Anna of Russia
A Russian empress whose decade-long reign was a bizarre and often brutal spectacle of ice palaces, political intrigue, and lavish excess.
1693–1740 (age 47)·Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740·Birthday: February 7
Biography
Anna Ivanovna seemed an unlikely ruler, plucked from a quiet, unhappy life as the widowed Duchess of Courland to become Empress of Russia under strict conditions from the powerful governing council. She promptly tore up those conditions, asserted absolute power, and unleashed a decade remembered for its peculiar cruelty and extravagance. Her court was dominated by her German favorite, Ernst Biron, and a culture of suspicion fueled a secret police that used torture freely. Anna had a taste for the grotesque: she orchestrated elaborate humiliations for nobles and built a palace of ice for a court jester's wedding. Yet her reign was not without structure; she continued Peter the Great's policies, supporting the Academy of Sciences and the Russian navy. The lasting image, however, is of a capricious monarch who turned the imperial court into a theater of fear and farce, leaving a state weakened by her indulgence and the shadow of her secret police.
#1 When Anna Was Born
The biggest hits of 1693
Anna's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1693Born
1698Started school
1706Became a teenager
1709Could drive
1711Could vote
1714Turned 21
1723Turned 30
1733Turned 40
1740Died at 47
Key Achievements
- Re-established autocratic rule in Russia after initially agreeing to, then destroying, conditions that would have limited her power.
- Founded the Izmaylovsky and Horse Guards regiments, key military units that served the Russian crown for centuries.
- Continued state patronage of the arts and sciences, including funding for the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Moved the Russian court back to St. Petersburg, reaffirming it as the imperial capital.
Did You Know?
She had a palace constructed entirely out of ice for the wedding of one of her court jesters.
She maintained a cabinet of curiosities that included preserved human and animal deformities.
She was exceptionally tall and strong, reportedly capable of drawing a heavy bow and firing a rifle with precision.
“I was summoned to rule, not to sign away my power to a council of nobles.”
