Paul I | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portrait by Vladimir Borovikovsky
|
|||||
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias | |||||
Reign | 17 November 1796 – 23 March 1801 | ||||
Coronation | 5 April 1797 | ||||
Predecessor | Catherine II | ||||
Successor | Alexander I | ||||
Born | 1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 St Petersburg |
||||
Died | 23 March 1801 St Michael's Castle |
(aged 46)||||
Burial | Peter and Paul Cathedral | ||||
Consort |
Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg |
||||
Issue detail |
Alexander I, Emperor of Russia Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich Alexandra, Archduchess of Austria Elena, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Maria, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Catherine, Queen of Württemberg Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna Anna, Queen of the Netherlands Nikolai I, Emperor of Russia Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich |
||||
|
|||||
House | Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov | ||||
Father | Peter III | ||||
Mother | Catherine II | ||||
Religion | Russian Orthodoxy | ||||
Signature |
Full name | |
---|---|
Paul Petrovich Romanov |
Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel Petrovich) (1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1801) reigned as Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III (reigned January to July 1762) (whom he resembled physically and by character) and of Catherine the Great (reigned 1762–96), though Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her lover Sergei Saltykov, who also had Romanov blood, being a descendant of the first Romanov Tsar's sister, Tatiana Feodorovna Romanova
Paul remained overshadowed by his mother for much of his life. His reign lasted five years, ending with his assassination by conspirators. His most important achievement was the adoption of the laws of succession to the Russian throne - rules that lasted until the end of the Romanov dynasty and of the Russian Empire.
He became de facto Grand Master of the Order of Hospitallers, and ordered the construction of a number of Maltese thrones (as of 2016[update] on display in the State Hermitage Museum, Gatchina Palace and the Kremlin Armoury).
Paul was born in the Palace of Empress Elizabeth in Saint Petersburg. He was the son of the Grand Duchess Catherine, later Empress Catherine the Great, who was the wife of Elizabeth's heir and nephew, the Grand Duke Peter, later Emperor Peter III.