The generic name False Dmitry (also Pseudo-Demetrius, russian: Лжедмитрий, ''Lžedmitrij'') refers to various

impostor An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but also often for purposes ...

s who passed themselves off as the deceased Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, the youngest son of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

, and claimed the Russian throne during the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

(1598–1613), after the real Dmitry's death at the age of eight in 1591. Each of these impostors claimed to have miraculously escaped the assassination attempt that appeared to have claimed Dmitry's life, and, in the case of II and III, also to have escaped the assassinations that subsequently targeted I and II. Several people impersonated Dmitry Ivanovich, most prominently: *

False Dmitry I False Dmitry I ( rus, Лжедмитрий I, Lzhedmitriy I) (or Pseudo-Demetrius I) reigned as the Tsar of Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich ( rus, Дмитрий Иванович). ...

(1582–1606), who actually became Tsar of Russia and reigned 1605–1606 *

False Dmitry II False Dmitry II ( rus, Лжедмитрий II, Lzhedmitrii II; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called "тушинский вор" ("rebel/criminal of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne w ...

, active 1607–1610 * False Dmitry III, active 1611–1612 * , active 1611–1612Усенко О. Г. «Новые данные О лжемонархах в России XVII Века»Соловьёв С. М. «История России с древнейших времён», кн. 4 стр. 645 (some argue that False Dmitry IV is just False Dmitry III due to bad record keeping)

Notes and references

External links

* {{Set index article Ivan the Terrible Impostor pretenders