Catherine the Great & Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Prince Grigory Potemkin of Taurida, Catherine II’s secret husband, statesman, soldier

Catherine II the Great, born Princess Sophia of Zerbst, Empress of Russia 1762–96

Abdul-Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan, 1774–88

Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher and creator of utilitarianism

Samuel Bentham, brother of above, inventor, naval officer, shipbuilder

Alexander Bezborodko, Catherine’s secretary, then foreign minister

Ksawery Branicki, Polish courtier married to Potemkin’s niece Alexandra Engelhardt

Alexandra Branicka, Potemkin’s favourite niece, née Engelhardt, married to above

Alexei Bobrinsky, natural son of Catherine and Grigory Orlov

Praskovia Bruce, Catherine’s confidant, supposed to be sampler of favourites

Count Cagliostro, Italian charlatan

Zakhar Chernyshev, early admirer of Catherine, courtier, war minister, ally of the Orlovs

Ivan Chernyshev, brother of above, courtier, navy minister

Count Louis Cobenzl, Austrian ambassador to Petersburg

Elisabeth Countess of Craven, aristocratic English adventuress, traveller, writer

Comte de Damas, French aristocrat and officer in Potemkin’s army

Ekaterina Dashkova, née Vorontsova, Catherine’s supporter and irritant

Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, wife of Russian officer, mistress of Potemkin

Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, Empress 1741–61

Mikhail Faleev, entrepreneur, quartermaster, merchant, builder of Nikolaev

Frederick II the Great, King of Prussia 1740–86

Frederick William, nephew of the above, King of Prussia 1786–97

Mikhail Garnovsky, minder of the Duchess of Kingston, Potemkin’s homme d’affaires

Varvara Golitsyna, née Engelhardt, Potemkin’s niece who married Prince Sergei Golitsyn

Praskovia Golitsyna, married to Prince Mikhail Golitsyn, Potemkin’s ‘last mistress’

William Gould, Potemkin’s English gardener

Sir James Harris, British envoy to Petersburg, later Earl of Malmesbury

Henry of Prussia, younger brother of Frederick the Great

John Paul Jones, legendary American admiral regarded as founder of US Navy

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor or Kaiser 1765–90, co-ruler, then ruler of Habsburg lands 1780–90

Alexander Khrapovitsky, diarist and Catherine’s secretary

Elisabeth Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, English adventuress and bigamist

Alexander Lanskoy, Catherine’s favourite 1779–84

Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor, brother of Joseph II and his successor 1790–2

Prince de Ligne, European aristocrat, Austrian courtier and field-marshal

Lewis Littlepage, American from Virginia, Polish courtier and officer in Potemkin’s flotilla

Alexander (Dmitryev-) Mamonov, Catherine’s favourite 1786–9

Maria Theresa, Empress–Queen, ruler of Habsburg lands 1740–80, mother of Joseph

Francisco de Miranda, South American revolutionary, later dictator of Venezuela

Prince de Nassau-Siegen, European aristocrat and soldier of fortune

Grigory Orlov, leader of Catherine’s coup and favourite 1761–72

Alexei Orlov-Chesmensky, ‘Scarface’, murderer of Peter III and victor of Battle of Chesme, brother of above

Nikita Panin, governor of Grand Duke Paul, then Catherine’s foreign minister

Peter Panin, brother of above, general and subjugator of Pugachev

Grand Duke Paul, Catherine and Peter III’s son, Emperor 1796–1801, assassinated

Peter III, nephew of Empress Elisabeth; husband of Catherine II, Emperor 1761–2

Reginald Pole Carew, English gentleman, traveller and friend of Potemkin, later MP

Stanislas Poniatowski, Catherine’s second lover, later Stanislas-Augustus last King of Poland

Vasily Popov, Potemkin’s head of chancellery

Pavel Potemkin, the Prince’s cousin, general and viceroy of the Caucasus

Praskovia Potemkina, wife of above and mistress of the Prince

Emelian Pugachev, pretender, Cossack, leader of peasant rebellion 1773–4

Alexei Razumovsky, Cossack chorister who became Elisabeth’s favourite

Kirill Razumovsky, brother of above, Hetman of Ukraine until 1764, courtier

José (Osip) de Ribas, Neapolitan adventurer, Potemkin crony and admiral

Duc de Richelieu, officer in Potemkin’s army, later builder of Odessa, prime minister of France

Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov, Catherine’s favourite 1778–9

Peter Rumiantsev-Zadunaisky, military hero in First Turkish War

Serge Saltykov, Catherine’s first lover

Alexander Samoilov, Potemkin’s nephew and general, later procurator-general

Ekaterina Samoilova, wife of above and probably Potemkin’s mistress

Comte de Ségur, French ambassador to Russia

Selim III, Ottoman Sultan, 1788–1807

Major James George Semple, English conman – ‘Prince of Swindlers’

Shagin Giray, Russian ally, descendant of Genghis Khan, and last Khan of the Crimea

Stepan Sheshkovsky, secret policeman – the ‘knout-master’

Ivan Shuvalov, Empress Elisabeth’s favourite who invited Potemkin to Petersburg

Ekaterina Skavronskaya, ‘angel’ and ‘kitten’, née Engelhardt, Potemkin’s niece

Alexander Suvorov, military hero, Potemkin’s favourite general

Alexander Vassilchikov, Catherine’s favourite 1772–4, nicknamed ‘Iced Soup’

Alexander Viazemsky, administrator of internal affairs, procurator-general

Simon Vorontsov, Russian ambassador to London

Alexander Vorontsov, brother of above, minister of commerce

Sophie de Witte, slavegirl, courtesan, mistress of Potemkin, then Countess Potocka

Alexander Yermolov, Catherine’s favourite 1786

Tatiana Yusupova, née Engelhardt, married to Mikhail Potemkin, then Prince Yusupov

Alexander Zavadovsky, Catherine’s favourite 1776–7, courtier, minister

Joshua Zeitlin, Jewish merchant, rabbinical scholar, Potemkin’s friend

Semyon Zorich, Catherine’s favourite 1777–8, founder of military school

Platon Zubov, Catherine’s last favourite 1789–96