by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Patronymics

• In Russian, a patronymic is the second name derived from the father’s first name: the suffix -vich means “son of” and the suffixes -eva, -evna, -ova, and -ovna mean “daughter of”.

The term “Potemkin Village” derives from Grigory Potemkin. It has come to mean, especially in a political context, any hollow or false construct, physical or figurative, meant to hide an undesirable or potentially damaging situation. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built solely to impress Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, by her former lover Grigory Potemkin, during her journey to the Crimea in 1787.

Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was born in the village of Chizhovo near Smolensk, Russia on October 11, 1739. He was the youngest of the six children and the only son of Alexander Vasilyevich Potemkin and Daria Vasilyevna Kondyreva.

Grigory had five older sisters:

• Elena Alexandrovna Potemkina (1724–1775), married Vasily Andreyevich Engelhardt, had two sons and six daughters, the famous Potemkin Nieces, who were court favorites during the reigns of Catherine II and her son Paul I
• Marya Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Nikolai Borisovich Samoilov, had two children
• Piełagieja Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Peter Egorovich Vysotsky, had four children
• Daria Alexandrovna Potemkina, married Alexander Alexandrovich Likhachev, no children
• Nadzieżda Alexandrovna Potemkina (1738–1757), unmarried

Grigory’s father, a decorated war veteran who served as a non-commissioned officer in the Russian Army, came from a family of middle-income noble landowners. After his father died in 1746, Grigory’s mother moved the family to Moscow to aid her only son in establishing a career. Seven-year-old Grigory attended the Johann Philipp Litke School, the first private boarding school in Moscow where he was taught in German. He then attended the University Gymnasium, a secondary school that was part of the Imperial Moscow University. Grigory entered Imperial Moscow University in 1755. In 1756, he was awarded a gold medal for his achievements in science, and in 1757, he was one of the top twelve students sent to St. Petersburg to be introduced to Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia. Despite his achievements, Grigory was expelled from Imperial Moscow University in 1760 for laziness and non-attendance at classes.

Grigory had enlisted in the army in 1750 at age eleven, which was customary for noble children, with active service postponed until his education was completed. After being expelled from the university, Grigory began his service with the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment as a non-commissioned officer. In 1761, Grigory was promoted to vahmistra, the highest rank for non-commissioned officers. This rank was essentially a commander who assisted the squadron commander with drill training and organization. In March 1762, became an aide-de-camp to the Colonel of the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment, Field Marshal Prince George Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp, the second cousin once removed of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia and uncle of Peter’s wife and Grigory’s future lover, the future Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

In 1762, Grigory’s regiment took part in the coup d’etat that overthrew Peter III and placed his wife on the Russian throne. Allegedly, as Catherine reviewed her troops in front of the Winter Palace before the coup d’etat, she lacked a sword knot, a tassel attached to the hilt of a sword, and Grigory quickly supplied her with one. Potemkin’s horse then refused to leave her side for several minutes before returning to the ranks. After the coup d’etat, Empress Catherine singled out Potemkin for reward and promoted him to second lieutenant. Catherine then gave him a position in her household as a gentleman of the bedchamber, with Grigory retaining his post in the Imperial Guards Horse Regiment.

Catherine’s lover Grigory Orlov and his four brothers, who had organized the coup d’etat, dominated court life. However, Catherine encouraged Potemkin’s flirtatious behavior, including kissing her hand and declaring his love for her. For eleven years, from 1761 – 1772, Catherine was faithful to Grigory Orlov. In 1772, Orlov’s enemies, led by Nikita Ivanovich Panin, a statesman and political mentor to Catherine, broke up the relationship between Orlov and Catherine. They informed Catherine that Grigory had been unfaithful to her. A handsome young officer, Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov, was installed as Catherine’s new lover and Orlov was made to leave the court. However, Vasilchikov did not last long as Grigory Potemkin replaced him.

Grigory and Catherine had known each other since 1762 but their sexual relationship began in the spring of 1774 when Grigory was 34 and Catherine was 44. There is some evidence that a secret wedding took place in the summer or fall of 1774, or in early January 1775, and that Grigory and Catherine had a daughter Elizaveta Grigorievna Temkina, born July 24, 1775. However, there is no documentation of a marriage or the birth of a daughter. By late 1775, their relationship was changing and in early 1776, Catherine took her official secretary Count Peter Vasilievich Zavadovsky as her lover as a buffer for her stormy relationship with Grigory.

In public, courtiers saw no change except now it was Zavadovsky who escorted Catherine to her private apartments each night instead of Grigory. Grigory remained at the Winter Palace, was always present when Catherine appeared, and they seemed no less affectionate in public. However, Zavadovsky was jealous and demanded that Catherine give him exclusive intimacy. Grigory, who had initially approved of Zavadovsky, asked for his removal. To make his point, he stayed away from Catherine’s birthday celebrations. Eventually, Grigory got his way. In the summer of 1777, Zavadovsky was asked to leave the palace.

Grigory and Catherine worked out a new relationship that preserved their affection toward each other and their political collaborations but allowed them to choose other sexual partners. That relationship lasted until Grigoryi died and he is considered Catherine’s great love. Catherine obtained for him the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and gave him the title of Prince of the Russian Empire. He was Grand Admiral of the Black Sea Fleet, Field Marshal of the Russian Army, and Governor-General of New Russia. Grigory served as a diplomat, was a member of the Imperial Council and president of the War College. He built the Black Sea Fleet and founded the cities of Sevastopol and Kherson in the Crimea. Grigoryi’s achievements include the peaceful annexation of Crimea and the successful Russo-Turkish War.

While traveling from Russia to Jassy in Moldavia, now in Romania, to negotiate the Treaty of Jassy ending the Russo-Turkish War, Grigoryi became ill with a fever. He had contracted malaria in Crimea in 1783 and his symptoms showed a reoccurrence of malaria. Grigory refused to take quinine or other medicines the doctor accompanying him prescribed. Like Catherine, Grigoryi believed his body would heal itself. When his entourage reached Jassy, his aides sent for his niece Countess Alexandra Branitskaya in Poland, hoping she could convince her uncle to follow the doctor’s advice. Catherine eagerly waited for messages about Grigoryi’s condition and ordered his niece to write to her every day.

Grigory was bothered by the humid air in Jassy and requested to be moved to Nikolaev in southern Ukraine where he thought the cooler air would do him good. On the day he left Jassy, he dictated his last letter to Catherine: “Your most gracious Majesty. I have no more strength to endure my torments. My only remaining salvation is to leave this town and I have ordered myself to be taken to Nikolaev. I do not know what is to become of me.” Grigory was then carried to a carriage to begin the trip to Nikolaev. After traveling only a few miles, Grigory could not breathe. He was carried into a nearby house where he spent the night. In the morning, he requested that the journey continue. However, after only seven miles, Grigory ordered the carriage to stop. He said, “This will be enough. There is no point in going on. Take me out of the carriage. I want to die on the field! ” Grigory was taken from the carriage, laid on a Persian carpet, and died in the arms of his niece on October 16, 1791, at the age of 52.

Catherine received the news via courier a week later and collapsed saying, “Now I have no one left on whom I can rely. How can anyone replace Potemkin?” Days passed and the same report came from Catherine’s secretary, “Tears and despair, tears and more tears.”

Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was buried at the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson, now in Ukraine, the city he had founded in the Crimea on the Black Sea in 1778. In October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces removed the remains of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin from the Cathedral of St. Catherine and transported them to Russia.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Grigory Potemkin. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Potemkin> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2018. Catherine II (The Great), Empress Of All Russia. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-catherine-ii-the-great-of-russia/> [Accessed 9 July 2020].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert, (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Потёмкин, Григорий Александрович. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD,_%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87> [Accessed 19 July 2020].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. 2020. Свадьба Екатерины II И Потёмкина. [online] Available at: <https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%8C%D0%B1%D0%B0_%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%8B_II_%D0%B8_%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0> [Accessed 19 July 2020].