<p>Brought to Russia as fourteen-year-old Princess Sophia from a tiny German principality, she became Catherine the Great, the most powerful woman in Europe.</p> <figure id="attachment_3240" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3240" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peter-III.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3240 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peter-III.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="619" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peter-III.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peter-III-242x300.jpg 242w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3240" class="wp-caption-text">Peter III, Catherine&#8217;s husband</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3242" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3242" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-johanna.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3242 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-johanna.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="569" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-johanna.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-johanna-264x300.jpg 264w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3242" class="wp-caption-text">Catherine&#8217;s mother, Princess Johanna</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3244" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3244" style="width: 557px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-elizabeth.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3244 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-elizabeth.jpg" alt="" width="557" height="700" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-elizabeth.jpg 557w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-elizabeth-239x300.jpg 239w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3244" class="wp-caption-text">The Empress Elizabeth</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3246" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3246" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-frederick-the-great.jpeg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3246 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-frederick-the-great.jpeg" alt="" width="500" height="667" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-frederick-the-great.jpeg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-frederick-the-great-225x300.jpeg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3246" class="wp-caption-text">Frederick the Great</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3248" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3248" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-orlov.jpeg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3248 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-orlov.jpeg" alt="" width="500" height="631" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-orlov.jpeg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-orlov-238x300.jpeg 238w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3248" class="wp-caption-text">Grigori Orlov</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3250" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3250" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-poniatowski.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3250 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-poniatowski.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="646" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-poniatowski.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-poniatowski-232x300.jpg 232w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3250" class="wp-caption-text">Poniatowski</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3252" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3252" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/catherine-coup.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3252 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/catherine-coup.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="708" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/catherine-coup.jpg 960w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/catherine-coup-300x221.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/catherine-coup-768x566.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3252" class="wp-caption-text">Catherine on the the balcony of the Winter Palace after she seized the throne from Peter III</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3254" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3254" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-imperial-uniform-white-horse.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3254 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-imperial-uniform-white-horse.jpg" alt="" width="484" height="566" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-imperial-uniform-white-horse.jpg 484w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-imperial-uniform-white-horse-257x300.jpg 257w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 484px) 100vw, 484px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3254" class="wp-caption-text">Catherine, in the uniform of the Imperial Guard</figcaption></figure>