Peter III of Russia (1728–1762)
Born 1728 CE, died 1762 CE.
Peter III Fyodorovich (Russian: Пётр III Фёдорович, romanized: Pyotr III Fyodorovich, born Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp; 21 February 1728 – 17 July 1762) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when his wife, Catherine II, overthrew him in a palace coup d'état. He implemented many notable reforms during his reign, though he is criticised for undoing Russian gains in the Seven Years' War by forming an alliance with Prussia. Peter was the son of Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, and Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, who died of puerperal fever after childbirth. After succeeding to the throne of Holstein-Gottorp following his father’s death, Peter was made heir presumptive to both the Russian and Swedish thrones in 1742. Due to his conversion to Russian Orthodoxy, he was disqualified from becoming King of Sweden. Peter married his paternal second cousin, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who took the Orthodox name of Catherine Alexeievna, in 1745. They had one child who survived to adulthood, Paul Petrovich. Peter succeeded his maternal aunt as Emperor of Russia in 1762.
Text from the Wikipedia article Peter_III_of_Russia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.