, having already become a favourite of theirs. The coup overcame the insignificant opposition and was supported by the ambassadors of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, owing to the pro-British and pro-Austrian policies of Anna's government. The French ambassador in St. Petersburg,
the marquis de La Chétardie, was deeply involved in planning Elizabeth's coup and bribed numerous officers of the Imperial Guard into supporting the coup.
The victorious regime first imprisoned the family in the fortress of
Dünamünde near
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
and then
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
d them to
Kholmogory on the
Northern Dvina
, image = dvina.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Northern Dvina starts as the confluence of Yug River (on left) and Sukhona River (on top) near Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001)
, source1 = Confluence of ...
river. Anna eventually died of puerperal fever on 19 March 1746, nine days after the birth of her son Alexei, after more than four years in prison. Her family continued in prison for many years more. A further eighteen years were to pass before her son,
Ivan VI
Ivan VI,; – (Julian calendar should be used in this article) Iván or Ioánn Antónovich (12 August 1740 5 July 1764) was an infant emperor of Russia who was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna in 1741. He was only two months old whe ...
, was murdered in
Shlisselburg Fortress The fortress at Shlisselburg is one of a series of fortifications built in Shlisselburg on Orekhovy Island in Lake Ladoga, near the present-day city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The first fortress was built in 1323. It was the scene of many confli ...
on 16 July 1764, while her husband Anthony Ulrich died in Kholmogory on 4 May 1774 after spending a further decade in prison. Her remaining four children (
Ekaterina
Ekaterina is a Russian feminine given name, and an alternative transliteration of the Russian language, Russian ''Yekaterina''. Katya and Katyusha are common diminutive forms of Ekaterina. Notable people with the name can be found below.
Arts
*K ...
, Elizaveta, Peter and
Alexei) were released from prison into the custody of their aunt, the Danish queen dowager
Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (Danish: ''Juliane Marie''; 4 September 1729 – 10 October 1796) was Queen of Denmark and Norway from 1752 to 1766 as the second consort of King Frederick V of Denmark and Norway. She was mother to ...
, on 30 June 1780 and settled in
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
, where they lived in comfort under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
in
Horsens
Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...
for the rest of their lives under the guardianship of Juliana and at the expense of
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
. The eldest of them had been only months old when she and her family had been placed in prison; the other three had been born in captivity. They were therefore not used to social life, and even after gaining freedom, they made little or no contact with people outside their own small "court" of some forty to fifty people, all Danish except for the priest.
None of them ever married or left progeny.
Family
![Silhouettes of the Russian Royals in Horsens](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Silhouettes_of_the_Russian_Royals_in_Horsens.jpg)
Anna Leopoldovna had the following children:
*
Ivan VI
Ivan VI,; – (Julian calendar should be used in this article) Iván or Ioánn Antónovich (12 August 1740 5 July 1764) was an infant emperor of Russia who was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna in 1741. He was only two months old whe ...
(1740–1764) (reigning Emperor 1740–1741)
*
Catherine Antonovna of Brunswick
Catherine Antonovna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1741–1807) was the daughter of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick and Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia and sister of Ivan VI of Russia, Ivan VI. She was imprisoned by Empress Elizabeth of Russ ...
(1741–1807) (released to house arrest in Horsens in Denmark in 1780)
*
Elizabeth Antonovna of Brunswick
Elizabeth Antonovna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1743–1782) was the daughter of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick and Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia. Born after the deposition of her brother Ivan VI of Russia, Ivan VI, she was kept imprison ...
(1743–1782) (released to house arrest in Horsens in Denmark in 1780)
*
Peter Antonovich of Brunswick (1745–1798) (released to house arrest in Horsens in Denmark in 1780)
*
Alexei Antonovich of Brunswick
Alexei Antonovich of Brunswick-Lüneburg (27 February 1746 – 12 (23) October 1787), was the third son of Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick and Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia, and younger brother of Ivan VI.
The siblings were kept pr ...
(1746–1787) (released to house arrest in Horsens in Denmark in 1780)
Ancestry
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
Attribution
*
External links
*
* – Historical reconstruction "The Romanovs". StarMedia. Babich-Design(Russia, 2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Leopoldovna Of Russia, Grand Duchess
1718 births
1746 deaths
Regents of Russia
18th-century women rulers
House of Mecklenburg-Brunswick-Romanov
Deaths in childbirth
House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Duchesses of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Lutheranism
Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra