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
Catherine I of Russia Order of Saint Catherine was instituted by her husband on the occasion of their wedding. Catherine and Peter had twelve children, all of whom died in childhood except Anna and Elizabeth: Upon Peter's death, Catherine found her four siblings, Krystyna, Anna, Karol and Fryderyk, gave them the newly created titles of Count and Countess, and brought them to Russia. In 1724 Catherine was officially crowned and named co-ruler. The year before his death, Peter and Catherine had an estrangement over her support of Willem Mons, brother of Peter's former mistress Anna, and brother to one of the current ladies in