<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_3222" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3222" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-coronation.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3222 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-coronation.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="628" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-coronation.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-coronation-239x300.jpg 239w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3222" class="wp-caption-text">Catherine&#8217;s coronation painting, wearing her remarkable crown</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3224" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3224" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-pugachev.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3224 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-pugachev.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="613" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-pugachev.jpg 960w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-pugachev-300x192.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-pugachev-768x490.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3224" class="wp-caption-text">Pugachev, harassing captive nobles before their execution</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3226" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3226" style="width: 500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Paul-I.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3226 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Paul-I.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="688" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Paul-I.jpg 500w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Paul-I-218x300.jpg 218w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3226" class="wp-caption-text">Paul I, Catherine&#8217;s son and heir</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3228" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3228" style="width: 562px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Potemkin.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3228 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Potemkin.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="787" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Potemkin.jpg 562w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Potemkin-214x300.jpg 214w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 562px) 100vw, 562px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3228" class="wp-caption-text">Grigori Potemkin</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3230" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3230" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peterhof-palace.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3230 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peterhof-palace.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peterhof-palace.jpg 960w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peterhof-palace-300x200.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-Peterhof-palace-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3230" class="wp-caption-text">Peterhof Palace</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3232" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3232" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-winter-palace.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3232 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-winter-palace.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-winter-palace.jpg 960w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-winter-palace-300x200.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-winter-palace-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3232" class="wp-caption-text">The Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum</figcaption></figure> <figure id="attachment_3234" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3234" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-bronze-horseman.jpg"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3234 size-full" src="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-bronze-horseman.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="593" srcset="https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-bronze-horseman.jpg 1024w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-bronze-horseman-300x174.jpg 300w, https://bytesizedbiographies.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Catherine-bronze-horseman-768x445.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3234" class="wp-caption-text">The Bronze Horseman statue of Peter the Great</figcaption></figure>