Catherine I of Russia Catherine I of Russia Catherine I (, born , later known as Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife of Peter the Great and Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death. The life of Catherine I was said by Voltaire to be nearly as extraordinary as that of Peter the Great himself. There are no documents that confirm her origins. Said to have been born on 15 April 1684 (o.s. 5 April), she was originally named Marta Helena Skowrońska. Marta was the daughter of Samuel Skowroński (later spelt "Samuil Skavronsky"), a Roman Catholic peasant from the Polish–Lithuanian
Tsarevna Praskovya Ivanovna of Russia Tsarevna Praskovya Ivanovna of Russia Praskovya Ivanovna (1694–1731) was a Russian tsarevna, daughter of Tsar Ivan V of Russia and Praskovia Saltykova. She was the niece of Tsar Peter the Great and the sister of Empress Anna Ivanovna. Praskovya's father died in 1696 and she was raised with her sisters, Catherine and Anna, at the estate awarded to her mother by Tsar Peter, Izmaylovo Estate in Moscow. She was tutored in literature and the sciences by German teachers. Praskovya was described by the Spanish ambassador in comparison to her sisters as lacking in intelligence, in addition to being very sickly.