Peter III of Russia Peter III of Russia Peter III ( – ) (, "Pyotr III Fyodorovich") was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was born in Kiel as Karl Peter Ulrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, the only child of Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (the son of Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, sister of Charles XII), and Anna Petrovna (the elder surviving daughter of Peter the Great). The German Peter could hardly speak Russian and pursued a strongly pro-Prussian policy, which made him an unpopular leader. He was deposed and possibly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his German wife,
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.