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Elizaveta Petrovna ((ロシア語:Елизаве́та (Елисаве́т) Петро́вна)) ( – ), also known as Yelisaveta and Elizabeth, was the Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death. She led the country into the two major European conflicts of her time: the War of Austrian Succession (1740–48) and the Seven Years' War (1756–63). On the eve of her death, Russia spanned almost . Her domestic policies allowed the nobles to gain dominance in local government while shortening their terms of service to the state. She encouraged Mikhail Lomonosov's establishment of the University of Moscow and Ivan Shuvalov's foundation of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. She also spent exorbitant sums of money on the grandiose baroque projects of her favourite architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, particularly in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. The Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral in Saint Petersburg are among the chief monuments of her reign. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs due to her strong opposition to Prussian policies and her decision not to execute a single person during her reign.〔''Russian Tsars'' by Boris Antonov, p.105.〕 ==Early life== Elizabeth, the second-oldest surviving daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I, was born at Kolomenskoye, near Moscow, on 18 December 1709 (O.S.).〔''Russian Tsars'' by Boris Antonov, p.104.〕 Her parents had secretly married in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in St. Petersburg in November 1707.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.46.〕 The marriage was made public in February 1712.〔 As her parents' marriage had not been publicly acknowledged at the time of her birth, Elizabeth's political opponents would later use her "illegitimacy" to challenge her right to the throne. On 6 March 1711, she was proclaimed a Tsarevna, and on 23 December 1721, a Tsesarevna.〔 Of Peter and Catherine's five sons and seven daughters, only two daughters, Anna (born 1708) and Elizabeth survived.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.50.〕 In 1724 Anna became betrothed to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, nephew of the late King Charles XII of Sweden, Peter's old adversary.〔 Her father had tried to find Elizabeth an equally impressive match with the French Royal court when he paid a visit there.〔 It was Peter's intention to marry his second daughter to the young French King Louis XV, but the Bourbons declined the offer, as they deemed her mother's origin too obscure.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'', p.50.〕 Elizabeth had been betrothed to Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp,〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.58.〕 son of Christian Augustus, Prince of Eutin. Politically, it appeared a useful and respectable alliance.〔 A few days after the betrothal, Karl Augustus died〔 (31 May 1727). At the time of Peter's death in 1725, no marriage plan had succeeded.〔 As a child, Elizabeth was bright, if not brilliant, but received only an imperfect and desultory formal education. Her father adored her. She resembled him both physically and temperamentally.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.23.〕 Peter had no leisure to devote to her training, and her mother was too uneducated to superintend her formal studies. She had a French governess and was fluent in Italian, German and French.〔 She was also an excellent dancer and rider.〔 From her earliest years, she delighted everyone with her extraordinary beauty and vivacity. She was commonly known as the leading beauty of the Russian Empire.〔 So long as Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov remained in power (until September 1727), the government of Elizabeth's adolescent half-nephew Peter II (reigned 1727-1730) treated her with liberality and distinction. The Dolgorukovs, an ancient boyar family, deeply resented Menshikov.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.52.〕 With Peter II's attachment to Prince Ivan Dolgorukov, and with two of their family members on the Supreme State Council, they had the leverage for a successful ''coup''. Menshikov was arrested, stripped of all his honours and properties and exiled to northern Siberia, where he died in November 1729.〔 The Dolgorukovs hated the memory of Peter the Great, and practically banished his daughter from Court. With the death of her father in 1725 and the later accession of the Empress Anna in 1730, no royal court or noble house in Europe could allow a son to pay court to Elizabeth, as it would be seen as an unfriendly act to the Empress.〔''Elizabeth and Catherine'' by Robert Coughlan, p.59.〕 Marriage to a commoner was not possible as it would cost Elizabeth not only her title, but also her property rights and her claim to the throne.〔 Elizabeth's response was to make a lover of Alexis Shubin, a handsome sergeant in the Semyonovsky Guards regiment.〔 After Shubin's banishment to Siberia (having previously been relieved of his tongue) by Anna's order, she turned to a coachman and then to a waiter.〔 Eventually she consoled herself with a young Ukrainian peasant with a good bass voice, Alexis Razumovsky, who had been brought to Saint Petersburg by a nobleman for a church choir. Elizabeth acquired him for her own choir.〔 Razumovsky, a good and simple-minded man, showed no personal ambition.〔 Elizabeth was devoted to him, and there is reason to believe that she might have married him in a secret ceremony.〔 Razumovsky would later become known as "the Emperor of the Night"〔 and Elizabeth would make him a Prince and Field Marshal (1756) after she became Empress in 1741. The Holy Roman Emperor made Razumovsky a Count of the Holy Roman Empire〔 in 1742. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elizabeth of Russia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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