Prince of Princes -The Life of Potemkin [Simon Sebag Montefiore] (fb2) читать постранично, страница - 2

Montefiore to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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isbn 1 84212 438 2

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CONTENTS

List of Illustrations xi

Acknowledgements xiii

Notes xvii

prologue: Death on the Steppes i

part one: potemkin and catherine 1739-1762

The Provincial Boy 13

The Guardsman and the Grand Duchess: Catherine's Coup 3 2

First Meeting: The Empress's Reckless Suitor 48

part two: closer 1762-1774

Cyclops 65

The War Hero 76

The Happiest Man Alive 94

part three: together i774-i776

Love 109

Power 122

Marriage: Madame Potemkin 136

Heartbreak and Understanding 151

part four: the passionate partnership 1776-1777

Her Favourites 165

His Nieces 185

Duchesses, Diplomats and Charlatans 196

x contents

part five: the colossus 1777-1783

Byzantium 215

The Holy Roman Emperor 223

Three Marriages and a Crown 236

Potemkin's Paradise: The Crimea 244

part six: the co-tsar 1784-1786

Emperor of the South 263

British Blackamoors and Chechen Warriors 285

Anglomania: The Benthams in Russia and the Emperor of Gardens 295

The White Negro 312

A Day in the Life of Grigory Alexandrovich 328

part seven: the apogee 1787-1790

The Magical Theatre 351

Cleopatra 363

The Amazons 376

Jewish Cossacks and American Admirals: Potemkin's War 388

Cry Havoc: The Storming of Ochakov 404

My Successes Are Yours 417

The Delicious and the Cruel: Sardanapalus 430

Sea of Slaughter: Ismail 448

part eight: the last dance 1791

The Beautiful Greek 459

Carnival and Crisis 467

The Last Ride 480

epilogue: Life After Death 481

List of Characters 503

Maps 50 6

Family Trees 508

Notes 512

Select Bibliography 593

Index 615

ILLUSTRATIONS

Credits for the illustration sections.

Serenissimus Prince Grigory Potemkin, by Johann Baptist von Lampi (1751-1830),

Hermitage, St Petersburg, photo by N. Y. Bolotina Catherine the Great in 1762 by Vigilius Ericksen (1722-1782), Musee des Beaux-

Arts, Chartres, France, Lauros-Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library Countess Alexandra Branicka by R. Brompton, Alupka Palace Museum, Ukraine, photo by the author

Portrait of Paul 1,1796-7 by Stepan Semeonovich Shukin (1762-1828), Hermitage,

St Petersburg, Russia/Bridgeman Art Library Potemkin's Palaces[1]

Portrait of Catherine II the Great in a Travelling Costume, 1787 (oil on canvas) by Mikhail Shibanov (fl. 1783-89), State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia/Bridgeman Art Library Portrait of Field Marshal Potemkin, 1787 by Alexander Roslin, courtesy of the West

Wycombe Collection of Sir Edward Dashwood, photo by Sir Edward Dashwood Potemkin's signature

Catherine the Great, 1793 by Johann Baptist von Lampi (1751-1830), Hermitage,

St Petersburg, Russia/Bridgeman Art Library Portrait of Prince Grigori Potemkin-Tavrichesky, c. 1790 by Johann Baptist von

Lampi (1751-1830), Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia/Bridgeman Art Library The roadside memorials marking Potemkin's death, photo by author The board announcing Potemkin's death, photo by author

The trapdoor in St Catherine's church in Kherson, Ukraine, leading to Potemkin's

tomb, photo by author Potemkin's coffin, St Catherine's, Kherson, Ukraine, photo by author The ruined church in Potemkin's home village of Chizhova, Russia, photo author's collection

Potemkin in Chevalier-Garde uniform, collection of V. S. Lopatin

Potemkin's mother, Daria Potemkina, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai

Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library The Empress Elisabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, etching by E. Chemesov,

Weidenfeld & Nicolson picture collection The Grand Duchess Catherine with husband Peter and their son, Paul, Weidenfeld & Nicolson picture collection

Field-Marshal Peter Rumiantsev at the Battle of Kagul, 1770, Weidenfeld &

Nicolson picture collection Grigory Orlov, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, picture

courtesy of the British Library Alexei Orlov, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich picture cour­tesy of the British Library Catherine and Potemkin in her boudoir, author's collection

Alexander Lanskoy, by D. G. Levitsky, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai

Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library Count Alexander Dmitriyev-Mamonov, by Mikhail Shibanov, Portraits Russes by

Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library Princess Varvara Golitsyna, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich,

picture courtesy of the British Library Countess Ekaterina Skavronskaya with her daughter, by Angelica Kauffman, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library

Princess Tatiana Yusupova, by E. Vigee Lebrun, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke

Nikolai Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library Portrait of Ekaterina Samoilova by Johann Baptist von Lampi (1751-1830), Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, picture courtesy of the British Library

Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, photo author's collection

Joseph II and Catherine meeting 1787, Weidenfeld & Nicolson picture collection

Charles-Joseph, Prince de Ligne, photo author's collection

Catherine walking in the park at Tsarskoe Selo, by V. L. Borovikovsky,

Weidenfeld & Nicolson picture collection The storming of the Turkish fortress of Ochakov in 1788, Odessa State Local

History Museum, photo by Sergei Bereninich, photo author's collection Count Alexander Suvorov, Portraits Russes by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich,

picture courtesy of the British Library The