16 1791 October, the
Grigory Potemkin died near the village of Starye Radeni in the Principality of Moldavia. He was the founder of the Black Sea Fleet, a field marshal, and a favorite of Catherine the Great (according to some sources, her morganatic husband).
Gossip is just gossip. But gossip, repeated over and over again, becomes vile slander.
Born in 1739, into a family of Smolensk noblemen. Studied at the gymnasium with Fonvizin (his famous about "The Minor": "Denis, die, you won't write better!"In 1757, he was introduced to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna as one of the best students at Moscow University. In 1760, he was expelled for "laziness" and truancy.
From 1761 he served in the Horse Guards. In 1762, he participated in the palace coup. Catherine II then she promoted him from sergeant major to second lieutenant and granted him 400 souls.
In 1769, he volunteered for the First Turkish War. He distinguished himself. He received the rank of major general and a flattering letter from army commander Alexander Golitsyn to the empress:
“Our cavalry has never acted with such order and courage as this time under the command of the aforementioned Major General.”
After becoming close to Catherine, by 1775 he became the most influential person in Russia, according to the Prussian Count Solms.
"Is that the Tsar?" the blacksmith asked one of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. "What do you want with the Tsar? It's Potemkin himself," he replied. (Gogol, "The Night Before Christmas")
He participated in the suppression of the Pugachev Rebellion and the liquidation of the Zaporizhian Sich. In 1776, he became governor of Novorossiya. In 1783, he annexed Crimea to Russia, receiving the prefix "Tauride." He was the author of a military reform that improved order, economy, humanization, and hygiene in the army.
It's better to wash and comb your hair than to weigh it down with powder, lard, flour, hairpins, and braids. A soldier's toilet should be like this: when you get up, you're ready.
During the Second Turkish War, he led the capture of Ochakov. After Suvorov captured Izmail, he held a feast in the Tauride Palace. He soon died of fever, failing to complete the peace negotiations. Upon learning of his death, Catherine fainted:
"Who can replace such a person?"
