Peter (of Russia) II

Tsar of Russia (1727–30), born in St Petersburg, Russia. The grandson of Peter I the Great, he was named heir to the throne by Catherine I and was crowned at age 11. Catherine had named the Supreme Privy Council to act as regent for Peter under the guidance of Alexander D Menshikov, who arranged the betrothal of his own daughter with Peter. Peter objected and asked the Dolgoruky family for help. In 1927 they arrested and exiled Menshikov. A marriage between Peter and Princess Yekaterina Alekseyevna Dolgorukaya was arranged, but Peter died on his wedding day from smallpox.

Peter II (Russian: Пётр II Алексеевич or Pyotr II Alekseyevich) (October 23, 1715 – January 29, 1730) was Emperor of Russia from 1727 until his death. He was the only son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, son of Peter I of Russia by his first Empress consort Eudoxia Lopukhina, and Princess Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, a sister-in-law of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. He was also the only male-line grandson of Peter the Great.

Peter was born in Saint Petersburg on 18 October 1715 (Julian calendar). His grandfather, Peter the Great, systematically ignored him.

During the reign of Catherine I, Peter was quite ignored; but just before her death it became clear to those in power that the grandson of Peter the Great could not be kept out of his inheritance much longer. and on 18 May 1727 Peter II, according to the terms of the forged last will of Catherine I, was proclaimed sovereign autocrat.

The senate, the privy council and the guards took the oath of allegiance forthwith. Menshikov, who took possession of Peter II and lodged him in his own palace on the Vasilievsky Island, had intended to marry Peter to his daughter Maria; but Peter only fell into the hands of the equally unscrupulous Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, who carried him away from Petersburg to Moscow. Peter's coronation was celebrated at that city on 25 February 1728.

With Peter's death, the direct male line of the Romanov Dynasty ended. He was succeeded by Anna Ivanovna, daughter of Peter the Great's half-brother and co-ruler, Ivan V.