Peter III 1728-62
Tsar of Russia

The grandson of Peter I, the Great and the son of Peter's youngest daughter, Anna, and Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, he was born in Kiel. In 1742 he was declared heir presumptive to his aunt, the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I), and in 1745 he married Sophia-Augusta von Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Empress Catherine II). A weak and unstable man, and a great admirer of Frederick II, the Great, he withdrew Russia's forces from the Seven Years War as soon as he succeeded to the throne (1762), and restored East Prussia to Frederick. This enraged the army and aristocracy, while the Church was annoyed by his fondness for Lutheranism. Peter was deposed (June 1762) by a group of nobles inspired by his wife Catherine and led by her lover, Count Orlov. He was strangled in captivity a few days later, and Catherine was proclaimed empress.