03138cam a22003493u 4500 77133 UtSlPG 20260610134803.0 m cr n 260607r20251925utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d 33005911 UtSlPG en iso639-1 DK Anthony, Katharine Susan, 1877-1965 Catherine the Great Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2025-10-27 Fike of Zerbst is born -- She is educated -- Russia -- She goes to Russia -- Fike becomes Catherine -- Catherine becomes a mother -- Poniatovsky -- Orlov -- Catherine the Great -- Potiomkin -- Catherine becomes a grandmother -- She grows old. The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) "Catherine the Great" by Katharine Susan Anthony is a historical biography written in the early 20th century. It follows the transformation of Sophie “Fike” of Anhalt-Zerbst into Catherine II against a vivid backdrop of Prussian austerity and Russian court turmoil. The focus blends intimate childhood formation with high political intrigue, showing how a little-known German princess was drawn into the orbit of the Romanov dynasty. The opening of the biography sketches Stettin’s harsh, militarized world and introduces Fike’s parents: a frugal, pious Prussian general and an ambitious, socially hungry Holstein-Gottorp princess. It traces Fike’s neglected yet formative upbringing under the clear-eyed French governess Babet Cardel and the dogmatic Pastor Wagner; her plain looks, calculated self-discipline, and skepticism; and a bout of illness that led to a crude but effective “cure,” shaping her lifelong distrust of doctors. The narrative widens to a brisk survey of Russian power: from Peter the Great’s violent genius and the country’s distinct moral climate to the female-dominated succession culminating in Elisabeth Petrovna’s dazzling coup. Elisabeth adopts her sickly nephew (the future Peter III), whose botched Holstein education and arrested development are laid bare. Finally, court politics converge on Fike: the Empress quietly selects her as a bride, secures church approval, brushes aside medical cautions, and dispatches urgent letters summoning mother and daughter— pointedly excluding the father—prompting tense family debate and a hasty, modestly provisioned departure for Russia. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Garden City: Garden City Publishing Company, 1925 Catherine II, Empress of Russia, 1729-1796 Empresses -- Russia -- Biography https://archive.org/details/catherinegreat00anth/page/n5/mode/2up https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77133 117855 117855