Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter…

Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter I of Russia and Catherine I of Russia, was born at Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, on December 18, 1709 (O.S.).

Her parents had been secretly married in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in St. Petersburg in November 1707.

The marriage had been made public in February 1712.

As her parents were not publicly acknowledged as being married at the time of her birth, Elizabeth's 'illegitimacy' will be used by political opponents to challenge her right to the throne.

She had on March 6, 1711, been proclaimed a Tsarevna, and on December 23, 1721, a Tsesarevna.

Of the twelve children of Peter and Catherine (five sons and seven daughters), only two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, have survived.

Anna had been betrothed to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, nephew of the late King Charles XII of Sweden, Peter's old adversary.

Her father had tried to also find a brilliant match for Elizabeth with the French Royal court when he paid a visit there.

It had been Peter's intention to marry his second daughter to the young French King Louis XV, but the Bourbons had declined the offer as Elizabeth`s mother’s origin was deemed too obscure.

Elizabeth had then been betrothed to Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Christian Augustus, Prince of Eutin.

Politically, it was a useful and respectable alliance, but Karl Augustus had died a few days after the betrothal.

At the time of Peter's death in 1725, no marriage plan had succeeded.

As a child, Elizabeth was bright, if not brilliant, but her formal education was both imperfect and desultory.

Her father adored her.

Elizabeth was his daughter and in many ways resembled him as a feminine replica, both physically and temperamentally.

Peter had no leisure to devote to her training, and her mother was too down-to-earth and illiterate to superintend her formal studies.

She had a French governess, and was fluent in Italian, German and French.

She was also an excellent dancer and rider.

From her earliest years, she delighted everyone with her extraordinary beauty and vivacity.

She is commonly known as the leading beauty of the Russian Empire.

So long as Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov had remained in power, Elizabeth had been treated with liberality and distinction by the government of her adolescent half-nephew Peter II.

The Dolgorukovs, an ancient boyar family, had deeply resented Menshikov.

With Peter II's attachment to Prince Ivan Dolgorukov, and with two of their family members on the Supreme State Council, they had the leverage for a successful coup.

Menshikov had been arrested, stripped of all his honors and properties and exiled to northern Siberia, where he later died in November 1729.

The Dolgorukovs hate the memory of Peter the Great, and have practically banished Peter's daughter from Court.

With the death of her father and the later accession of the Empress Anna, no royal court or noble house in Europe can allow a son to pay court to Elizabeth, as it would be seen as an unfriendly act to the Empress.

Marriage to a commoner is not possible as it would cost Elizabeth not only her title, but also her property rights and her claim to the throne.

Elizabeth's response had been to make a lover of Alexis Shubin, a handsome sergeant in the Semyonovsky Guards regiment.

After his banishment to Siberia (having previously been relieved of his tongue) by order of the Empress Anna, she had turned to a coachman and even a waiter.

Eventually, she consoles herself with a young Ukrainian peasant with a good bass voice who had been brought to Saint Petersburg by a nobleman for a church choir.

His name is Alexis Razumovsky, and Elizabeth has acquired him for her own choir.

A good and simple-minded man, untroubled by personal ambition, Elizabeth is devoted to him, and there is reason to believe that she could have married him in a secret ceremony in a rural church of Perovo (now a part of Moscow) in the autumn 1742, earning him the nickname of "the Emperor of the Night."