I want to be king: curious facts about famous Russian impostors

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There has never been a shortage of impostors in Russia, and in the 17th and 18th centuries this phenomenon flourished: from time to time, persons appeared claiming the royal throne. Along with outspoken adventurers, there were also those who left a noticeable mark on history. Therefore, disputes about these people continue in our time.

False Dmitry I

False Dmitry I is the most famous of all the impostors in Russia and the only one who really managed to ascend the throne, and so quickly that it looked like just some kind of miracle. And although he had a chance to reign only 10 months, False Dmitry I managed to go down in history forever, to become the banner and the central person of the era called the Time of Troubles. But to this day, practically nothing is known about him.

The mysterious death of the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, meant the end of the Rurik dynasty, no one was left alive. As a result of the sharpest struggle, the "boyar" tsar Boris Godunov ascended the Russian throne. But the people did not like the "fake" tsar, besides, rumors persistently spread that it was he and the evil boyars who had killed the young tsarevich. And when, ten years later, a rumor spread that Tsarevich Dmitry had miraculously escaped, the people easily believed this, and the troops began to go over to the side of False Dmitry.

Who this person really was is still not exactly established. According to the most common version, the name of Tsarevich Dmitry was appropriated by the fugitive monk Grigory Otrepiev. By that time, Boris Godunov had died suddenly, and in the summer of 1605, False Dmitry was crowned on the Russian throne with the Monomakh cap.

The people loved the new tsar, but many were surprised by his "non-royal" behavior by Russian standards. He did not walk majestically around the palace, but ran around it so that the guards barely kept up with him and often lost him. He did not sleep after dinner, but often at that time he went out to the people, walked, talked with ordinary people and even did some kind of craft himself. The king's education and extensive knowledge in many areas caused considerable surprise.

But the reign of Dmitry I lasted only 10 months. A rebellion was raised against him, as a result of which he was killed. He was then only 23 years old.

Of course, there were many more serious reasons for dissatisfaction with the tsar, but the impetus for the overthrow of False Dmitry was his wedding with Maria Mniszek, the daughter of the Polish governor. The Poles invited to the celebration did not behave very decently, which caused a wave of discontent from the local residents. Vasily Shuisky successfully seized the moment and quickly organized a conspiracy of the boyars against the tsar. READ MORE …

Peter III (Emelyan Pugachev)

After the murder of Emperor Peter III by the Orlov brothers, the people did not want to believe in his death. There were rumors that the tsar was alive, and in this regard, a whole stream of impostors, posing as Peter III, did not hesitate to appear. But they did not bother Catherine II at all, and she did not take such impostors seriously. But nevertheless, one of the largest upheavals of the 18th century turned out to be associated with the name of Peter III - the Pugachev revolt swept through Russia in a destructive tornado.

In 1773, the Don Cossack Emelyan Pugachev unleashed and led the Peasant War. Gathering an army, this Cossack presented himself as Peter III, and the common people believed and followed him, after their king. The country was in a fever. The situation was so serious that Catherine sent Suvorov himself to suppress the uprising. As a result, Pugachev, betrayed by his associates, was caught, taken to Moscow and publicly executed there. READ MORE …

After the suppression of the riot, all information about it was classified and destroyed, and any mention of the uprising was strictly prohibited.

Princess Tarakanova - an impostor or a Russian princess?

The legendary adventurer, whose real name remained unknown, wrote books and films about her … In May 1775, a certain girl of rare beauty was brought to the Peter and Paul Fortress and imprisoned in it, who went down in Russian history under the name of Princess Tarakanova. And it all began like this …

Since 1772, a young person of rare beauty by name shone in Paris …, however, the beauty had surprisingly many names? and she used them as masks. Traveling a lot, this girl soon made people speak enthusiastically about herself in Germany, France, and Italy. And once, posing as a royal person - the daughter of Elizabeth Petrovna, she began to call herself Elizabeth of Vladimir. And this trick succeeded, the "Russian princess" was recognized in Europe, they began to give her the appropriate honors and material support.

According to some reports, the secretly married Elizabeth and the former court singer Razumovsky really had a daughter named Augusta. The girl, born in an unequal marriage, was secretly sent to be raised abroad, to the family of Razumovsky's sister, whose surname was Daragan by her husband. From here, apparently, in the future, the surname Tarakanov went.

When information came to Catherine II that a claimant for the Russian throne, the daughter of Elizabeth Petrovna and the granddaughter of Peter the Great, had appeared in Europe, the queen reacted to the threats of the distant impostor very seriously, she tore and threw herself. To capture the impostor, a whole special operation was prepared with the participation of a Russian military squadron, led by Alexei Orlov.

Having met the princess, Orlov fell in love with her without memory, and the princess could not resist the charm of the count, a stormy romance broke out between them. But Orlov, not forgetting for what purpose he came here, tricked the princess to a ship, where she was captured, taken to Petersburg and sent to prison in the Peter and Paul Fortress. There, the princess's health deteriorated greatly, and at the end of the year it was announced that she had suddenly died of consumption. But it turned out that this is not a point in this story, but an ellipsis …

A few years later, in an atmosphere of the strictest secrecy, an unknown 40-year-old woman appeared in the Moscow St. John the Baptist Monastery, whose noble face still retained traces of its former beauty. Soon she was tonsured under the name of the nun Dosithea.

There were secret rumors that Dosithea was closely related to the Romanovs. By the highest order of Catherine, she lived in a monastery in complete seclusion and under the strictest control. And only after the death of the empress, visitors began to be admitted to her. It is known that the highest dignitaries of Moscow visited Dosifei, and also one of the Romanovs talked with her for a long time in private.

When Dosithea died at the age of 64, the entire Moscow nobility appeared to see the deceased in full dress, all the noblemen who were living out their days who served under Catherine and Elizabeth were present. Count Gudovich, the husband of one of the Countesses of the Razumovsky, also honored the funeral with his presence. Dosithea was buried in the family tomb of the Romanovs. Later it became known that in the world she really bore the name of August Tarakanov, and with great certainty it can be argued that Elizabeth's daughter and, accordingly, the royal princess, who was not allowed to the throne by Catherine II, lived in the monastery. READ MORE …

Today there is a version that in fact there were not two, but one princess Tarakanova, and the impostor Elizaveta Vladimirskaya and Dosithea are one and the same person. Elizaveta Vladimirskaya did not die of consumption, as announced, but survived and subsequently escaped from prison. And it was she who was brought a few years later to the St. John the Baptist Monastery, where she became the nun Dosithea.

And in continuation of the theme of the story 7 Russian monarchs who were killed.