Elizabeth of Russia - Early Life

Early Life

Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter I of Russia and Catherine I of Russia, was born at Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, on 18 December 1709 (O.S.). Her parents were secretly married in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in St. Petersburg in November 1707. The marriage was made public in February 1712. As her parents were not publicly acknowledged as being married at the time of her birth, Elizabeth's 'illegitimacy' would be used by political opponents to challenge her right to the throne. On 6 March 1711, she was proclaimed a Tsarevna, and on 23 December 1721, a Tsesarevna.

Out of the twelve children of Peter and Catherine (five sons and seven daughters), only two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth survived. Anna was betrothed to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, nephew of the late King Charles XII of Sweden, Peter's old adversary. Her father had tried to also find a brilliant match for Elizabeth with the French Royal court when he paid a visit there. It was Peter's intention to marry his second daughter to the young French King Louis XV, but the Bourbons declined the offer as Elizabeth`s mother`s origin was deemed too obscure. Elizabeth had been betrothed to Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Christian Augustus, Prince of Eutin. Politically, it was a useful and respectable alliance. A few days after the betrothal, Karl Augustus died. At the time of Peter's death, no marriage plan had succeeded.

As a child, Elizabeth was bright, if not brilliant, but her formal education was both imperfect and desultory. Her father adored her. Elizabeth was his daughter and in many ways resembled him as a feminine replica, both physically and temperamentally. Peter had no leisure to devote to her training, and her mother was too down-to-earth and illiterate to superintend her formal studies. She had a French governess, and was fluent in Italian, German and French. She was also an excellent dancer and rider. From her earliest years, she delighted everyone with her extraordinary beauty and vivacity. She was commonly known as the leading beauty of the Russian Empire.

So long as Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov remained in power, Elizabeth was treated with liberality and distinction by the government of her adolescent half-nephew Peter II. The Dolgorukovs, an ancient boyar family, deeply resented Menshikov. With Peter II's attachment to Prince Ivan Dolgorukov, and with two of their family members on the Supreme State Council, they had the leverage for a successful coup. Menshikov was arrested, stripped of all his honours and properties and exiled to northern Siberia, where he later died in November 1729. The Dolgorukovs hated the memory of Peter the Great, and practically banished Peter's daughter from Court.

With the death of her father and the later accession of the Empress Anna, no royal court or noble house in Europe could allow a son to pay court to Elizabeth, as it would be seen as an unfriendly act to the Empress. Marriage to a commoner was not possible as it would cost Elizabeth not only her title, but also her property rights and her claim to the throne. Elizabeth's response was to make a lover of Alexis Shubin, a handsome sergeant in the Semyonovsky Guards regiment. After his banishment to Siberia (having previously been relieved of his tongue) by order of the Empress Anna, she turned to a coachman and even a waiter. Eventually she consoled herself with a young Ukrainian peasant with a good bass voice who had been brought to Saint Petersburg by a nobleman for a church choir. Elizabeth acquired him for her own choir. His name was Alexis Razumovsky. Razumovsky was a good and simple-minded man, untroubled by personal ambition. Elizabeth was devoted to him, and there is reason to believe that she could have married him in a secret ceremony. Razumovsky would later become known as "the Emperor of the Night" and Elizabeth would make him a Prince and Field Marshal on becoming Empress. The Holy Roman Emperor would also make Razumovsky a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.