A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Anna Ivanovna
ANNA IVANOVNA,
Empress of Russia, was the second daughter of the czar Iran or Johan, the elder brother, and for some time the associate, of Peter the Great. She was born February 8th,. 1694. In 1710, she married Frederic William, Duke of Courlaud, who died in 1711. On the death of the emperor Peter the Second, in 1730, she was declared empress by the council of state, the senate, and the principal military officers at Moscow. They passed over her elder sister, the duchess of Mecklenburg, and the princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, and afterwards empress, thinking that with Anna for an empress, they might reduce the government to a limited monarchy; but they were unsuccessful in their intrigues, for though she consented to all the required conditions, yet when she felt her position secure, she annulled her promises, and declared herself empress and autocrat of all the Russias.
The empress Anna had a good share of the ability which has long distinguished the imperial family of Russia; and managed the affairs of the empire with superior judgment. She was not, however, a very popular sovereign, owing to the many oppressive acts of her favourite Biron, a minion whom she had raised from a low condition to be duke of Courland. She discountenanced the drunkenness in which both sexes used to indulge; only one nobleman was allowed, as a special favour, to drink as much as he pleased; and she also discouraged gaming. Her favourite amusements were music and the theatre. The first Italian opera was played at St. Petersburgh, in her reign. She also directed the famous palace of ice to be built. She died at St. Petersburgh in 1740.