Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina best known as the daughter of Catherine the Great, who served as Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, and her favorite Grigory Aleksandrovich Potyomkin-Tavricheski, who was a Russian military general.
Catherine was Russia’s last empress regnant and longest-ruling female monarch. She rose to the throne after ousting her husband and second cousin, Peter III. During her rule, Russia witnessed a social, cultural, economic, and scientific renaissance. Many new cities were built, universities were opened and theaters were founded. Her reign is marked as the period of enlightenment in Russian history, as it emerged as the biggest power in Europe, and a large number of people immigrated from Europe.
Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina’s Family Background
Yelizaveta’s mother Catherine was born Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg on May 2, 1729 in Stettin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire. Catherine’s mother Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp was a member of the German House of Holstein-Gottorp. Catherine’s father Christian August, was Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst from the German family of Anhalt. Catherine was educated by a French governess. She was trained in sword fighting. Catherine married Peter III in 1745 in Saint Petersburg.
Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina’s Career
In September 1762 Yelizaveta’s mother Catherine was crowned at the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. During her tenure, Russian Empire witnessed swift expansion through conquest and diplomacy. Russia’s empire’s borders were extended by about 520,000 square kilometers during her reign. Defeating the Ottoman Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russian Empire conquered Crimea, Northern Caucasus, New Russia, Courland, Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania.
Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin were among her confidante upon whom she relied during her transition to power and ruling the empire. Under her leadership, highly capable generals including Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and successful admirals including Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov led Russia spread its boundaries as never before.
In Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774, Russia defeated the Bar confederation and Ottoman Empire and crushed the Crimean Khanate in the south. Assisted by United Kingdon, Russia conquered the Novorossiya, coasts of the Black and Azov Seas.
Moving towards the west, Russia led the partition and conquest of the biggest territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was under Catherine’s ex-lover King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. Russia colonized Alaska in the east to form Russian America. Catherine founded several new cities and towns such as Odessa, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Sevastopol. She brought major reforms to the administrative structure of the Russian guberniyas
Yelizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina’s Family Net Worth
Having ruled over the world’s largest Empire in terms of land, which controlled over 5% of global GDP, Yelizaveta’s mother had a world of grandeur and opulence. Having served as an Empress for over three decades, Catherine enjoyed absolute power over the economic and political sphere of the Empire. Being Russia’s longest-serving female monarch, her fortune equals today’s 1.5 trillion. She had control over the Russian Orthodox Church, which had ⅓ of the Empire’s serfs or indentured slaves/servants. However, since Yelizaveta was not acknowledged as her real daughter, it is very unlikely that she was considered the legal heir to her estate.
