Catherine the Second, probably one of the most extraordinary personalities in the entire history of the Russian state. Legends still circulate about her favorites, lovers and personal life. In this article we will try to figure out who is the official son of Catherine 2, and who is an illegitimate child.
Moreover, after the death of the empress, they maintained contact. Who are these people? Read on and you'll find out.
Empress’s personal life
Due to the fact that the All-Russian Empress was an attractive and loving woman, it can be assumed that she had enough “skeletons” in the closet.
It is believed that the only official son of Catherine 2 is Paul. Who will be the father of an illegitimate child, we will tell later when we talk about Alexei Bobrinsky.
So, Sofia Anhalt-Zerbskaya, who later took the Orthodox name Catherine, by the will of fate found herself in Russia. The mother of the future emperor Peter III, Elizaveta Petrovna, chose a bride for her son and, as a result, settled on the candidacy of this Prussian princess.
Upon arrival in a new country, the girl seriously began to study a new culture for herself. She perfectly mastered the Russian language, goes into the Orthodox faith. Everything would have been fine, but the future emperor did not have the slightest sympathy for Catherine. He perceived her simply as a forced appendage, constantly turning on her lovers.
Because of this “family happiness”, the princess began to get involved in hunting, masquerades, and correspondence with European philosophers and encyclopedists. Over time, and she has personal favorites.
Of particular interest is the official son of Catherine 2. For several years, the empress could not get pregnant from her husband. And suddenly a boy is born. We will talk more about this situation later.
Due to a failed marriage, and after a successful palace coup, the empress was able to fully realize her commitment to “free love”. Judging by the data cited by one of her best biographers, Bartenev, Catherine the Second had twenty-three lovers throughout her life.
Among them are mentioned such statesmen as Potemkin and Orlov, Saltykov and Vasilchikov, Lanskoy and Zorich. It is noteworthy that only Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin became her husband's almost unofficial. Although this was not made public, they had a secret wedding, and until the end of her life, Catherine called in correspondence and diaries his spouse, and herself as his wife. They had a daughter, Elizaveta Temkina.
Thus, the empress had a very stormy and eventful personal life. The most powerful in national importance were only her two lovers - Orlov and Potemkin. All the following, as a rule, before becoming the favorites of Catherine, were in the position of adjutants at Grigory Alexandrovich.
The empress had several children, but she gave birth to only two sons. It is about them that we will discuss later.
Official son
On the throne, the empress was replaced by the only official son of Catherine 2 and Peter 3. His name was Pavel I Petrovich.
He was a very long-awaited grandson for his grandmother, Elizabeth Petrovna. The complexity of the situation at court was that ten years have passed since the marriage of the heir to the throne. Rumors began to circulate that Peter III was not able to conceive a descendant, and the dynasty could end.
Elizabeth solved the problem with her intervention. The best surgeon of St. Petersburg was called to the court, who performed an operation to eliminate phimosis. As a result, in the tenth year of official marriage, Catherine II gave birth to a son. But gossip went on for a long time that the father of the successor to the throne was not the emperor, but the favorite of the crown prince - Sergei Saltykov.
However, biographers of the tsarist dynasty insist that it was Peter III who was the real parent of Pavel Petrovich. Researchers have decided to confirm this version in our time. One of the evidence was his appearance. After all, the son of Catherine 2, Paul (a portrait photo of which is given in the article) was an exact copy of Emperor Peter III.
The second evidence was the Y-haploid genotype, which is characteristic of all descendants of Nicholas I. This is a specific arrangement of the forms of one gene (alleles) in a specific place (locus) of the cytological map of the chromosome.
Thus, today the direct affiliation of the future emperor to the Romanov family is proved. However, what happened in the following years with Pavel Petrovich?
Childhood. Parenting
Immediately after birth, the son of Catherine 2 and Peter 3 was excommunicated. His grandmother, Elizaveta Petrovna, in the light of the ongoing political confrontation, was seriously concerned about the fate of the heir to the throne.
The mother first saw her son only after forty days. Despite the fact that the birth of a direct heir to the dynasty protected the country from subsequent political cataclysms, they nevertheless occurred. But while Paul the First was small, his grandmother took care of his upbringing.
Neither Catherine, nor Peter played any significant role in the life of the future emperor. Immediately after birth, the baby was surrounded by a specially selected retinue, which included nannies, teachers, tutors and the best teachers. The confirmation of the servants was personally dealt with by Elizaveta Petrovna.
The main person responsible for the upbringing of the boy was a prominent diplomat Bekhteev. This man was obsessed with questions of drill and well-established standards of behavior. One of the features of the educational process was the publication of a newspaper, which described all the pranks of the future emperor.
Subsequently, Bekhteev was replaced by Panin. The new tutor took the training program very seriously. Being close to prominent European Masons, Nikita Ivanovich possessed extensive acquaintances. Therefore, among the teachers of Paul the First were Metropolitan Plato, Poroshin, Granger and Milliko.
It is noteworthy that any acquaintance and games with peers were limited. The emphasis was exclusively on education in the spirit of enlightenment. Tsesarevich received the best education of his time, but separation from his parents and peers led to irreversible consequences.
The son of Catherine 2 Pavel Petrovich grew up as a psychologically injured person. Subsequently, this will result in his eccentricities and indecent tricks. One of which will lead to a conspiracy against the emperor and his murder during the palace coup.
Relationship with mother
The official son of Catherine 2, Pavel Petrovich, was never loved by his mother. The Empress from the first days considered him a child from the unloved person, whom Peter III was for her.
It was rumored that after the birth of her son, she wrote a will that, upon reaching adulthood, she would give him the rule of the country. But no one has ever seen this document. The inconceivability of this fact is confirmed by the subsequent acts of the empress.
Each year, the son of Catherine 2, Pavel, became increasingly estranged by his mother from state affairs. He was selected the best teachers, indulged in interest in a variety of sciences. The first military council to which the empress invited him took place in 1783, that is, when Pavel Petrovich was twenty-nine years old.
At this meeting, the final gap between them became apparent.
Prior to this, Empress Catherine the Second indulged in rumors circulating about his birth from Saltykov. She also supported the views on the imbalance and cruelty of the prince.
Today it is difficult to judge, but ordinary people, dissatisfied with the policy of the empress, were on the side of Pavel Petrovich. So, Emelyan Pugachev promised after the coup to transfer power to him. The name of the tsesarevich sounded during the plague riot in Moscow. The rebel exiles led by Benevsky also swore allegiance to the young emperor.
In the last years of her life, Catherine the Second was waiting for the official wedding of the eldest son Pavel Alexander. In this case, she could transfer power to her grandson bypassing the unloved child. But after her death, the secretary Bezborodko destroyed the manifesto, which saved the prince from arrest and contributed to his accession to the throne. For this, he subsequently received the highest state rank of chancellor.
Life in Gatchina
After several years of traveling in Western Europe, the official son of Catherine 2, Pavel Petrovich, settled on the estate of the late Count Grigory Grigorievich Orlov. Prior to this, the prince managed to marry twice.
His first wife was Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt (then Emperor Paul was nineteen years old). But after two and a half years, she died during childbirth and a new bride was picked up for him.
She turned out to be Sofia-Dorothea of Württemberg, daughter of the Duke of Württemberg. The candidacy for the emperor was personally chosen by King of Prussia Frederick II. It is noteworthy that she came from the same estate as Catherine the Second, the mother of Pavel Petrovich.
Thus, after a year and a half of travel, the couple of newlyweds settled in Gatchina, the former estate of Count Orlov. It is interesting that, judging by the information from the government papers and economic documents of the estate, the prince and his wife were constantly robbed by servants and relatives. With a huge salary at that time of two hundred and fifty thousand rubles per annum, the son of Catherine 2 Pavel 1 constantly needed loans.
It is in Gatchina that the future emperor starts a “toy” army. It was a military formation similar to the Amusing regiments of Peter the Great. Although contemporaries spoke out sharply negatively against the Tsarevich’s similar enthusiasm, the researchers of our time have exactly the opposite opinion.
Based on the data on the exercises, the regiments did not just march and parade. It was a small but ideally trained army for that time. For example, they were taught to repel a naval landing, they knew how to wage battle day and night. These and many other tactics were constantly studied with them by the son of Catherine 2.
Illegitimate son
However, there was also the illegitimate son of Catherine 2. His name was Alexei Grigoryevich. Subsequently, the boy was given the surname Bobrinsky, in honor of the Bobrika estate (now the city of Bogoroditsk in the Tula region).
The son of Catherine 2 and Orlov, according to contemporaries, was a very timid and quiet boy. At court, there were rumors about the “nearness of his mind,” since at thirteen his knowledge was limited to French and German, as well as the beginnings of arithmetic and geography.
An interesting case related to the birth of Alexei Bobrinsky. In December 1761, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna dies, and her son Peter III ascends the throne. The event leads to a final break between Catherine and her husband. The girl is sent to live in the opposite wing of the Winter Palace.
Remarkably, her similar incident was not at all upset. At this time, she had a favorite Grigory Orlov. Four months later, in April 1762, the time came to give birth to a son from this lover. Attributing paternity to Peter III was completely impossible.
Therefore, an original turn of events was undertaken. The empress’s valet, Vasily Shkurin, sets his house on fire. Since the emperor loved to admire the fires, he, together with his retinue, left the palace to enjoy the sight. At this time, Catherine II gave birth to a son from Grigory Orlov.
Before the coup, declaring its existence was stupid and dangerous, so the boy was immediately sent to be brought up by a devoted valet who built a more attractive mansion on the site of the burned down one.
Childhood
Thus, the son of Catherine 2 and Grigory Orlov was brought up with the children of the wardrobe master Vasily Shkurin, later he will be granted the rank of valet. Until the age of twelve, Alexei lived and studied with his sons. In 1770, they traveled together for four years in Leipzig. A boarding house was created specifically for these boys.
In 1772, Alexei Bobrinsky was placed under the supervision of the Marshal of the Neapolitan Army Joseph de Ribas for two years. Subsequently, the time spent with the illegitimate son of the Empress will be counted towards the Spaniard, and he will be promoted to prominent posts in Russia. For example, it was Deribas (so in the Russian manner he began to write his name) that played a major role in creating the port of Odessa. And in honor of him the most famous street in this city is named.
At the age of thirteen, Alexei Bobrinsky returned to the Russian Empire and fell into disposal of Betsky. At the same time, the boy complains about the property in Beaver for material support.
According to the trustee and teacher, the son of Catherine 2 Alex did not shine with knowledge and desire for science. He simply wanted to please his mother. The boy was quiet, calm and complaisant.
Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy, being a prominent figure in the field of education in St. Petersburg, had a strong influence not only on the training of Alexei Bobrinsky, but also on the promotion of Joseph de Ribas.
At twenty, a young man completes training in the corps. As a reward, he receives a gold medal and is elevated to the rank of lieutenant.
Journey
After such a training course, the son of Catherine 2 and Grigory Orlov was fired and sent on a trip to Western Europe. I must say that here we see a model of how the Empress loved this young man and took care of him.
Alexey Grigoryevich Bobrinsky with the best graduates of the corps goes on a trip under the supervision of a scientist and military man. Across Russia, they were accompanied by a naturalist Nikolai Ozeretskovsky, an encyclopedist, a member of the Russian and St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The guys visited Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Yaroslavl, Simbirsk, Ufa, Astrakhan, Taganrog, Kherson and Kiev.
Further in Warsaw, Colonel Alexei Bushuev was assigned to them, and he continued his journey through Western Europe with his graduates. Austria, Italy and Switzerland were visited here. The program ended halfway in Paris.
The reason was that the son of Catherine 2 and Count Orlov became interested in gambling and girls. There is nothing supernatural in this for his age, but the disagreement happened because all his companions lived on the money sent to him from the Empress (three thousand rubles). But finance was not enough for Aleksey Bobrinsky alone.
In view of the current situation, graduates were sent home from France, and the empress’s son was still allowed to live in Europe. Here he was mired in debt and carried away by a wild life.
As a result, Catherine the Great ordered her to be delivered to Russia. Count Vorontsov with some difficulties nevertheless coped with the task, and Alexei Bobrinsky settled in Revel. This place became like a “house arrest” for him. During a trip to Europe, he was promoted to rank of second captain (modern senior lieutenant).
Relations with Catherine II
Immediately after birth, the son of Catherine 2 Bobrinsky used the location of his mother. He received a fairly good education. The Empress, as far as possible, supported and helped in everything. But due to the lack of a man’s grasp and desire for service, he was looked after as a porcelain figurine.
The turning point was the disruption of Alexei Bobrinsky while traveling in Western Europe. Interest was sent to him regularly in the form of three thousand rubles (from the fund which the empress founded for him). Also, after reporting to Russia about card debts, another seventy-five thousand were transferred.
But it did not help. The young man was sinking again. At the request of Catherine the Great, Frederick Grimm, a French publicist and diplomat, looked after him for some time. After he refused this work due to the disobedience of the young man, the son of Catherine 2 and Count Orlov was sent to Russia.
The Empress took this step, as the boy's behavior greatly spoiled her reputation.
Apparently, being in Revel with a ban on leaving the city, Alexey Bobrinsky understood the depth of his misconduct. This is evident from the constant requests for pardon and permission to move to the capital. The result was only his dismissal from the military forces with the rank of foreman.
At thirty-two years, the empress allowed her son to buy a castle in Livonia, where two years later he would marry Baroness Urgen-Sternberg. Because of the wedding, Alexei Bobrinsky was allowed to arrive in the capital for several days so that Catherine II looked at the bride.
After that, he left for his castle Ober-Palen, where he lived until the death of his mother.
Relations with Paul I
Oddly enough, but Alexei Bobrinsky, the son of Catherine 2, received full support and care from Emperor Paul I. His half-brother freed him from house arrest and promoted him to major general. He also awarded his brother the Order of St. Anne and gave command.
However, suddenly the illegitimate son of Catherine 2 falls out of favor. At the age of thirty-six, he was again dismissed from service, deprived of ranks and settled in the Bobrika estate.
Alexei Grigoryevich is allowed to visit the capital and the castle in Livonia, but any state and military affairs are prohibited.
Until his death, Alexei Bobrinsky, the son of Catherine 2, was engaged in astronomy, mineralogy and agriculture. He was buried in the crypt of an estate in the Tula province.