Catherine the Great was born Princess Sophia August Frederika on May 2, 1729 in the Baltic seaport town of Stettin. Her father Christian August was nominal ruler of the tiny German principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, but the greater part of his life was spent as an officer in the service of Prussia. Germany has a legacy of supplying monarchs to the Russian throne. On Februeary 9, 1744, at the age of 15, she came to Russia at as the bride of the heir to the throne, Peter Feodorovich. They married in St. Petersburg on August 21, 1745, and she was christened into the Orthodox Church as Ekaterina Alexeevna.

She was industrious, intelligent, sexy and strong-willed. She learned the Russian language but never lost her accent. She was a not only a Russian phenomena but also a phenomena of the world. Very a few countries would allow foreign born person to become a ruler not to mention a female monarch. But Russia is a country of miracles that defeats Western logic and sense.

Her husband, Peter the Third, was a nut not capable to rule Russia. He was also unable to consummate his marriage to Catherine. Empress Elizabeth (Elizaveta Petrovna - the current monarch) didn't understand the fault was Peter's and pressured the couple to produce a son - thus securing the dynasty. When it was clear this wasn't going to happen, Elizabeth permitted an affair between Catherine and a handsome Russian officer, Serge Saltykov. Catherine gave birth to a son, Paul. After the death of the empress Elizabeth, with the support of the Imperial Guard, she took over the reign on June 28, 1762. Her husband, Peter had been murdered by brothers Orlov due to "misunderstanding" and was soon forgotten. She was crowned on September 22, 1762, in Moscow and became an absolute monarch (Russian monarchy had no constitution to restrain the power of the Czar as in Britain).