Catherine I, 1683?–1727, czarina of Russia (1725–27). Of Livonian peasant origin, Martha Skavronskaya was a domestic when she was captured (1702) by Russian soldiers. As mistress of Aleksandr D. Menshikov Menshikov, Aleksandr Danilovich, Prince (əlyĭksän`dər dənyē`ləvĭch mĕn`shĭkəf)
..... Click the link for more information. she met Czar Peter I Peter I or Peter the Great, 1672–1725, czar of Russia (1682–1725), major figure in the development of imperial Russia.

Early Life

..... Click the link for more information. (Peter the Great), who made her his mistress. After her conversion from the Lutheran to the Orthodox Church (when she changed her name from Martha to Catherine), Peter, who had divorced his first wife, married her (1712). In 1724 he had her crowned czarina and joint ruler. Her loyalty and devotion to her difficult husband were remarkable. When Peter died without naming a successor, Menshikov and the imperial guards raised Catherine to the throne. Her policy was dominated by Menshikov. Peter II Peter II, 1715–30, czar of Russia (1727–30). A grandson of Peter I and the son of the czarevich Alexis, he succeeded on the death of Catherine I.
..... Click the link for more information. succeeded her; her daughter Elizabeth Elizabeth, 1709–62, czarina of Russia (1741–62), daughter of Peter I and Catherine I . She gained the throne by overthrowing the young czar, Ivan VI , and the regency of his mother, Anna Leopoldovna.
..... Click the link for more information. became czarina in 1741.

Catherine I

Russian Yekaterina Alekseyevna orig. Marta Skowronska

(born April 15, 1684—died May 17, 1727, St. Petersburg, Russia) Second wife of Peter I and empress of Russia (1725–27). A peasant woman of Baltic origin, she became Peter's mistress in 1702. In 1703, after the birth of their first child, she was received into the Russian Orthodox church and rechristened. She married Peter in 1712 and in 1724 was crowned empress-consort. After Peter's death (1725), she served two years as empress of Russia.