Catherine the Great Presentation

As promised, here is my very brief Cultural Studies presentation on my favourite Russian ever. I kept it short and sweet but if you need any additional stuff let me know!

Catherine the Great (1729 – 1796)
Born in Stettin (now Poland)
Ruled (1762 – 1796)
Catherine was extremely well educated and well-read. Throughout the first few years of her disastrous marriage to the Grand Duke Peter, she was very lonely and isolated and as a result immersed herself in books and kept many diaries. It’s possible to say that her love for literature and self expression in general paved the way for her acceptance of the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment: A philosophical movement of the 18th century characterised by the belief in the power of human reason and my innovations in political, religious and educational doctrine.
Catherine considered herself to be a ‘philosopher of the throne,’ and was anxious to be perceived as a free-thinking and civilised monarch across Europe. She was the first Russian ruler to take a vested interest in arts and culture. In 1764 she purchased a collection of art work by John Ernest Gotzkowski which was the beginning of the Hermitage Museum we know today. In the same year she commissioned a new building for the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg and renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts. Later in 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Young Ladies was founded (this later became the Bolshevik Headquarters) and it quickly became the best school of its kind in Europe and was the first to allow daughters of merchants to be educated alongside the daughters of the nobility.
In 1782 she commissioned ‘The Bronze Horseman’ in honour of Peter the Great.
In 1795 she opened the Imperial Public Library, which included the private collections of Voltaire and Diderot. She had corresponded with Voltaire for 15 years and although they never met, she mourned him bitterly when he died.
Catherine herself wrote her memoirs, some fiction, a manual for early childhood education, comedies, prose and 9 operatic texts. Throughout her reign over 8000 books were published which was an enormous increase of 40% the amount of books that had been published in the early part of the 18th century. In 1783 she had allowed the use of private printing presses without permission from the state and this greatly contributed to the amount of material published.
In 1785 Catherine introduced the Charter of the Nobility and the Charter of the Times. The Charter of the Nobility granted greater privileges and rights to the nobility. This represented the first time in Russian history that a social group had rights instead of duties. Similarly, the Charter of the Times created a new middle class in Russia. They had many privileges but fewer rights than the nobility.
Catherine also reformed the Saint Petersburg local administration. In 1766 the position of городской голова (mayor) was established and in 1744 a Magistrate was established. However, it must be noted that despite these reforms, democracy terrified Catherine and censorship was a main feature of her rule. When the French Revolution broke out, she was a staunch supporter of the King and Queen and it is rumoured that she even sent them fake passports in order to get from France to Russia.