Peter II (1728-1730)

Born on October 12, 1715, Peter II was the son of Tsarevich Alexei and Princess Sofia Charlotta of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel. After the death of Catherine I Peter ascended the throne, but until he reached his majority the state was to be ruled by the Supreme Privy Council. Although the actual power was in the hands of Prince Menshikov, who was derived of all titles and offices and banished to Siberia as soon as Peter II was crowned in January 1728 in Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin; Peter II and the court abandoned St.Petersburg for the more comfortable life in Moscow. The new Emperor, favouring glamorous balls, banquets and hunts, detested the idea of returning to the devastated St.Petersburg. Peter was supposed to marry the 18-year-old princess Catherine Dolgoruki, but a few days before the ceremony, the Emperor caught a chill during a military review and subsequently died of smallpox. The power passed to the hands of Supreme Council, which was to elect a new sovereign. The throne was offered to Princess Anna, the daughter of Tsar Ivan, Peter the Great’s brother.